Why BYU-Utah Is Called The ‘Holy War’

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PROVO, UT - OCTOBER 18: Bear Bachmeier #47 of the Brigham Young Cougars breaks the tackle attempt by Elijah Davis #9, Pupu Sepulona #45, and Levani Damuni #3 of the Utah Utes during the second half of their game at LaVell Edwards Stadium on October 18, 2025 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)

This Saturday’s BYU and Utah college football clash doesn’t need a special name to make it exciting. These are two top-10 teams going at it in a game that has huge Big 12 and College Football Playoff implications.

They’re in-state rivals, not all that far apart from Provo to Salt Lake City, and that brings plenty of juice on its own. But yeah, there’s a name, and it’s an epic one: When BYU and Utah meet on the football field, they call it the “Holy War.”

That’s a tough one to top, really, but this year it has some competition even just on the day of this game — Miami and Notre Dame play Saturday night in the “Catholics vs. Convicts” showdown.

Yeah, college football is pretty awesome.

Anyway, let’s revisit this “Holy War” name for BYU-Utah.

Why is BYU-Utah Called the ‘Holy War’?

The term refers to the difference in religion between the two schools.

BYU was founded by Brigham Young, who was the second president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — the Mormons.

The student body at BYU is reported to be more than 98% LDS.

Utah is not a religious institution. It’s a public university.

There can certainly be plenty of religious ties for individuals involved with the Utes, but the school itself isn’t connected to a faith.

The name itself? It may have appeared decades ago, but it doesn’t have a clear origin story.

The Sporting News wrote this in explaining the moniker: “It’s unclear quite when the feud became sacrosanct. Veteran journalist Dick Harmon recalled first hearing it uttered during radio shows in the 1990s in an op-ed for Deseret News.”

And one other entertaining fact from The Sporting News: Brigham Young founded the University of Utah, too.

So the ties between these schools go back to the beginning.

Is Utah a Religious School?

The most confusing part of the “Holy War” name is that the University of Utah is not affiliated with any religion.

Utah is a public university, a secular institution.

The “Holy War” name does give off the vibes that it’s a battle between two different faiths on the gridiron, but not necessarily in this case. Utah has a diverse student body, while BYU is heavily tied in with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

At this point, the name of the rivalry is the name of the rivalry, and it’s much too good to be gotten rid of.