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http://universe.byu.edu/beta/2012/07/10/co ugars-and-utes-anno unce-2-year-break/

Cougars and Utes announce two-year break

By Christian Jo nes

T he Holy War just became the Holey War. T he Deseret Duel will not continue f or the two rival f ootball teams f or the next f ew years. Chris Hill, athletic director f or the University of Utah announced Tuesday that the Cougars and the Utes will not play in both the 2014 and 2015 seasons. No rivalry games are guaranteed f or the 2013 and 2016 seasons, as the contracts between the two universities are currently pending. However, both Hill and BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe expressed their conf idence that the games will take place during those seasons. T he Holy War rivalry, which began in 1896, has only been interrupted once, in 1945. It took a World War to keep the Utes and Cougars f rom playing each other that year. What could stand between the Cougars and Utes now? T he Michigan Wolverines. T he Utes recently announced an upcoming series with the Wolverines f or the 2014 and 2015 seasons, a move that likely jeopardized the rivalry game occurring during those years. When we joined the Pac-12 Conf erence, we knew there would be opportunities f or Utah athletics that were never available bef ore, Hill said. A home-and-home series with Michigan is an example of something that we would not have envisioned even a f ew years ago and f elt we could not pass up. T he Michigan Wolverines is like the new girl who moved into town and broke up the cute couple everyone was cheering f or. BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe expressed his disappointment in his response to the rivalrys cessation.
BYU d e fe nd e r Pre s to n Had le y b re aks up a p as s o n a third a g o al d uring Saturd ay' s As a f ormer player and coach I love the BYU-Utah rivalry. It is one of g ame ag ains t Utah. BYU lo s t to Utah 54-10 the great rivalries in all of sports, Holmoe said. T here is so much o n Saturd ay at LaVe ll Ed ward s Stad ium. history and tradition in the game. I understand that Utah has some challenges with scheduling, but, as I have indicated on several occasions, it is our pref erence to play the game every year. In the f uture, I know we can f ind a way to make that happen. [me d ia-c re d it id =79 alig n=" alig nrig ht" wid th=" 214" ][/me d ia-c re d it]

T he rivalrys rif t isnt exactly unexpected. Ever since the Utess conf erence re-af f iliation with the Pac-12 and the Cougarss disaf f iliation into independence, there has been talk of whether the rivalry would continue. In a recent interview with Yahoo! Sports, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham hinted to a possible break in the rivalry. Bottom line is weve got to do whats best f or our program. T hat supersedes anything to do with the rivalry, Whittingham said. If taking a year or two of f periodically is best f or our program, best f or our scheduling, then thats what weve got to do. Our program is bigger than the rivalry. T hats got to take a backseat to us doing

whats best f or our program. T he Utes and Cougars comatose clash is just the most recent addition to a plethora of dilapidated f amed rivalries. Florida/Florida State, Colorado/Colorado State, Iowa/ Iowa State, Texas A&M/Texas, West Virginia/Pittsburgh, Kansas/Missouri and Notre Dame/USC are just a f ew of the f amous rivalry games that have temporarily or permanently ceased. Despite their dissatisf action with the rivalry ending, the Cougars are conf ident they will be able to schedule an increasing amount of quality competition in the subsequent seasons. About the Author Author's latest posts