Rumble in the Rockies

The Rumble in the Rockies is an American college football rivalry between the Colorado Buffaloes football team of the University of Colorado and Utah Utes football team of the University of Utah. After nearly five decades of dormancy, the rivalry was revived in 2011.

From 1903–62, Utah and Colorado played each other nearly every year. By 1962, they had played 57 games. At that time, it was the second-most played rivalry for both teams (Utah had played Utah State 62 times; Colorado had played Colorado State 61 times ). After the 1962 meeting, however, Colorado and Utah stopped playing each other in football. As part of the 2010–13 NCAA conference realignment, both Utah and Colorado were placed in the Pacific-12 Conference's new South Division. The first game since the realignment was played on Black Friday. The second game since the realignment was the first Black Friday college football game to be telecast by the Fox Broadcasting Company, which holds the exclusive over-the-air television rights to Pacific-12 Conference football (with the exceptions of games against the Southeastern Conference and Notre Dame).

Prior to the resumption of the rivalry, Colorado played Nebraska on Thanksgiving weekend since the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996 in front of a national television audience while Utah played against BYU. The Colorado–Nebraska football rivalry was discontinued due to realignment when Nebraska joined the Big Ten Conference, while the Holy War game was moved to earlier in the season. (Coincidentally, BYU also was part of the 2011 realigning of conferences as they left the Mountain West Conference to become a football independent.)

Despite the near half-century hiatus, the Colorado–Utah rivalry remains the fifth-most played rivalry in Utah's history, and the eighth-most played rivalry in Colorado's history.

1910–47
For 38 years, Utah and Colorado were members of the same conference. From 1910 to 1937, they both played in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. And then from 1938 to 1947, they were both members of the Mountain States Athletic Conference. Of those 38 seasons, either Utah or Colorado won at least a share of the conference title 27 times (Utah won 12 outright, and 3 shared; Colorado won 11 outright, and 2 shared). The two schools shared the Mountain States Conference title in 1942.

The most notable meetings during this era occurred in 1936 and 1937:

The 1936 match-up may have featured the greatest gridiron performance of Colorado halfback Byron "Whizzer" White. White ran for one TD from scrimmage that day, and threw for another. But the future U.S. Supreme Court Justice was most dominant on special teams. As the punter, White kept Utah's offense backed up all game. And as a kick returner, he also returned one kickoff and two desperate Utah punts for touchdowns. Although Utah was favored to win, Colorado won 31–7. Utah's lone touchdown in the game was a kickoff return for a touchdown by Joseph Wirthlin.

In 1937, Colorado went into Salt Lake undefeated and unchallenged – having outscored opponents 162–6 en route to a 5–0 record. However, they found themselves trailing Utah at halftime 7–0. But from there, Whizzer White took control of the game. White first got CU on the board with a third-quarter field goal. Then, in the fourth quarter, White returned a Utah punt 95 yards for a touchdown (he also kicked the extra point). Moments later, White sealed the win with a 57-yard touchdown run from scrimmage (and again kicked the extra point). Final Score: Colorado 17, Utah 7. The Frontiersmen finished the regular season 8–0, but lost to Rice in the 1938 Cotton Bowl. White was a runner-up on the 1937 Heisman Trophy ballot.

1948–62
In 1948, Colorado left the Mountain States Conference and joined the Big Eight Conference (then known as the Big Seven Conference). But for the next fourteen years, Utah and Colorado played each other nearly every year as part of the teams' non-conference schedules. It was during this time, Colorado began to dominate Utah, winning nine of the thirteen games played during this era, including eight in a row from 1949 to 1958.

The 1961 meeting in Boulder is perhaps the most noteworthy game of the Utah–Colorado football rivalry, for two reasons: 1) the 1961 Colorado team was the most successful squad that either school had ever fielded; and 2) it was a monumental upset. #8 Colorado was the first to score, and they also added another touchdown in the final minutes. But Utah dominated the game in between Colorado's lone scores. Final score: Utah 21, Colorado 12. Colorado went on to finish the regular season with a 9–1 record, a #4 national ranking, a Big Eight Conference title, and a berth in the 1962 Orange Bowl. Utah, however, would have to settle for a 6–4 record.

Utah won again the following year in Salt Lake City 37–21, the last time the two schools met until the series resumed in 2011.

2011–present
With Colorado and Utah joining the Pac-12 in 2011, the two teams began play against each other once again. The first matchup was a Black Friday game, a day in college football reserved for rivalry matchups; Colorado has had a regular place on Black Friday since 1996, against then-division rival Nebraska, but the conference realignments has separated that rivalry while restarting the long-dormant Colorado–Utah football rivalry. In the inaugural Pac-12 matchup, Colorado won 17–14 at Rice-Eccles Stadium, ending Utah's chance at a possible berth in the first Pac-12 Championship Game. Had the Utes won, they would have represented the South Division against eventual conference champion Oregon. Utah exacted its revenge on the Buffaloes the next year, defeating Colorado 42–35 in Boulder in a hard-fought game. Utah won again in 2013, defeating the Buffaloes 24–17 in Salt Lake City to ensure that Colorado finished last in the Pac-12 South.

Game results
''Colorado victories are shaded ██ black. Utah victories are shaded ██ crimson. Ties are white.''