Cougar Kickoff Countdown: 42 Days

There are a fair amount of people who think it is good that the rivalry is taking a break. They say things like, "The rivalry has become too contentious." or "It's become too mean." These people probably don't even know the history of the rivalry. The BYU-UofU rivalry was forged in the furnace of contention fueled by the bellows of animosity. When is the last time the stadium broke out into a massive fight? 1942.

From What it Means to be a Cougar: BYU beat the University of Utah in Salt Lake for the first time in 1942 with a score of 12-7. Glen Oliverson played halfback for BYU and described the postgame scene," When the gun went off to end the game, all hell broke loose - up in the stands and down on the field." Cougar fans were so excited that they rushed the field and tore down both goal posts. Utah fans and students were not about to let that happen with out a fight and fight they did.

BYU end Gayland "Iron Mike" Mills also described the scene, "After winning the game in 1942, we came out of the locker room and into the stadium. I'd never seen so much fighting in the stands between the Utah fans and the BYU fans [was fighting a common occurrence between the two sides in the early days?]." An army reserve unit was present and tried to break up the fighting; their effectiveness is doubtful. Mills recalled hearing one of the reserves shouting to the others, "Now don't hit anyone while they are down!"

BYU fans succeeded in dropping both goal posts. According to Oliverson they were taken back to Provo and cut into four-inch pieces. The following Monday classes were canceled for a celebration assembly at which the pieces of the Utah goal posts were distributed to the football players and to a few lucky students.