BYU Football: Cougars extend series with Utah for two more seasons
By Shaun Gordon
The Holy War is set to continue for two additional years, as BYU Football announced an extension to their series with Utah through the 2024 season.
Contrary to the wishes of many Utah fans who believe the PAC-12 is the greatest thing since sliced bread, BYU Football and the Utes have extended their series through 2024.
The previous scheduling agreement ran through the 2022 season, with Utah playing in Provo in 2019 and 2021, and BYU heading north in 2020 and 2022.
That pattern will continue, with the Utes visiting LaVell Edwards Stadium on September 16, 2023 and the Cougars returning to Rice-Eccles Stadium on September 7, 2024.
While Ute fans may want Utah to “big brother” BYU and cancel the series, an extension was pretty much guaranteed after new Ute Athletic Director Mark Harlan’s first Holy War experience.
After the game, Harlan told the media, “It’s pretty much out there for many, many years to come, and with that kind of energy…I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to continue to play that game.”
BYU and Utah have now played 93 games since 1922, and the Utes lead the series 58-31-4. It’s been a rivalry of runs though, and Utah dominated for decades until the LaVell Edwards era. BYU only won two of the first 40 matchups, but the Cougars rattled off 22 wins in the next 28 games. And after a brief stretch of relatively even results, the Utes have rattled off eight straight wins as BYU continues to find creative new ways to lose close games in the rivalry.
The two teams will open their seasons against each other in 2019, meeting in Provo on Thursday, August 29. Not only will they play face off in the first full week of the regular season, but it’ll be on the first day.
This is a good step in making sure that the two rivals continue to meet on the gridiron, and that should continue unless Larry Krystkowiak makes the transition from basketball to football.