The 1964 Liberty Bowl took place at the Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, making it the first major bowl game to take place at an indoor venue in college football history. The matchup? The West Virginia Mountaineers and the Utah Utes. This season, the two squads will battle for the first time as Big 12 foes.
About the Utah Utes
The Utah Utes started their football program in 1892 and have had an illustrious history over the years, including over 6oo wins in the record books. Nestled in Salt Lake City, the Utes are one of the newer members of the Big 12 Conference. After the dismantlement of the Pac 12, Utah joined the Big 12 in 2024. The Utes had a rough rookie campaign in the ranks of the conference in 2024, finishing the season with an overall record of 5-7, and a Big 12 record of 2-7. Utah will enter the 2025 season still searching for its first conference win since making the jump.
The Utes will have to travel 1,906 miles to Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, which is quite the distance for a conference matchup. In the current state of conference alignments, however, it is not as taboo as it might have been when leagues were more predominately based on geographical proximity.
The Matchup
The 2025 meeting between WVU and Utah will be the third time the two teams have squared off on the gridiron. The Utes have taken both games against the Mountaineers, combining to outscore WVU 62-20 across both games. The all-time series started in the aforementioned 1964 Liberty Bowl, a game that the Utes dominated, winning 32-6.
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The two teams would not meet again until the 2017 bowl season, when Utah prevailed 30-14 in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. When the Utes walk into Milan Puskar Stadium on September 27th, it will be the first matchup in the brief all-time series to not be held at a neutral site.
Utah finished the 2024 season with a 3-3 record on the road, making for a better winning percentage than WVU held at home in the same campaign. Despite the raucous atmosphere of Milan Puskar Stadium, the Mountaineers finished the 2024 home slate with a 3-4 record. This begs the question whether or not the environment will keep Utah from stealing its first ever Big 12 road victory.
All things considered, this new conference matchup that will begin to blossom this September has a brief yet interesting history. Both programs have occasionally experienced moderate success over the past several years, but could truly use a return to former glory in 2025. With a new quarterback in the backfield for Utah and the return of Rich Rodriguez as the Head Coach of West Virginia, this matchup could be a great indicator for both teams just before the halfway point of the season.
Tune In
Video streaming information, as well as a kickoff time, are unavailable at this time. However, when the time comes, the radio stream for the matchup between WVU and Utah can be found on 100.9 FM The Torch and its nine affiliate stations.
Return to WV Sports Nation for all things West Virginia sports, including the sixth entry in the Tale of the Tape series, which will focus on opponent #6, BYU. As always, Tale of the Tape can be found on WV Sports Nation each Friday leading up to the start of the 2025 season.
