Behind enemy lines: My history with 'The Holy War'

Nov 27, 2010 — Murray, Utah

Before every big college game on television, I would see a group of students who took off their shirts to write out something across their chests. This was the ultimate sign of fandom in my eight-year-old brain, so I tried to do the same.

I found a red Crayola marker in my plastic pencil box, went to the bathroom mirror, and attempted to write in large block letters, “U-T-A-H” across my scrawny chest that showcased my rib cage profoundly.

Being the first time that I ever had to utilize the mirror to write on my body, I was unaware that what you see in the mirror is “mirrored.” Funny how that works.

Instead of reading “U-T-A-H” like I had intended, people looking at my chest saw “H-A-T-U.”

No matter. My spirit overwhelmingly flowed with crimson pride, and I was ready for the 2010 Utah Utes to get revenge on the BYU Cougars.

My family and I walked to my grandpa’s house, which was just two blocks away, and piled into his basement to watch that year’s rendition of the “Holy War.” Sitting around me were Utah alumni and lifelong fans of our local Salt Lake university.

My grandpa’s basement was a far cry from a Buffalo Wild Wings or the ideal man cave. It was dimly lit, had wood paneling across the walls, less than desirable wall paper, and hung up were Grandma Janice’s cross stitchings of ducks and Grandpa Bob’s favorite western paintings. Nothing in that basement had been changed since my dad moved out of the house in 1986.

The TV was an old box set that was the opposite of high definition. Between that and the game being on the Mountain West Network, you could barely tell the difference between red and blue.

The 2010 game was an all-timer when it came to the historic BYU-Utah rivalry. The final play was a game-clinching field goal block by Utah defensive back Brandon Burton, and the field quickly went from green to red. The images of BYU kicker Mitch Payne dealing with taunting Utah fans on the way to the locker room is still stuck in my brain.

My family jumped up and down trying not to spill over cream sodas and bags of potato chips. The little boy with a “H-A-T-U” on his chest was elated, as he would get to go to school the next Monday to brag to any BYU supporters in his 3rd grade class at Woodstock Elementary.

I spent the next nine years of grade school feeling this way. From that fateful 2010 game, up until my senior year in the 2019 season, Utah never lost to BYU. I never felt the harrowing feeling that is seeing your favorite team lose to its rival. Every year I came to school after the game and felt just a little bit better than the kids wearing navy blue. I only ever grew to be 5 feet 8 inches tall, but on those days after the game, I towered over the Cottonwood High School student body.

Then came time to decide where to go to University.

I took a look at the University of Utah’s tuition. Then I took a look at my wallet and cringed. I made the mistake of looking at Salt Lake City housing before once again looking at my bank account, and subsequently falling to the floor.

There was no way I would be able to afford to live near campus and as much as I loved my parents, I was not about to live with them for another year of my adult life.

Utah Valley didn’t carry the program I wanted, Utah State was too expensive, the southern schools weren’t appealing and there was no way I could afford out of state.

That’s when a thought was placed into my head that was almost sacreligious to me.

“What if I applied to BYU?”

I shivered at the thought.

I grew up at the base of Big Cottonwood Canyon and looked up at Mount Olympus every single day of my formative life. I cheered on Britain Covey as he made fools of opposing Pac-12 defenses and watched Jakob Poeltl become an All-American at the Huntsman Center.

The cups in my family’s cupboards had U’s on them, our welcome mat had the Utah logo, I had just rushed the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium after the Utes beat No. 3 Oregon days prior.

I was a Utah man.

But my wallet and overall stinginess when it came to finances meant I had to make a choice that went against all my core beliefs — a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point.

I applied to BYU on a whim. And somehow, I got in.

By the fall of 2022, I was officially a BYU Cougar.

For the past three years I have covered BYU athletics, and am lucky enough to call myself the sports editor for The Daily Universe. I cover the team I grew up despising.

It's been one of the greatest experiences of my life.

I've seen first-hand a major shift in BYU athletics.

When I first set foot in Provo, the men's basketball team was fifth place in the West Coast Conference and the football team was struggling to make bowl games.

Now, BYU men's hoops enters the 2025-2026 season with a Final Four or bust reality and the football team is competing for a Big 12 championship.

Regardless of my childhood allegiances, getting to cover a Power Four program has been a dream come true.

Photo by Caleb Jensen

The importance, significance and external factors are not lost on me when it comes to the BYU-Utah rivalry. Years of religious, political and cultural differences have turned two schools into “enemies” on and off the field.

But sometimes, people just go to school. Sometimes, students are just that. Students.

A mixture of finances, programs, location and overall fit go into picking where you want to get an education. For most of my childhood friends, that meant going to Utah, but for me, it meant going to BYU.

I chuckle when I hear the infamous Max Hall, “I hate everything about [Utah],” quote, or when I see grown men on Twitter argue over why the 20-year-old athletes they cheer for make them morally superior than others, because whether or not BYU wins or loses, students at both universities have to go to school the following Monday.

The sun still spins.

Mount Olympus and Mount Timpanogous still stand.

All signs point to Kyle Whittingham, a BYU grad, retiring at the end of this season, which makes the little boy in me sad. I saw him do great things when I was younger and I still watch him do great things now as a BYU student reporter.

I don’t hate him. I don’t hate most people in the rivalry.

I don't think that the University of Utah, its teams, its players or its fans are inherently "classless." The same can be said for my newfound home at BYU.

Saturday will be a special edition of the Holy War for me. My first one sitting in the press box as a reporter.

I hope that the little boy who witnessed "nine in a row" and the freshman who braved taking American Heritage so he could get a journalism degree are proud.