BOULDER — Colorado football coach Mike MacIntyre has developed a simple criteria for what he believes constitutes a rivalry game.
“I’ve always said it’s a rivalry when we start beating them,” MacIntyre said ahead of No. 9 Colorado’s high-stakes game Saturday night against No. 21 Utah at Folsom Field. “We haven’t beat them yet. Hopefully we’ll beat them this week. Right now, they’ve beat us up pretty good every time we’ve played them.”
Yes, MacIntyre has lost each of his three games against the school that entered the Pac-12 at the same time Colorado did in 2011. But it was the Buffaloes who emerged victorious in the teams’ first matchup as league members in a huge upset.
The Utes entered that matchup five years ago at 7-4 and in need of a victory in the regular-season finale for a shot at winning the Pac-12 South. The Buffs had lost 24 consecutive out-of-state games and had won only one conference game.
But CU prevailed, 17-14, the day after Thanksgiving, playing the role of spoiler under first-year Buffs coach Jon Embree.
The roles will be reversed on Saturday, with CU (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12) needing a victory to win the South and qualify for the league championship game while Utah (8-3, 5-3) is out to spoil senior day after watching its chance to win the division melt away in an upset loss to Oregon last Saturday.
Nothing like adding rivalry drama to a game that already has huge implications, right?
“I see any Pac-12 team as a rivalry,” CU defensive tackle Jordan Carrell said.
“We don’t really see rivalry games other than Colorado State,” cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon added.
“I view them as the next game coming up,” center Alex Kelley said.
So maybe five years of Utah-Colorado matchups in the Pac-12 hasn’t exactly fostered the necessary hate to make for a good rivalry. There’s no name like the Apple Cup or the Territorial Cup or the Civil War that immediately conjures up great memories of past battles on the football field. There’s no oddly shaped trophy to hoist after a big win. Not enough time has passed for players to tell war stories about an epic matchup.
Still, a look at the brief history between the teams shows what could be the organic early stages of a rivalry. Each of the previous five matchups has been decided by seven points or fewer, with nearly every game coming down to the final possession.
In each of those seasons, CU was an underdog, and yet the Buffs have always battled the Utes to a tight finish in what turned into a slugfest.
“I’m preparing for how they’ve played in the past, and they’re usually one of the most physical fronts we’ve faced,” Kelley said. “They’ve got some dudes up front who are pretty good.”
There was no finding a CU player who would call Utah a rival, however. The Buffs simply may not be looking for any added motivation — or hoping not to provide any for the Utes — as they prepare to play for a Pac-12 championship and a previously unthinkable berth in the Rose Bowl.
But don’t think the seniors have forgotten about the close losses of the past three seasons to their budding, well, rival either.
“It hurts when you battle all the way through the fourth quarter and don’t come out on top,” linebacker Kenneth Olugbode said. “That’s kind of how it was all year in the past for us. We don’t like that feeling anymore. We want to go out there and show what we can do every single snap, every single play.”
Let the rivalry continue.
Tooth and nail
Since Colorado and Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011, the schools have closed each regular season with hotly contested games. A look at the recent history between the two:
| Year | Location | Score |
| 2011 | Salt Lake City | 17-14, CU |
| The Utes miss a field goal with 3 seconds left. | ||
| 2012 | Boulder | 42-35, Utah |
| Utah turns three interceptions into 21 points. | ||
| 2013 | Salt Lake City | 24-17, Utah |
| Buffs rebound from 21-0 deficit but fall short. | ||
| 2014 | Boulder | 38-34, Utah |
| Utes turn fourth-quarter interception into a go-ahead score. | ||
| 2015 | Salt Lake City | 20-14, Utah |
| Late fumble costs the Buffs chance at a comeback win. | ||