BYU Football Fighting for Its Existence, Relevance

BYU Football Fighting for Its Existence, Relevance

It's rivalry week. Utah thinks that they don't want to play their intra-state rival anymore. Especially the Saturday before their conference final.

BYU is 6-5, Utah is 8-3. Both have done good things this season and both have had some heartaches. Both will go bowling. Utah State, the smaller school Aggies of the north, is the highest ranked. (Go figure).

The Utes. Some of us think that they think they are  above the private school 49 miles to the south. Yes, we Cougars are a pesky thorn in their plans for PAC-12 conference relevance. They have to play us before their coveted conference championship, the same conference BYU fought and sacrificed for for many decades to be a part of, and was rejected by when Utah was invited. Years back, there were other times, when BYU was winning a national championship making the Inter-Mountain West relevant. Long before Fresno State or Boise State became big. People thought a religious school, an obscure place with obscure outdated rules like no drinking or pre-marital conjugal relationships before matrimony was a fool's errand. Hundreds of young men proved otherwise.

And those standards have remained. And they will. Some say BYU cannot get enough young athletes to abide by such peculiar old fashioned standards.

Some Utes and others may think that BYU prevents them from national relevance.

Not so. USC deals with Notre Dame. Look what they do. USC is big time program. No complaints.

Utes, get used to it. 

BYU will always be there as your rival. 

If you do not recognize that, then you will slide from national relevance.

 So, good luck this Saturday, and good luck down the road. I hope you do great, really. I love the state of Utah, your coach, and tons of your students and alumni.

Slight future scheduling of your religious brother down south at your peril.

BYU has higher standards, pays its personnel less, has tons of returned older missionaries like you do,  and has lots of in-state and national and international fans.

We are not better than you. Brigham Young football is not morally superior, just different.

Like Air Force or Army or Navy Academies, BYU plays to a different standard.

And Utah, this is part of who you are. It's your identity.

If you dink out of the rivalry, you will be left behind. Don't do it.

Again, best of luck. Get ready to play. Don't forget who you are.

BYU football fan and alum,

Eduardo