When <a href='https://www.sltrib.com/sports/utah-utes/2026/11/01/utah-climbs-no-3-byu-moves-up-no-7/'>No. 3 Utah hosts No. 7 BYU</a> on Saturday — with national rankings, a possible conference championship and potential berths in the College Football Playoff on the line — it will be a BIG — all caps — game.
But, truthfully, both teams could be winless, and it still would be a big game.
Such is the stuff of rivalries, and the Cougars-Utes matchup — like Ohio State-Michigan, USC-UCLA and Harvard-Yale — is one of the hottest in the nation. In recent decades, the rivalry has even earned a special moniker: the Holy War.
But does that loaded nickname really fit?
Yes, Brigham Young University is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but it has its share of nonmembers. The University of Utah, for its part, is a state school attended by thousands upon thousands of Latter-day Saints. And, in the end, it is just a football game.
On this week’s show, Salt Lake Tribune sports and faith columnist Gordon Monson discusses the rivalry, not from an X’s and O’s standpoint but rather from a religious and cultural perspective.

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Why the BYU-Utah rivalry game is not — and should not be — a ‘Holy War’

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