Before their teams’ 1953 football game, spirited Cougars and Aggies duked it out for the Old Wagon Wheel: a traveling trophy symbolizing supremacy between the in-state rivals. Dating back to Utah State’s victory over BYU in 1948, the tradition became a competition both on and off the field that continues to this day. The wheel, coveted by both schools, has occasionally been “borrowed” through the years.
After losing the Old Wagon Wheel to Utah State in 2014, BYU football brought it back to Provo following their 51–28 November victory in Logan—adding to the miles the wheel has trekked over the course of its 67-year career. This time around, the win marked an important moment in BYU’s athletic history, with the exit of head coach Bronco Mendenhall and the commencement of a new coaching era.
