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The Holy War Special

Originally posted on The Forkball
By Tyla Wright Kosmicki | Last updated Oct 18, 2025 1:20 PM ET

BYU takes on Utah in the 2nd holy War of Big 12 history. Last year was another rivalry game for the books and another chapter between these two. The Cougars came out on top last year after a last-minute trip down the field, starting behind their own ten. This game will be featured on Fox at 7 pm CST.

Game Preview

This is going to be a game for the books this year as BYU is undefeated and Utah has one loss. These two teams have more hatred this year for each other than most years, so watch as that could boil over and we see more back and forth.

Last year’s game ended in a thriller like so many of these games have before. The game came down to a holding call on Utah in the final minutes that gave BYU enough spark to march down the field and kick a game-winning field goal. BYU is known for its final-minute wins in this rivalry. To name a few, Beck to Harline. Bronco Mendenhall’s reign over the Utes in his first few years of coaching for the Cougars, Lavell and McBride’s friendly side to this game, and now Kalani Sitake, who has coached for both sides of this game.

BYU

The Cougars are 6-0 and have clinched their spot in a bowl, and are coming off a double overtime win. They have a starting freshman quarterback who has prepped for this spotlight at BYU. The defense will be the story of this game, though, because they will keep Utah off the field and out of the endzone as they have done so well so far this season. For the first game and a half, they produced a shut out and they will go back to that now that everyone is healthy again. The Cougars are going to come out on top again in this rivalry and show Utah who is boss.

Utah

The Utes are 5-1 and coming off a huge win over Arizona State. They also have that loss to Texas Tech, which is the team to beat in the Big 12 so far this season. Utah is returning to Provo for the first time since 2021, where they lost to the Cougars and where BYU ended that drought of winning in the rivalry. This team is known to bring the trash-talking and the fans who are hostile into a hostile stadium. This year, they are on BYU turf, where they have to sit amongst the blue and cheer on their team.

This article first appeared on The Forkball and was syndicated with permission.

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