Las Vegas Holy War final score: BYU falls just short in gigantic comeback vs. Utah, 35-28

On the 35th anniversary of BYU’s greatest comeback victory, the Cougars spotted archrival Utah 35 points and nearly pulled off something even more memorable.

A blind look at the box score or a viewing of the game’s final three quarters would actually lead one to believe BYU dominated in Bronco Mendenhall’s last game before becoming Virginia’s head coach. It’s true; the Utes had about half the Cougars’ yardage for the entire game, finishing with a 387-198 deficit.

The difference ended up being the five turnovers BYU coughed up during its first five possessions. We decided only DJ Khaled’s “another one” could soundtrack that spectacle. It got so dark so quickly that Brent Musburger was already lamenting in the first quarter that Mormons aren’t supposed to drink.

In the 1980 Holiday Bowl, the Cougars trailed SMU 45-25 with four minutes to go. Texas Tech’s 31-point comeback with 23 minutes to go in the 2006 Insight Bowl remains bigger as far as points go, but even that wouldn’t have compared to what the Cougars nearly pulled off Saturday.

And now these two play next in September.

As for other things ...

The game itself was relatively subdued (no BYU bowl brawl?). But HO HO HO HO, they still hate each other, despite their two-year rivalry hiatus turning into one, thanks to this bowl.

After Utah fans scoffed at BYU and school officials expressed zero excitement over the rivalry’s renewal, Utes players were the ones who stoked the fire publicly. A defensive lineman took a stage to call the Cougars a dirty team, and Utah’s punter laid claim to the entire Beehive State before dropping a fake punt on his rivals:

And remember, those are players from the team that allegedly cares less about the rivalry.

Utah’s newly a Pac-12 team, previously in the lower-tier Mountain West. The Utes have now been in this game five times since 1999, thrice as a mid-major.

This bowl is also sixth in the Pac-12’s selection order, meaning three Pac-12 bowls passed up on the Utes to pick teams with fewer wins.

Add that to the rivalry renewal further associating Utah with non-power stuff (BYU’s an independent since likewise leaving the MWC), and this whole thing felt a little low-grade for fans of a program just starting to establish itself as a power-conference program.

Game still sold out in 22 hours, though even that raised tension, as BYU got a head start on buying tickets. Based on our numbers, interest for this game was way, way higher than the usual December bowl.

I don’t know anything about the religious affiliations of the individuals in the following photo, but all evidence suggests the highly religious fanbases of both schools had a fine time Friday night. Fun isn’t against the rules, you see.

We’ll see how many BYU fans manage to have fun Saturday night. Matt, a LDS church member, will have a full report from the scene.