The Holy War is the name given to the American college football rivalry game played annually by the Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars and the University of Utah Utes. It is part of the larger BYU–Utah sports rivalry. In this context, the term "Holy War" refers to the fact that BYU is owned and administered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the University of Utah is a public university with a large LDS student population. The winner of this event wins an trophy
The Brigham Young University (BYU) Cougars and the University of Utah (Utah) Utes have a longstanding intercollegiate rivalry. The annual college football game is frequently referred to as the Holy War. In the 1890s, when BYU was still known as Brigham Young Academy (BYA), the two schools started competing athletically. The schools have met continually since 1909 in men's basketball, and met once a year in football from 1922–2013, with the exception of 1943–45 when BYU did not field a team due to World War II. Both schools formerly competed in the Mountain West Conference, but both teams left the MWC in 2011—Utah joined the Pac-12 Conference and BYU became a football independent while joining the West Coast Conference for other sports.
The Utah Utes football program is a college football team that competes in the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at the current site of Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City since 1927. They have won 28 conference championships in five conferences during their history, and, as of the end of the 2022 season, they have a cumulative record of 711 wins, 476 losses, and 31 ties (.596).
The 1995 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1995 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their sixth season under head coach Ron McBride, the Utes compiled an overall record of 7–4 record with a mark of 6–2 against conference opponents, sharing the WAC title with Air Force, BYU, and Colorado State. Utah outscored its opponents 296 to 230. The Utes were not invited to bowl game, after playing in the postseason each of the three previous seasons. All four of Utah losses were at home; the Utes were perfect 4–0 on the road. The team played home games at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1994 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1994 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth season under head coach Ron McBride, the Utes compiled an overall record of 10–2 record with a mark of 6–2 against conference opponents, placing in a three-way tie for second in the WAC, and outscored their opponents 426 to 210. Utah was invited to the Freedom Bowl, where they beat Arizona. The team played home games at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1993 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1993 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth season under head coach Ron McBride, the Utes compiled an overall record of 7–5 record with a mark of 5–3 against conference opponents, tied for fourth place in the WAC, and were outscored by their opponents 396 to 390. Utah was invited to the Freedom Bowl, where they lost to the USC. The team played home games at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1990 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first season under head coach Ron McBride, the Utes compiled an overall record of 4–7 record with a mark of 2–6 against conference opponents, placed seventh in the WAC, and were outscored by their opponents 348 to 214. The team played home games at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1989 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth and final season under head coach Jim Fassel, the Utes compiled an overall record of 4–8 record with a mark of 2–6 against conference opponents, finished in seventh place in the WAC, and were outscored by their opponents 524 to 365. The team played home games at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1984 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their third and final season under head coach Chuck Stobart, the Utes compiled an overall record of 6–5–1 with a mark of 4–3–1 against conference opponents, tying for fourth place in the WAC. Home games were played on campus at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1978 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their second season under head coach Wayne Howard, the Utes compiled an overall record of 8–3 with a mark of 4–2 against conference opponents, tying for second place in the WAC. Home games were played on campus at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1981 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth and final season under head coach Wayne Howard, the Utes compiled an overall record of 8–2–1 with a mark of 4–1–1 against conference opponents, tying for third place in the WAC. Home games were played on campus at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1976 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1976 NCAA Division I football season. In their third and final season under head coach Tom Lovat, the Utes compiled an overall record of 3–8 with a mark of 3–3 against conference opponents, placing fourth in the WAC. Home games were played on campus at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1973 Utah Utes football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1973 NCAA Division I football season. In their sixth and final season under head coach Bill Meek, the Utes compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 4–2 against conference opponents, placing third in the WAC. Home games were played on campus at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1972 Utah Utes football team was an American football team team that represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. In their fifth season under head coach Bill Meek, the Utes compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 5–2 against conference opponents, tying for second place in the WAC. Home games were played on campus at Robert Rice Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1966 Utah Redskins football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1966 NCAA University Division football season. In their first season under head coach Mike Giddings, the Redskins compiled an overall record of 5–5 with a mark of 3–2 against conference opponents, placing in a three-way tie for second in the WAC. Home games were played on campus at Ute Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1962 Utah Redskins football team was an American football team that represented the University of Utah as a member of the newly-formed Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1962 NCAA University Division football season. In their fifth season under head coach Ray Nagel, the Redskins compiled an overall record of 4–5–1 with a mark of 1–2–1 against conference opponents, placing last out of six teams in the WAC. Home games were played on campus at Ute Stadium in Salt Lake City.
The 1977 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) for the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The Cougars were led by sixth-year head coach LaVell Edwards and played their home games at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah. The team competed as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, winning a share of the conference title for the second consecutive year, sharing the title with Arizona State with a conference record of 6–1.
The 1980 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University (BYU) for the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Cougars were led by ninth-year head coach LaVell Edwards and played their home games at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah. The team competed as a member of the Western Athletic Conference, winning their fifth consecutive conference title with a conference record of 6–1. After a season-opening loss to New Mexico, BYU ended on a 12-game winning streak, including a victory over SMU in the 1980 Holiday Bowl, finishing 12–1 overall and ranked 12th in the final AP Poll. The Cougars' offense scored 606 points during the season for an average of 46.6 points per game. They scored over 50 points in a game five times, including two games scoring over 70 points.
The 1978 BYU Cougars football team represented the Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The team was led by head coach LaVell Edwards, in his seventh year, and played their home games at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah. They finished the season with a record of nine wins and four losses, as WAC champions and with a loss against Navy in the Holiday Bowl.
The 2011 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by seventh year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. After playing the previous 12 seasons in the Mountain West Conference, this was Utah's first season in the new Pac-12 Conference in the South Division. They are the first former "BCS Buster" to join a BCS conference. They finished the season 8–5, 4–5 to finish in a tie for third place in the South Division. They were invited to the Sun Bowl where they defeated Georgia Tech 30–27 in overtime.
