A photo from the 1936 Colorado vs. Utah game
CU-Utah: Rumbles in the Rockies
October 17, 2026 | Football
The University of Colorado's first intercollegiate sport was baseball in the spring of 1890. Football followed that fall, with several men's sports added over the next decade. Almost all competition were state of Colorado colleges: Colorado College, Colorado Mines, the University of Denver, Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State) and State Normal School (now Northern Colorado).
Rivalries with out-of-state schools would soon develop. Nebraska was the first in football (1898), basketball (1903) as well as baseball (1905). Even though the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) route from Denver to Salt Lake City – a 735-mile winding trek through the mountains – was completed in 1883 and Utah's football program debuted in 1892, the Silver & Gold (CU, Buffaloes adopted in 1934) and the Mormons (Utah, became Utes in 1927), the two did not meet until Oct. 4, 1903, a 22-0 Colorado win in Boulder.
A football rivalry soon developed between the schools, a premier western one that lasted until 1962 but reborn in 2011 when both became members of the Pac-12 Conference. Nebraska would replace Utah in the interim, and also filling the game was one in skiing – which remains to this day.
Utah took over the lead in the football series earlier this decade, slipping ahead 36-33 with three ties. There were several classic games as quite often the title in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference was settled between the two.
Byron "Whizzer" White was a big thorn in the Utes' side, evidenced by his performance in CU's 31-7 win on a snow-covered field in Boulder in 1936 (Utah's worst loss since 1914). White scored 25 points and accounted for all four touchdowns by returning two punts (38 and 40 yards), a kickoff (88 yards) and a 33-touchdown run along with throwing a 34-yard TD pass to Art Unger kicking one of the extra points.
The next year in Salt Lake City, it was more of the same as he returned a punt 95 yards, scored another touchdown on a 57-yard sprint, kicked a 15-yard field goal and kicked both extra points in scoring all the points in a 17-7 win.
After Colorado joined the Big Seven Conference in 1948, the Utah rivalry continued through 1962, sans the '59 and '60 seasons. The Buffs reeled off eight straight wins before the two-year break, and upon the renewal in 1961, Utah provided some heartbreak. Colorado was ranked 8th in the nation with a 6-0 record and had eyes on a possible national championship; Utah rolled into Boulder with a 5-3 record and would spoil CU's run with a 21-12 victory. The Utes won the last game in the series the next season before it went dormant for 49 years.
Not that many, except a handful of folks remembered Utah's win in '61, so it wasn't like the Buffs had a score to settle. But in their first meeting went the series resumed – their first seasons in the Pac-12 – Utah hosted CU in the season finale where a Ute win would give them the South Division title; Utah (7-4 record) owned a tiebreaker with UCLA as the division leader, USC, was ineligible due to NCAA sanctions. The Buffs (2-10) exacted a small measure of revenge in ruining Utah's chance for history with a 17-14 win in Salt Lake City. Tyler Hansen threw for 264 yards and a touchdown and running in another while CU's defense held Utah to 274 total yards.
The game in 2016 was a classic; CU was on the verge on turning in a last-to-first season with a 7-1 league mark (1-8 the year prior) but had Utah in the way in the regular season finale. Utah was 5-3 and looking to play the grim reaper, as CU needed a win to secure the South Division crown as USC was one game back and owned the tiebreaker. It was a nip-and-tuck battle; Utah had closed to within 20-16 early in the fourth quarter and took possession deep in its territory with 11:05 remaining. But on its first play, Rick Gamboa forced a fumble that Kenneth Olugbode scooped up and returned 10 yards for what turned out to be the clinching score in a 27-22 Buff victory.
The last visit by the Utes was their first as a member of the Big 12, as Utah joined CU in switching conference affiliations. CU was riding high and was out to end a seven-game losing streak in the series, and it would come crashing to an end. Shedeur Sanders threw for 340 yards and three touchdown passes and LaJohntay Webester returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown in a 49-24 triumph.
The Buffs lead the series in men's basketball by a 37-28 margin (16-15 since 2011, when the two were again in the same league after several periods of assorted lengths of dormancy. Utah won the first meeting, 30-11 in 1914; the two played the first league game after both moved to the Mountain States Conference, In what newspaper accounts called a "free-scoring melee" (no shot clock then), CU won over the favored Utes, 54-43 behind 22 points from Jimmy Schwartz and in his first game after finishing his football career, 10 from White with several assists (they didn't keep actual numbers at the time but he was said to feed Scwartz on most of his field goals). Once reunited in the Pac-12 in 2012, CU won that reunion, 73-33, and also bested the Utes twice in the league's postseason tournament.
CU's two wins in women's basketball gave the Buffs a 24-22 lead overall; the two were first together in the old Intermountain Conference in 1975 when the sport gained varsity status after Title IX. Each team owns a home win over the other when it was ranked No. 8 in the nation. In 2023, the Buffs chalked up a 77-67 win over the eighth-ranked Utes behind 20 points from Frida Formann, and a year later, Utah returned the favor in 77-76, winning with a layup at the buzzer.
Both schools are among the annual favorites to win the NCAA skiing championship and have 38 titles between them – CU has 20. In women's volleyball, including one match this year, the two have met 38 times – Utah has won 20. The Buffs own a hefty edge in women's soccer, ahead 13-6 with five ties (the two miss each other this season).
What is ironic is that the two members of the same conference from 1909 through 1947, never met even one time in baseball, mainly due to Utah dropping the sport in 1922 and not bringing it back until 1948; and of course, CU eliminated it after the 1980 season.
Rivalries with out-of-state schools would soon develop. Nebraska was the first in football (1898), basketball (1903) as well as baseball (1905). Even though the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad (D&RG) route from Denver to Salt Lake City – a 735-mile winding trek through the mountains – was completed in 1883 and Utah's football program debuted in 1892, the Silver & Gold (CU, Buffaloes adopted in 1934) and the Mormons (Utah, became Utes in 1927), the two did not meet until Oct. 4, 1903, a 22-0 Colorado win in Boulder.
A football rivalry soon developed between the schools, a premier western one that lasted until 1962 but reborn in 2011 when both became members of the Pac-12 Conference. Nebraska would replace Utah in the interim, and also filling the game was one in skiing – which remains to this day.
Utah took over the lead in the football series earlier this decade, slipping ahead 36-33 with three ties. There were several classic games as quite often the title in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference was settled between the two.
Byron "Whizzer" White was a big thorn in the Utes' side, evidenced by his performance in CU's 31-7 win on a snow-covered field in Boulder in 1936 (Utah's worst loss since 1914). White scored 25 points and accounted for all four touchdowns by returning two punts (38 and 40 yards), a kickoff (88 yards) and a 33-touchdown run along with throwing a 34-yard TD pass to Art Unger kicking one of the extra points.
The next year in Salt Lake City, it was more of the same as he returned a punt 95 yards, scored another touchdown on a 57-yard sprint, kicked a 15-yard field goal and kicked both extra points in scoring all the points in a 17-7 win.
After Colorado joined the Big Seven Conference in 1948, the Utah rivalry continued through 1962, sans the '59 and '60 seasons. The Buffs reeled off eight straight wins before the two-year break, and upon the renewal in 1961, Utah provided some heartbreak. Colorado was ranked 8th in the nation with a 6-0 record and had eyes on a possible national championship; Utah rolled into Boulder with a 5-3 record and would spoil CU's run with a 21-12 victory. The Utes won the last game in the series the next season before it went dormant for 49 years.
Not that many, except a handful of folks remembered Utah's win in '61, so it wasn't like the Buffs had a score to settle. But in their first meeting went the series resumed – their first seasons in the Pac-12 – Utah hosted CU in the season finale where a Ute win would give them the South Division title; Utah (7-4 record) owned a tiebreaker with UCLA as the division leader, USC, was ineligible due to NCAA sanctions. The Buffs (2-10) exacted a small measure of revenge in ruining Utah's chance for history with a 17-14 win in Salt Lake City. Tyler Hansen threw for 264 yards and a touchdown and running in another while CU's defense held Utah to 274 total yards.
The game in 2016 was a classic; CU was on the verge on turning in a last-to-first season with a 7-1 league mark (1-8 the year prior) but had Utah in the way in the regular season finale. Utah was 5-3 and looking to play the grim reaper, as CU needed a win to secure the South Division crown as USC was one game back and owned the tiebreaker. It was a nip-and-tuck battle; Utah had closed to within 20-16 early in the fourth quarter and took possession deep in its territory with 11:05 remaining. But on its first play, Rick Gamboa forced a fumble that Kenneth Olugbode scooped up and returned 10 yards for what turned out to be the clinching score in a 27-22 Buff victory.
The last visit by the Utes was their first as a member of the Big 12, as Utah joined CU in switching conference affiliations. CU was riding high and was out to end a seven-game losing streak in the series, and it would come crashing to an end. Shedeur Sanders threw for 340 yards and three touchdown passes and LaJohntay Webester returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown in a 49-24 triumph.
The Buffs lead the series in men's basketball by a 37-28 margin (16-15 since 2011, when the two were again in the same league after several periods of assorted lengths of dormancy. Utah won the first meeting, 30-11 in 1914; the two played the first league game after both moved to the Mountain States Conference, In what newspaper accounts called a "free-scoring melee" (no shot clock then), CU won over the favored Utes, 54-43 behind 22 points from Jimmy Schwartz and in his first game after finishing his football career, 10 from White with several assists (they didn't keep actual numbers at the time but he was said to feed Scwartz on most of his field goals). Once reunited in the Pac-12 in 2012, CU won that reunion, 73-33, and also bested the Utes twice in the league's postseason tournament.
CU's two wins in women's basketball gave the Buffs a 24-22 lead overall; the two were first together in the old Intermountain Conference in 1975 when the sport gained varsity status after Title IX. Each team owns a home win over the other when it was ranked No. 8 in the nation. In 2023, the Buffs chalked up a 77-67 win over the eighth-ranked Utes behind 20 points from Frida Formann, and a year later, Utah returned the favor in 77-76, winning with a layup at the buzzer.
Both schools are among the annual favorites to win the NCAA skiing championship and have 38 titles between them – CU has 20. In women's volleyball, including one match this year, the two have met 38 times – Utah has won 20. The Buffs own a hefty edge in women's soccer, ahead 13-6 with five ties (the two miss each other this season).
What is ironic is that the two members of the same conference from 1909 through 1947, never met even one time in baseball, mainly due to Utah dropping the sport in 1922 and not bringing it back until 1948; and of course, CU eliminated it after the 1980 season.
Monday, October 12
Monday, October 12
Sunday, October 04
Sunday, October 04
