How would you characterize Utah-Cal?

[CincyUte]

Utah and Cal have only played each other ten times, but there have been some real good ones.  A few that spring to mind: 2003 (Alex Smith vs. Aaron Rodgers on national prime-time TV); 2009 (Jordan Wynn tears it up in the Poinsettia Bowl); and 2015 (#5 Utah vs. #23 Cal, ESPN Gameday).  We are 4-1 against the Golden Bears since 2003; and we’re 2-1 against them since joining the Pac-12.

So in your opinion, how strong is the Utah-Cal rivalry on a scale from 0-5 (zero being Utah-San Jose-esque; five being Holy War-esque)?

Also, how would you characterize the Utah-Cal rivalry/series/relationship overall?  Do you hate them?  Respect them?  Fear them?  Love ’em?  Too early to tell? Explain.

And finally–what is your favorite Utah-Cal memory? And why?

 

[CincyUte]

Here are my answers:

I’d rate the Utah-Cal rivalry as a two. We usually beat them when we were in the MWC, and we’ve done really well against them since joining the Pac-12. They’ve been a mid- to low-level Pac-12 team for the last 5 years, so I don’t take any special satisfaction when we beat them. I fully expect to beat them again this week and would be very disappointed if we lost.

My favorite Utah-Cal game was 2003. I believe it was the game where Urban gave out all those free tickets, thus making it the highest-attended game in RES at the time. It was close throughout, but Brandon Warfield scored the game winning TD in the final minutes. It’s the game we discovered we had something special in Alex Smith.

[89ute]

First of all, I can’t get on board with the rating system.  A game against BYU a 5?  Sorry, not for me.  Anymore, playing them is like playing any other non-conference non-P5.  It just doesn’t do anything for me like it did pre 2010.   Games that rate a 5 for me are all conference games.  We don’t have many winning records against Pac-12 teams since joining the conference so earning a 3-1 record against them is huge, then it’s bye-bye for two years.  I think I’m going to put this in every post this week, “Saturday will be a pick and sack fest.”

[CincyUte]

A game against BYU a 5? Sorry, not for me. Anymore, playing them is like playing any other non-conference non-P5. It just doesn’t do anything for me like it did pre 2010.

I think that’s a very fair point.  The BYU-Utah “rivalry”/Deseret Duel is currently experiencing an identity crisis, for sure.  It’s definitely not what it once was.

But I’ll admit–in the latter end of the WAC years and all through the MWC years, it was a great rivalry.  I guess that’s what I had in mind when I gave it a five rating.

[ironman1315]

I loved last year when the ball bounced off Boobie for the win.

[GadValleyUte]

I loved the 2003 game. Alex’s first start after that close aTm loss. We knew we had a beast in Brandon Warfield, and the stadium was rockin.

I don’t think there’s much of a rivalry. 1/5 They have the other California schools and I simply don’t think we’ve played enough or had enough good games or bad blood to feel a lot of passion. I think it’ll take time and a bit of luck for one to develop. We play them less often then other P12 north schools and so the probability of meaningful games in terms of P12 races is lower than our south rivals or even other northern division teams.
Eventually history will accumulate and there will be a healthy rivalry I think.

I honestly hope we develop good rivalries with everyone in the conference. Something like UNM and UNLV basketball rivalries were in the MWC days. I looked forward to those games because they were generally good and meaningful, but I didn’t have much to hate like TDS.
What I’d really like is for us to force USC and UCLA to see us as threats and therefore spur a decent rivalry. Winning a division title is the first step.

Along those lines I expect the Colorad9 game to carry some weight and make that game matter for the first time since 2011.

If we manage to play and beat Stanford in the CCG I think they will start to see us as a consistent threat and we’ll have a great environment for that game next year.

At first I actually felt a bit down in the P12 because I had become so accustomed to our MWC foes. I feel like the last 3 years have changed that a lot. Games against us have mattered to everyone because we mattered in the hunt for the division.

 

[Warrior Ute]

Utah-Cal rivalry in my opinion overall is a 2. We just don’t play often enough to make much of a rivalry. I live between Sacramento and San Francisco and get to rib some of my friends so for me personally it may raise to a 3.

My favorite “rivalry’ memory:

[ironman1315]

This is my favorite block ever. Bolles though is a close second.

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