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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah veteran linebacker Karene Reid grew up a BYU fan.
That's not all too uncommon for players that grew up in the state of Utah, who state their allegiance to a school before actually getting the opportunity to play for one of the two teams.
Even more, though, Reid's father, Spencer, played for BYU from 1994-97, and the family made home just miles away from campus in American Fork. It's no surprise, then, that he was a BYU fan.
Now on the opposite side of the rivalry, Reid is solely focused on all things Utah as he attempts to play spoiler to BYU's undefeated season and a No. 9 standing in the initial College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday.
It's now a fight for "dear old crimson" and not a "rise and shout" for his childhood Cougars.
"Started off a BYU fan and then repented and all that — no, I'm just joking," Reid said. "But it does mean a lot, and just excited. I grew up watching this game. To be a part of it is going to be a memory for the lifetime."
But after the season that Utah has had — one that started with so much promise en route to a 4-4 start — the opportunity to play a spoiler role feels extra special this year, to say nothing of the added motivation of BYU ending Utah's nine-game win streak in 2021.
"Them being 8-0 is enough to get our guys hungry outside of the rivalry," Reid said, "but we're gonna meet as a team and educate our team as far as the rivalry and where it came from and what it means, and so I'm excited for that.
"I would prefer to have had that record, but to be on that side where you can ruin their season and kind of have that nothing-to-lose edge, hungry mentality is — it's dangerous."
Utah really has nothing to lose going into its ninth game of the season, especially with the preseason goals — a Big 12 championship and a playoff berth — out the window.
Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham downplayed the spoiler role a bit, saying the mindset and approach to the game remains the same as any opponent, but the longtime coach also welcomes the heightened attention to this week's opponent.
It's what the rivalry demands.
It's why he continues to refuse to say the name of his alma mater and refers to the team approximately 50 miles south as the "in-state" rival. Whittingham's exceptionally close with many on the BYU staff — he estimates 9-10 of which he's coached as players or had on staff at one point in his 20-year tenure as head coach — but that friendship doesn't change his approach to the game.
Everyone on the roster at Utah must understand why this game is different.
Whittingham said there's an "indoctrination" period, of sorts, to familiarize each player on the team with why the game means so much to the school. For as much as Whittingham has bristled at questions over the years about BYU, especially when the two were not in the same conference, the message is loud and clear: Utah does not lose to BYU.
Utah may be 4-4 on the season — significantly worse than its preseason projections — and BYU may be ranked in the top 10 following an 8-0 start to the season — significantly better than its preseason projections — but throw it all away for Saturday's latest contest (8:15 p.m. MST, ESPN).
"We have certainly made sure that the guys that have never participated in the game and are not from in state, so they don't know anything about it, are fully versed in what it's all about," Whittingham said.
"We're going to have a lot of former players around this week, a lot of former players at the game on our sideline. And that is a big part of the preparation is former players explaining and communicating to our guys what this is all about from a player standpoint."
As such, there's been a rejuvenated spirit around the team this week going into Saturday's game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Whether that translates to success on the field remains the biggest question this season, but there's a renewed sense of purpose as a team looking to get back to its winning ways.
And what better week to kickstart the final four games of the season.
"The season we're having, it's not the one we expected," running back Micah Bernard said. "But guys, we don't waver. We still have that belief.
"It hurts that I'm part of that team that actually lost that game, and so it means a lot to me," he added, referencing BYU's win over Utah in 2021. "I don't want to feel like that ever again. I want to be on the side of the record where we're winning, we're not in the loss column."
Many may have already cast Utah off on Saturday, but Utah is treating the rivalry game like the most important game on the schedule. And for a team that has nothing to lose this season, that may be enough.
