SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah Utes will play their first in-conference game in their new conference — the Big 12 — and major sports experts are picking the Utes to finish first in their first year.
ABC4’s Craig Wirth lives in the past in his stories. So, he goes back to when it was hard for the team to find a helmet or field to play the game. Players had to convince their parents to let them play.
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Craig Wirth looks back at Utah Utes football as it was a century ago.
“We know what football is now at the University of Utah. Oh boy, it was something 125 years ago, they could hardly field a team,” Wirth said.
The team started traveling by train and dressing up to travel. By 1902, the U had its current campus. The football team also had a place to play — it was Cummings Field.
A 1905 Deseret News article stated Utah’s coach, Joe Maddock, said football “would never be a rough sport again.”
As football’s popularity grew, a professional league was started in 1920 in Canton, Ohio. Attendance grew, and the team moved to their current address: 451 South 1400 West.
The stadium began as “Ute Stadium” in 1927. The name did not change until the 1970s when Robert Rice made a big donation for stadium renovations. From then on, it was known as Rice Stadium.
By the early 1940s, the media started covering college with newsreels in Utah theaters.
“Scenes like this take place in about every college in the country, big or little and the campuses are buzzing with prophecies,” a newsreel said. They also reported scores!
“Now in sports the football scores. First from the skyline conference, Wyoming 21-Utah 7, Denver 14-BYU 7, Utah State 22-Montana State 13,” another reel said.
That’s about the way it happened. Television got bigger with more football, and more people showed up. The Utes still play at the same address they have had for almost 100 years, albeit with a few upgrades since then.