Examining Kyle Whittingham’s record in rivalry games
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The Game is without a doubt the greatest rivalry in all of sports. However, Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham is brand new to the rivalry having spent nearly his entire career in Utah.
Whittingham is not new to intense rivalries, however, as Utah has a few of them. Today, we’ll be examining how Whittingham and his Utes have performed exclusively in rivalry games.
With all due respect to the Rumble in the Rockies (Colorado) and the Battle of the Brothers (Utah State), there is only one true archrival of the Utes: the BYU Cougars. The Holy War has been played since 1896, with Utah holding a commanding lead, 62-37-4.
Whittingham took over the Utah program as head coach (despite a head coaching offer from his alma mater, BYU) prior to the 2005 season. In his first taste of the Holy War, Whittingham stared down an uphill battle with both his starting quarterback and best wide receiver missing the game due to injury. However, backup quarterback Brett Ratliff led the Utes to a surprising 41-34 overtime victory.
BYU then won three of the next four matchups from 2006-09, though all three defeats were by one-score. The tide shifted in 2010, as Utah rattled off nine wins in a row through 2019. This streak included a one-off bowl matchup in the Las Vegas Bowl in 2015, as Utah had left for the Pac-12 and BYU was an independent at the time.
Sadly, that streak came to an end in 2021 when Whittingham’s good friend, Kalane Sitake, got his revenge in a 26-17 BYU win. Since then, the Cougars have won three in a row, with a two-year hiatus in 2022 and 2023.
Over Whittingham’s 21-year career in Utah, he finished with an 11-6 record vs BYU. He had a slow start to the rivalry and a rough finish, but the nine-game winning streak in the middle was certainly admirable. For context, here’s the list of Michigan coaches with a higher winning percentage against Ohio State than Whittingham had against BYU at 65 percent (minimum five games coached):
- Fielding Yost: 80 percent
- Fritz Crisler: 70 percent
That’s the entire list. Obviously, Ohio State is a different animal than BYU historically, but if Whittingham can have roughly the same amount of success in rivalry games at Michigan as he did at Utah, it would put him in some rare company.
It’s safe to say Whittingham has had quite a bit of success in rivalry games. Even more importantly, he has done so despite the shifting college football landscape. His dominance over BYU transcended conference realignment and unexpected bowl matchups. Given the current state of college football, it can’t be too long until Michigan and Ohio State meet up in the CFP as well.
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