By Jeffrey Baer
The first athletic competition at Brigham Young Academy was against the University of Deseret. It ended in a tie and a brawl. Things haven''t changed much in over 100 years for BYU and the University of Utah as the rivalry continues, especially in the hearts of players who have graduated, but not moved on.
While people continue to argue over the two schools, Vai Sikahema, a member of BYU''s 1984 National Championship team, said one thing would always separate the Cougars from the Utes.
'Utah will not ever win a National Championship,' he said. 'This is what Utah will never be able to live down, no matter how many games they play, no matter how many games they win.
'I credit Utah to allowing us to become the No. 1 team in the country. We became No. 1 on the backs of the Utes. They may go to a bowl game, but they''re so far behind us that they will be chasing forever. If they play football in the millennium, they may have a chance at catching us. Despite how well they''ve done, Utah is a basketball school, but BYU is the football school of the West,' he said.
BYU alum Scott Jackson, who currently plays center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said, 'I thought I would escape after graduating, but we got a Ute on the team here with the Bucs.'
Although they play on the same side of the field, Jackson said not much has changed.
'We continue to talk trash back and forth with each other,' he said.
Former BYU kicker Lee Johnson also played in the NFL after his college career and expressed similar experiences.
'Whenever you came across a Ute, there would be words exchanged,' he said.
Sikahema said anyone who played for Utah, 'will always be a Ute,' and the same applies for his former teammates.
'We''re always going to be Cougars,' he said. 'So we are divided that way, in our minds, and in our hearts and even in our families. It''s always foremost in our minds and our hearts.'
Larry Echohawk free safety from 1966-1969 for BYU, continued the rivalry past graduation in a different battlefield. He immediately went into law school at the U of U.
'No matter who Utah was playing, I was for the other team,' he said. 'After a few years I finally mellowed out.'
Johnson said he thinks the rivalry is more one-sided, because Utah seems to care more.
'It bugs Utah more that we dominate them then it does when they dominate us,' he said.
Jackson said there''s always some extra curricular things happening during a rivalry game.
'It''s just more intense,' he said. 'A little talking. A little pushing and shoving. You take it a little more personal then you would any other game, like against Wyoming.'
Former Cougar running back Waymon Hamilton who played from''79-83 said playing the Utes was like going to war.
'It was one of those games you got pumped up for,' he said. 'You were real excited to play.'
Echohawk agreed.
'To beat Utah made the whole season, and they drilled that into us from the first day of practice,' he said.
Now a law professor at BYU, Echohawk said losing at home to Utah his senior year in ''69 is still a painful memory.
Former quarterback and coach Robbie Bosco said any rivalry game is always a big game.
'It''s almost outside of the football realm,' he said. 'The fans and the students and the people get so involved. It''s something that they want to use against their friends all the year long.'
Johnson said the motivation for the game is pride.
'It''s bragging rights,' he said. 'You hear it all year. If you just win that game, your season was almost successful.'
For Sikahema, who is of Polynesian descent, the game was more then a rivalry. It was a family affair.
'We had other Tongans and Samoans on team, so we spent the game jawing at each other in our native tongues. Some of these guys were cousins.'
Sikihema said playing the games in November would ruin the Thanksgiving holiday.
'We would see each other at family functions and then we were lining up playing each other trying to take each others heads off,' he said.
Hamilton said the rivalry is all about the fans.
'Right now, I think the fans are more excited to see the rivalry happen then actually the players,' he said. 'That''s what makes this a great rivalry.'
Sikahema said player''s parents are even more passionate about it then the kids are.
During his visit to Utah a few weeks ago, Sikahema spoke in at a fireside for two Tongan stakes in Salt Lake City. He said his father spoke first and to finished with, 'All of you parents who are sending your kids to Utah, Repent! Repent!' The comment created a mixture of laughter and nervous anxiety among the audience.
Former players still take stock in what happens each year.
'I hope the Cougs win,' Jackson said. 'It will help me out in the locker room, especially with my credibility among teammates. This one has national bowl implications. Nothing would be better than to beat the Utes and end their run.'
Come game day, Johnson said he expects both teams to realize this years game has more on the line tan the battle of the boot.
'There are higher stakes,' he said. 'You''re dealing with a BCS bowl on one end and coach Gary Crowton''s job is on the other.'
Jim Hermann, another member of the ''84 team, said when it''s game day, 'You can throw records out. That''s why they play the game. It''s a Holy War.'
As a current resident of Salt Lake City, he said, 'I hope they win to make it easier on me the next six months. But I''m an attorney, so I''m used to it.'