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Thread: Kyle Whittingham on Utah-BYU: 'Our program is bigger than the rivalry'

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    Kyle Whittingham on Utah-BYU: 'Our program is bigger than the rivalry'

    For the first time since World War II, the Utah-BYU football rivalry may be taking a few years off.

    In a recent interview with Yahoo! Sports, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham explained the difficulty of non-conference scheduling with a nine-game league schedule. Whittingham explained that taking some years off from the annual meeting with the Cougars might be beneficial for the program.

    "Bottom line is we've got to do what's best for our program," Whittingham told Yahoo! Sports. "That supersedes anything to do with the rivalry. If taking a year or two off periodically is best for our program, best for our scheduling, then that's what we've got to do.

    "Our program is bigger than the rivalry. That's got to take a backseat to us doing what's best for our program."

    The battle for the Beehive Boot dates to 1896 and has been played annually since 1922 except from 1943-45 because of World War II. Utah leads the series 55-34-4 and has won seven of the last 10 meetings, including a 54-10 route of the Cougars in Provo this fall.

    Whittingham argued that since the Pac-12's nine-game conference schedule leaves one less spot for a nonconference game, and the Utes might be better off to save that spot for a more favorable opponent. The need to work elite football programs into the schedule is no longer a concern thanks to the Pac-12, and it sounds like the 2008 Coach of the Year wouldn't mind taking some time off from The Holy War.

    "I think the operative word with scheduling with nonconference games is balance," Whittingham said. "The Pac-12 schedule is rigorous. You play nine conference games, which is one more than most conferences play, so that increases the degree of difficulty right there.

    "There are so many good teams coming into our stadium now -- USC, Cal, and the list goes on and on -- so having a big-time team come into the stadium in your nonconference setting in not as big of a priority because of the great teams we have coming in on a weekly basis in the Pac-12."

    The Utes host BYU in Rice-Eccles Stadium on Sept. 15. It will be just the second year of the rivalry since Utah joined the Pac-12.

    Tags: Mountain West Conference, PAC12, Pac-12, Brigham Young Cougars, Utah Utes, NCAAF

    http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoot...4WEIIqkmzm1uUg


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