San Diego State Aztecs Football - Rivalries - Inactive Rivalry - BYU Cougars

BYU Cougars

The BYU-SDSU rivalry dates back to 1947 when they met for the first time in San Diego and the Aztecs won 32-7. When the Aztecs joined the WAC in 1978 the two teams started playing on an annual basis. In their first conference meeting the Aztecs suffered a disappointing loss 21-3 at Brigham Young. The next year San Diego State was 8-2 and were looking for a Holiday Bowl berth after coming off a 42-20 win over UTEP. However the Aztecs suffered a 63-14 loss at home and lost the Holiday Bowl berth. In 1986 the Aztecs looked to return the favor when they beat the Cougars 10-3 and clinched a Holiday Bowl berth. The most notable game in the history of these two schools meeting each other was the game in 1991 known as "The Tie." The Aztecs had a commanding lead over the Cougars 45-28 lead by the high powered offense of Marshall Faulk and quarterback David Lowery. However Ty Detmer and the BYU Cougars fought back and tied the game 52-52. The Aztecs ended up with an 8-4-1 record and lost the Holiday Bowl berth and the WAC title. The Aztecs avenged the 52-52 tie when they traveled to Provo the next year and beat the Cougars 45-38. Marshall Faulk ran for 299 yards in that game and scored 3 touchdowns. Since then the two have met for a total of 36 times. In recent years BYU has dominated the Aztecs who have only beat the Cougars twice since 1998. Brigham Young leads the all time series 28-7-1. In 2011 the Cougars left the Mountain West Conference for independence and have played the Aztecs once since then. The two teams are not scheduled to play in the near future.