I think Bronco leaving and Sitake taking his place is the biggest reason we’ve seen the pure hatred start to calm down. That and not being conference foes has changed the rivalry dramatically.
I also think Utah going 12 years without losing took some steam out of it. I don’t want to take anything away from BYU because that’s a good team that just flat-out kicked Utah’s *** on Saturday, but I was stunned by the lack of emotion and urgency Utah displayed from the get go. That’s easily the flattest Utah team I’ve seen face BYU since I’ve been watching the rivalry.
I honestly think that Ute team expected to show up and win. I think Utah’s current batch of players didn’t have an appreciation of just how bad it hurts to lose your rivalry game. Combine that with BYU having a really good team and having enough of “The Streak”.
I think everyone in this forum is pretty civilized and respectful about the rivalry. I did make the mistake of looking at some BYU fan tweets yesterday and it immediately made me remember why I never want Utah to lose to BYU again, and why I should avoid looking for that stuff in the first place.
As much as I HATE saying this, it’s probably best for the rivalry to have your team lose here and there. If a team reels off 20 straight wins, that’s not much of a rivalry, now is it? Easily the worst part of losing this game is that it comes right before a 2 year break, so you guys get 3 years of bragging rights. Utah has benefitted from this scenario as well, so I can’t cry too hard. I am however, eagerly anticipating the matchup in SLC 3 years from now.