Week 10 of the college football schedule features an incredible slate of rivalry games, including a potential top-10 Holy War meeting between fifth-ranked Utah (7-0, 4-0 in Big 12 play) and ninth-ranked BYU (6-1, 3-1).
Despite being a prime time-caliber game, students and fans in Utah making the trek to Rice-Eccles Stadium will have to get an early start to catch the matchup. The game will have a 10 a.m. local kick time on either ABC or ESPN.
𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲‼️ * 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 10/31 * 🆚 BYU 🏟️ @Rice_Eccles 📅 SAT, NOV 7 ⏰ 10:00AM MT 📺 ABC or ESPN 📻 @ESPN700 #GoUtes | #RSNB | @doterra pic.twitter.com/8BxJY0pTtp
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 26, 2026
GAME UPDATE:
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) October 26, 2026
BYU at Utah
10AM MT
ABC or ESPN pic.twitter.com/23VtYeJZeU
The noon ET slot has been a significant programming slot for Fox, which routinely features its biggest games in the "Big Noon Kickoff" game of the week. The ESPN family of networks, however, has typically gone away from that time slot, saving its bigger games for mid-to-late afternoon kicks, if not prime time.
Considering the Utes and Cougars will challenge for the Big 12 championship and the potential College Football Playoff berth that comes with it, many fans were dumbstruck at the early kick. Utah is coming off a game in which it hosted Houston in a ranked meeting of undefeated times, whereas BYU — coming off a controversial win vs. Notre Dame in Week 7 — suffered an equally controversial defeat to Central Florida in Week 8.
That said, the general consensus for the game's early kick was confusion and annoyance. Here's a sampling of some of the top responses to the BYU-Utah kickoff time:
College football reacts to BYU-Utah start time
The Utah-BYU Holy War game will be a 10 am local kickoff.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 26, 2026
That is just brutal for fans for a likely top-10 matchup. https://t.co/xOfRSzA33S
Whoever was responsible for this decision should be pelted.
— Brooks Austin (@BrooksAustinBA) October 26, 2026
Two best teams in the Big12 and they have to play a rivalry game at 10 AM.
WTH. https://t.co/DurHgkAdCK
10 AM local for Holy War is BRUTAL… neither team will play its best quality football.
— Liam Blutman (@Blutman27) October 26, 2026
This is a travesty https://t.co/TYYQVLAeRP
The biggest Big 12 game of the year… and they give them a 10 am kickoff 😭😭 https://t.co/tsPv98CCxf
— Bordeaux (@bordeauxyt) October 26, 2026
Gonna need some Monster Energy to stay up late for this Big XII game.
— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 26, 2026
Wait a minute… https://t.co/OFLny5TZa3
With big games like Ohio State-Michigan and Oklahoma-Texas, they’ll often use the excuse that they don’t want fans to get too drunk and rowdy for why it’s an early game.
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 26, 2026
That’s not an issue here, absolutely no reason for this. https://t.co/bdnD1AnhQV
God what an awful move by ESPN.
— Barstool Big 12 (@BarstoolBig12) October 26, 2026
9/10 times this is gonna be a top 10 matchup. https://t.co/L40H4C3SvA
criminal https://t.co/2nBRVz43mw
— parker fleming (@statsowar) October 26, 2026
Yikes! A 10 a.m. game?
— Josh Furlong (@Josh_Furlong) October 26, 2026
Either way, it’s going to be an electric environment on a great broadcast network. https://t.co/NPPWaZPtlW
Real church hours for The Holy War. https://t.co/fdSEXFs2WV
— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) October 26, 2026
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Utah-BYU gets stunning kickoff time for Holy War. Fans aren’t happy
