Rumble in the Rockies

Rumble in the Rockies
History
First Meeting	October 3, 1903 Colorado 22, Utah 0
Last Meeting	November 23, 2012 Utah 42, Colorado 35
Next Meeting	November 30, 2013
All-Time Series	Colorado leads, 31–25–3
Colorado (31) 1903 1904 1905 1907 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1917 1923 1924 1934 1935 1936 1937 1939 1943 1943 1944 1945 1949 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 2011	Utah (25) 1906 1908 1915 1916 1919 1920 1922 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1940 1941 1942 1946 1947 1948 1961 1962 2012
Ties (3) 1921 1938 1950

The Rumble in the Rockies is an American college football rivalry game played by the Colorado Buffaloes football team of the University of Colorado at Boulder and Utah Utes football team of the University of Utah. After nearly four decades of dormancy, the rivalry was revived in 2011 when both universities joined the Pacific-12 Conference and were placed in the Pac-12's South Division.

From 1903–62, Utah and Colorado played each other nearly every year. By 1962, they had played 57 games.^[1] At that time, it was the second-most played rivalry for both teams (Utah had played Utah State 62 times;^[2] Colorado had played Colorado State 61 times^[3]). After the 1962 meeting, however, Colorado and Utah stopped playing each other in football. As part of the 2010–12 NCAA conference realignment, both Utah and Colorado were placed in the Pacific-12 Conference's new South Division. The first game since the realignment was played on Black Friday, and based on input from both schools' fans the name Rumble in the Rockies was chosen for the rivalry.^[4] The second game since the realignment was the first Black Friday college football game to be telecast by the Fox Broadcasting Company, which holds the exclusive over-the-air television rights to Pacific-12 Conference football (with the exceptions of games against the Southeastern Conference and Notre Dame).

Prior to the resumption of the rivalry, Colorado played Nebraska on Thanksgiving weekend since the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996 in front of a national television audience while Utah played its annual Holy War against Brigham Young University. The Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry was discontinued due to realignment where Nebraska joined the Big Ten Conference, while the Holy War game was moved to earlier in the season. (Coincidentally, BYU also was part of the 2011 realigning of conferences as they left the Mountain West Conference to become a football independent.)

Despite the near half-century hiatus, the Colorado–Utah rivalry remains the fifth-most played rivalry in Utah's history, and the eighth-most played rivalry in Colorado's history.^[5][6]

History [edit]

Colorado's history shaded █ black. Utah's history shaded in █ red.

1910–47 [edit]

Kickoff during the 1916 Colorado – Utah game

For 38 years, Utah and Colorado were members of the same conference. From 1910 to 1937, they both played in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. And then from 1938 to 1947, they were both members of the Mountain States Athletic Conference. Of those 38 seasons, either Utah or Colorado won at least a share of the conference title 27 times (Utah won 12 outright, and 3 shared; Colorado won 11 outright, and 2 shared). The two schools shared the Mountain States Conference title in 1942.

The most notable meetings during this era occurred in 1936 and 1937:

The 1936 match-up may have featured the greatest gridiron performance of Colorado halfback Byron "Whizzer" White. White ran for one TD from scrimmage that day, and threw for another. But the future U.S. Supreme Court Justice was most dominant on special teams. As punter, White kept Utah's offense backed up all game. And as a kick returner, he also returned one kickoff and two desperate Utah punts for touchdowns. Although Utah had been favored to win, Colorado won 31–7. ^[7] Utah's lone touchdown in the game was a kickoff return for a touchdown by Joseph Wirthlin.^[8]

In 1937, Colorado went into Salt Lake undefeated and unchallenged – having outscored opponents 162–6 en route to a 5–0 record. However, they found themselves trailing Utah at halftime 7–0. But from there, Whizzer White took control of the game. White first got CU on the board with a third-quarter field goal. Then, in the fourth quarter, White returned a Utah punt 85-yards for a touchdown (white also kicked the extra point). Moments later, White sealed the win with a 57-yard touchdown run from scrimmage (and again kicked the extra point). Final Score: Colorado 17, Utah 7.^[7][9][10] The Frontiersmen finished the regular season 8–0, but lost to Rice in the 1938 Cotton Bowl. White was a runner-up on the 1937 Heisman Trophy ballot.^[11]

1948–62 [edit]

In 1948, Colorado left the Mountain States Conference and joined the Big Eight Conference (then known as the Big Seven Conference). But for the next fourteen years, Utah and Colorado played each other nearly every year as part of the teams' non-conference schedules. It was during this time, Colorado began to dominate Utah, winning nine of the thirteen games played during this era, including eight in a row from 1949 to 1958.^[1]

The 1961 meeting in Boulder is perhaps the most noteworthy game of the Utah–Colorado football rivalry, for two reasons: 1) the 1961 Colorado team was the most successful squad that either school had ever fielded; and 2) it was a monumental upset. #8 Colorado was the first to score, and they also added another touchdown in the final minutes. But Utah dominated the game in between Colorado's lone scores. Final score: Utah 21, Colorado 12.^[12] Colorado went on to finish the regular season with a 9–1 record, a #4 national ranking, a Big Eight Conference title, and a berth in the 1962 Orange Bowl. Utah, however, would have to settle for a 6–4 record.

Utah won again the following year in Salt Lake City, 37–21, the last time the two schools met in football until the series resumed in 2011.

2011–present [edit]

With Utah and Colorado joining the Pac-12 in 2011, the two teams began play against each other once again. The first matchup was a Black Friday game, a day in college football reserved for rivalry matchups; Colorado has had a regular place on Black Friday since 1996, against then-division rival Nebraska, but the conference realignments has separated that rivalry while restarting the long-dormant Colorado–Utah football rivalry. In the inaugural Rumble matchup, Colorado defeated Utah 17-14 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, ending their chance at a possible berth in the first Pac-12 Championship Game. Had the Utes won, they would have represented the South Division against eventual conference champion Oregon. Utah exacted its revenge on the Buffaloes in the 2012 edition of the Rumble, defeating Colorado 42-35 in Boulder in a bitterly fought game that further cemented the rivalry between the two teams. It was the final game of both teams' seasons.

References [edit]