College Gameday Rolls Out Trivia Centered Around BYU/Utah Rivalry
Nov 9, 2024, 9:47 AM | Updated: 3:05 pm
BYU/Utah rivalry was featured as a trivia question during ESPN's College Gameday. (Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
(Jaren Wilkey/BYU Photo)
SALT LAKE CITY – The BYU/Utah rivalry got a national spotlight during ESPN’s College Gameday.
During the college football pregame show, the popular ESPN program rolls out trivia questions for the panel of hosts.
This week’s trivia question was centered around the BYU/Utah rivalry game.
Which QB has thrown for the most passing yards in a BYU/Utah game?
The question was, “Which quarterback has thrown for the most passing yards in a Holy War game?”
Some of the initial guesses from the hosts included “Alex Smith,” “Zach Wilson,” “Robbie Bosco,” and “Jim McMahon.”
But the answer was a BYU great from the 1977 rivalry meeting.
Marc Wilson passed for 571 yards against Utah in a 38-8 victory over the Utes.
Marc Wilson in 1977
That performance is noteworthy because it set a single-game NCAA passing record. BYU kept Wilson in with the game out of reach and completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to John VanDerWouden to set the record.
Utah head coach Wayne Howard was not happy about BYU’s decision to keep Wilson in the game.
“This today will be inspiring. The hatred between BYU and Utah is nothing compared to what it will be. It will be a crusade to beat BYU from now on,” Howard said after the 1977 game. “This is a prediction: In the next two years Utah will drill BYU someday, but we won’t run up the score even if we could set an NCAA record against them.”
Utah went on to beat BYU in 1978, 23-22.
No. 9 BYU vs. Utah
Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium
Kickoff: 8:15 p.m. (MST)
TV: ESPN
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM) — Extended pregame coverage begins at 6 p.m.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
