by Daniel Olsen
Last year, Jack Damuni took both the Beehive Boot and the Old Wagon Wheel from their previous owners after winning both in-state games. However, that wasn’t enough.
With the BYU Cougars going a perfect 5-0 against the PAC-12 conference, Damuni felt that the Cougars were the rightful owners of another trophy that the Utes held possession of.
Damuni was seen speeding around the point of the Mountain towards Salt Lake City in his BYU minivan. He posted a similar tweet to his trophy raid last year as he hugged the PAC-12 Championship trophy while singing the Cougar Fight song.
“The Utes had a great season,” Damuni said. “However, ours was better as we beat them 26-17. They can have this trophy back if they ever beat us again. They won’t though.”
Ouch! Talk about a slap to the face. (No Oscars Award winners or PAC-12 Champions were harmed in the making of this article).
This is the first conference championship the BYU Cougars have won in the Independence era. The Utes will still have to wait to take back their PAC-12 championship trophy. Jack Damuni, Boney Fuller and Jonny Linehan’s bots will be keeping watch over their rightful trophy around the clock.
This means that the dream season for the 2021 Utes will result in no trophies as they didn’t win the Rose Bowl either. BYU adds the PAC-12 Championship Trophy to their resume. Some argue that it is even more meaningful than their 1984 National Championship. The Cougars played cupcakes back then. Although, the PAC-12 went winless in Bowl season so maybe they are a bunch of cupcakes too.
Next year the Cougars will play two PAC-12 teams (Oregon, Stanford) and three Mountain West teams (Utah State, Wyoming and Boise State). They will also play fellow FBS Independents in Notre Dame and Liberty, Baylor (Big 12), Arkansas (SEC), USF and East Carolina (American), and Dixie State (FCS). They will look to claim national championships at the FBS and FCS levels if they can go undefeated against a portion of each of these conferences.
Utah State coach Blake Anderson asked for a rematch since the Aggies of the Mountain West beat two PAC-12 North opponents. He believes his team should be North Division champions and BYU should be the South Division champions. The Cougars went 4-0 against the worst Division at the FBS level and 1-0 against the Other Cougars in the North Division.
The Utes and Cougars are taking a two year break before squaring off again in 2024. At that point, the main storyline will be weather the Utes can win their trophy back. BYU will be immersed in the Big 12 by then and be stacked with five star talent. They will likely win another national championship that year just like they will have done 40 years prior in 1984.
Whether you’re a Ute, Cougar, Aggie or a fan of another school in Utah, we hope you enjoy this April Fools Day and celebrate the trophies in your possession!
Featured image courtesy BYU photo