It has been over eight years since BYU football has taken down Utah — that's something you've probably heard more than once. The last time BYU won a game of football against Utah was on Nov. 28, 2009 — a game that ended with BYU emerging victorious in a 26-23 overtime thriller.
By the time BYU plays Utah on Aug. 29, Utah's streak will have run 3,561 days since its Nov. 27, 2010, beginning. Major headlines from the time spoke about Obama's first term as president, The Blackeyed Peas' 'Boom Boom Pow' topping the Billboard chart, the Saints beating the Colts in the Super Bowl, Bryce Harper being taken first overall by the Washington Nationals in the MLB Draft, and Canada beating the U.S. in overtime to win gold in hockey at the Vancouver Olympics. If you had a child that year, he or she could now be baptized.
The losing streak has been long and merciless to BYU fans. It may be at eight games, but there is more to consider.
During the streak, only one game has been decided by more than a possession. This game came in 2011 when Utah beat BYU 54-10. This game makes the point differential far more lopsided, and without that game, the average score is 24-20.
Since Utah's streak began in 2010, Utah has averaged 204.4 passing yards, 34.5 yards less than BYU's average of 238.9. Utah holds 34.6-yard average edge in rushing yards, averaging 134.4 compared to BYU's 99.8.
As the two teams have excelled differently in these aspects of the game, the total yard averages show an interesting picture. The slightest difference separates the total yardage in this rivalry matchup over the course of the eight-game losing streak. Utah has averaged 338.8 total yards to BYU's 338.6 — a 0.2 yards per game difference.
The largest margin of victory ever recorded in the history of this rivalry was 50 points — a 56-6 win for the Cougars. Utah holds the upper hand with an overall record of 58-31-4 against BYU, dominating the first half of the 20th century, but both schools have had nine-game win streaks against one another.
The most important figure, as with any sport, is the number of national championships. As far as these championships are concerned, BYU has an infinite edge, owning the rivalry's lone national championship, which the Cougars took in 1984.