This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Lifelong BYU fan Buck Owens described his reaction to this year's unusual Las Vegas Bowl pairing as "euphoric" — "it's like Christmas is coming twice this year."
For U. season ticket holder Dalton Driggers, "it was like I got kicked in the teeth."
Owens and Driggers, obviously, don't speak for all Utah and BYU fans. In a reader survey conducted through Public Insight Network, some Utah fans welcomed an extra installment in the rivalry series, the 96th since the teams first met in April 1896. A few BYU fans would have preferred a longer break, weary of the vitriol and the uglinesses publicized in recent years.
But the general divide is as such: A majority of Utah fans were disappointed in the school's bowl fate, to the delight of those like Owens, who wrote "Who cares who wins now? The [Utes] hate their lives. That's plenty for me." And a majority of BYU fans relished an opportunity to snap a four-game series skid.
Eric Purdy, who supports BYU and lives two hours north of Las Vegas, said he became excited about the prospect as soon as Travis Wilson's fourth-and-16 pass sailed over the head of Kenneth Scott to seal Utah's double-overtime loss to Arizona.
"What true college football fan couldn't like this game?" he asked.
And while it may be hard to reconcile the two facts, the non-New Year's Six bowl matchup with the most sought-after ticket is largely reviled by the fans of one of its invitees.
That Utah went from No. 3 in the nation to a repeat appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl means its best Pac-12 season — six wins in conference — is "in jeopardy of being one of the worst," writes Utah fan Jed Pearson, with a loss to Mountain West era vestige BYU.
Jared Beagley felt the Cougars don't deserve to face the Utes, who had a tougher road to 9-3. Barry Wirth said the matchup fails to broaden the experience of players and fans. Some U. diehards had plans to see Utah's men's basketball team play Duke at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 19. And a handful of respondents shared their feeling that BYU plays dirty.
Then there's that ticket situation. Jon Pezely — who once tried to acquire a "54210" vanity plate to honor the 2011 rivalry scoreline — was glad Utah had a bowl destination he could reach on a tank of gas. But the game sold out quickly, and secondhand ticket prices were a shock, with an average list price of over $400, an average sale price of about $200.
It frustrates Utah fan Ellis Slack that BYU accepted its invitation days earlier, giving its fans a jump on tickets. Slack said he might have attended otherwise.
Adding to the offense for some Ute fans is the neatness of it all: Red and Blue meeting in the Royal Purple bowl. Executive director John Saccenti said there was no collusion with bowls higher in the Pac-12 selection order to make sure Utah dropped to his bowl, and that the bowl's contract with the conference left him no choice.
But U. alum, employee and season ticket holder Laura Gilchrist was one of a dozen respondents who felt ESPN, which owns the bowl and televises all but one of the Pac-12 bowls, orchestrated the headline-grabbing pairing.
"The bowl committees and the sports media seem to make their own backdoor deals, regardless of merit," Gilchrist wrote.
Still others blamed Utah. As in, the football team, and its spate of injuries, and its offensive struggles. Paul Valenzuela doesn't fault the suits, just as "I don't blame my dog when she chases chickens. She's a dog. That's what dogs do."
"Utah knows the Pac-12 bowl agreements," he continued. "If they wanted to guarantee a different bowl game, they should have performed better in the fourth quarter in Tucson, and in the red zone against UCLA."
Some BYU fans wondered if Ute fans' frustrations weren't rooted in insecurity. Duane Harvey said he laughed when he saw that Utah fans were upset to draw an extra game against their rivals.
"I remember Alabama thinking Utah not worthy to play them in a bowl," he wrote. "Maybe the same result will happen here."
Jeff Meyer is one Ute fan who doubles as a rivalry fan. He has been since watching Chris Yergensen's 55-yard field goal ended an era in which Utah won just two of 21 rivalry games and to begin an era in which Utah would win 14 of the next 21.
Meyer's complaint about the BYU fans who surrounded him during that 1993 game mirror those that many BYU fans leveled against the Utes this week: They thought they were superior. Ute fans who now feel too big for BYU should get over themselves, Meyer said.
Utah graduate Zach Sterbens doesn't share that opinion, writing tongue in cheek about the glory of playing at "the hallowed grounds of Sam Boyd Stadium." But he could at least find one silver lining: He can visit his grandmother in Las Vegas.
Twitter: @matthew_piper