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Provo • Bronco Mendenhall's final game as BYU's football coach will be against the school's most bitter rival.
The Cougars will face No. 20 Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 19 at Sam Boyd Stadium, the bowl announced Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. MST and the game will be televised nationally by ABC.
Both teams are 9-3. With a 99-42 record at BYU, Mendenhall will be trying to get his 100th win in his 11th season before becoming Virginia's new coach.
It will be the first meeting between the longtime rivals since 2013; BYU and Utah are scheduled to meet again on Sept. 10, 2016, at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.
"We are looking forward to this unique opportunity of playing against a rival like Utah in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl," Mendenhall said in a school news release. "This will be the first time this rivalry game has taken place in a bowl setting so it has some historic significance as well as being a great matchup between two teams that have had outstanding seasons."
At his goodbye news conference Friday after he accepted the Virginia job, Mendenhall said he will coach in the bowl game and wanted to face the best available team.
"This will be our 11th straight bowl game and I am definitely looking forward to coaching this team one last time as we take the field in Las Vegas striving to achieve our 10th win of the season," said Mendenhall, who will participate in a press conference in Charlottesville at 8 a.m. MST on Monday introducing him as the new Cavaliers' coach.
Last Friday, when it was looking likely that BYU and Utah would meet in the bowl game, Mendenhall asked for civility and sportsmanship from fans of both teams.
"I think one of the unique things about college football is the sense of rivalries," Mendenhall said. "With conference realignments, some of that has changed. There does come a point where rivalry behavior becomes unhealthy. I didn't see it while in it. I only saw it when we stopped playing. … Possibly people along the way will be able to see a different perspective and put it in a different place in terms of value and civility and treating it in a way that it can be a productive game and event rather than a divisive game and event."
The Utes are ranked No. 22 in the College Football Playoffs rankings released Sunday morning and were as high as No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 earlier in the season.
The Cougars and Utes have never met in a bowl game. Utah has won the last four matchups and says it leads the series, started in 1896, with a 57-34-4 record. BYU does not count the first six games, split 3-3, when it was known as Brigham Young Academy and says the series started in 1922 and is 54-31-4.
BYU played in the Las Vegas Bowl from 2005 to 2009, going 3-2 in that five-year span.
"We are excited to be returning to Las Vegas," said BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe. "BYU-Utah is one of the great rivalries in college football. Playing each other for the first time in a bowl game should add a unique chapter to our storied history."
Senior receiver Mitch Mathews echoed Mendenhall's sentiments about playing the best available team, and Utah is certainly that. The Utes were passed over by the Holiday, Foster Farms and Sun bowls for USC, UCLA and Washington State, respectively.
"To relive the that rivalry with Utah would be awesome," Mathews said on Friday. "It would be a special thing."
BYU freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum said the Cougars will be ready to face the Utes.
"We are ready to get after it, start practicing and preparing for our opponent, and I am excited for another chance to play, an opportunity to get 10 wins, not only get 10 wins, but coach Mendenhall's 100th win. That could be pretty special," he said. "I am excited to keep focusing on the bowl and get ready for this last game of the season and end it on a high note, and end it he way that coach Mendenhall wants us to end it."
Twitter: @drewjay Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015
At Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas
BYU (9-3) vs. Utah (9-3), 1:30 p.m. MST
TV: ABC