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SALT LAKE CITY — Tim Patrick has had no problem embracing the hatred for BYU.
“I just want to shut them up,” said the senior wide receiver from San Diego. “I’ve heard about it (the rivalry), 24-7 since I’ve been here. I want to be on the winning side and shut them up.”
Patrick said he wants to beat the Cougars down in his one and only time against the rivals from the south. But he does have a soft spot for one of the boys in royal blue: Cougar wide receiver Nick Kurtz happens to be his former teammate from Grossmont College.
“He’s the only one I like on that team. The only one,” Patrick said with a bit of a smirk. But that hasn’t stopped the good natured teasing and taunting. And Kurtz said Patrick could have been a Cougar.
The two were part of a prolific passing attack at the college in El Cajon, California, which happens to be Kurtz’s hometown. Kurtz recorded 1,301 receiving yards in two seasons while Patrick wasn’t far behind with 1,229 yards. When it was time to transfer after the 2013 season, Kurtz said former BYU coach and current Ute coach Guy Holliday recruited both of them to come to Provo.
“So we had talked about going to the same school,” Kurtz said, “but we kind of had different paths.”
Kurtz graduated early, committed to BYU and was able to move to Provo in time for spring football in 2014. Patrick waited and signed with Utah that summer. Even though they were opposite sides of the rivalry, they never thought they would play against each other. The game was canceled for two years after Utah’s athletic director, Dr. Chris Hill, scheduled a two game series with Michigan.
But injuries changed everything. “I got hurt and missed the (2014) season and he got hurt and missed the (2015) season,” Kurtz said.
Little did either guy know that BYU and Utah would play in last year in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl just this past December. Nick Kurtz ended up with 56 receiving yards and a touchdown in the game as Patrick watched from the opposing sideline. Even though the Utes won 35-28, Kurtz said the game will always be special to him.
“I remember I caught a pass on the sideline and I looked up and saw him laughing at me when I caught it,” Kurtz said. “So that was probably one of the coolest moments from the season last year. It just became surreal like ‘Man! We both made it.’”
Kurtz said they took a picture after the game with each one holding the other guys helmet. He anticipates doing the same after Saturday’s game. Patrick said there might not be many pleasantries before kick-off.
“I might shake his hand, give him some love. But conversation wise, probably not,” Patrick said.
Patrick started the rivalry trash talk on twitter the day after the Utes beat Southern Utah 24-0. He wrote “beat BYU” and posted a picture of himself scoring a touchdown. He also tagged Kurtz in the post. “He didn’t take no offense to it. He thought it was funny,” Patrick said. “We just both know we are going to go out and try and outshine each other. We’re going to see who’s going to have the bigger game.”
The two guys talk and text quite often and want each other to succeed on the football field. “I was glad to see he did really well against Southern Utah, and I’m sure he’ll have more games where he plays good,” Kurtz said. “But he’s not allowed to do good against BYU.”
While Patrick has had harsh words for the Cougars, he’s truly grateful he finally gets to play BYU and against a good friend.
“A blessing in disguise that we got hurt, got better, got stronger. Now we get a chance to play against each other and have fun.” Cleon is a reporter and producer for KSL Newsradio and is also a studio host for BYU sports. He's worked for KSL since August of 2001.
