Upcoming Event: Football versus Cal Poly on September 6, 2025 at 4 p.m.
4 p.m.
Football
vs Cal Poly
Utah Traditions
The University of Utah officially adopted the nickname “Utes” for its athletic teams in 1972. The school uses the nickname with permission of the Ute Tribal Council through a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU).
“What is a Ute?” The Utes are an Indian tribe that originally settled Utah. Two of the more common definitions of Ute are “top of the mountains” and “people of the mountains.” Other references have Ute defined as “land of the sun.” The Utes refer to themselves as “Noochew,” meaning “the People.”
There are four Ute tribes: The Northern and White Mesa Tribes are based in Utah, while the Southern and Ute Mountain Tribes are in Colorado. The Northern Utes are most closely affiliated with the University of Utah and have a tribal membership of around 3,000. Many of them live on the Uintah and Ouray reservation. The Utes operate their own tribal government, oversee approximately 1.3 million acres of trust land and operate several businesses.
Each year Utah's sports programs host a Ute Proud Game, featuring a halftime performance by the Ute Tribe to celebrate and showcase the great pride that our teams exude when they compete and wear the name Utah Utes on their uniforms.
“The Pride of Utah” Marching Utes began in the 1940s as a military band. In the turbulent ’60s, support for the band dwindled, and in 1969, the Associated Students for the University of Utah (ASUU) discontinued its funding. The band was revived in 1976, and since then, the “Pride of Utah” Marching Utes have performed at all home football games, the Tournament of Roses Parade, as well as numerous NFL and college bowl games. During the indoor sports season, the Utah Pep Band performs at numerous events, including men's and women's basketball games and gymnastics meets.
The Block U (elevation 5,300 feet above sea level) was built on Mount Van Cott bordering the Utah campus in 1907. Originally built with limestone, the Block U was later replaced by a cement version. In 1969, the design was modified and 124 lights were installed. A fund-raising campaign in 2006 raised $400,000 to renovate the aging landmark. Slabs of concrete and steel rebar now reinforce the 5,000-square feet of surface area.
Another major improvement was the installation of LED red and white lights, which are controlled through a wireless system. Lights on the 100-foot-tall landmark are illuminated primarily for athletic events and to notify people in the Salt Lake valley that the Utes are playing at home. After Utah victories, the football team gathers in front of the MUSS to Light the U and sing the school fight song.
Flashing the U is one of Utah’s newest and most popular traditions. It is a hand motion of bringing the thumbs together with index fingers pointed to the sky and others rolled downward. The Ute cheerleading squad began forming a U shape with their hands during free throw attempts at basketball games in 1997-98, and soon thereafter implemented the motion into their performances at other events. Utah gymnastics helped popularize it in 2001 when they began flashing a U to interact with fans at meets and eventually incorporated it into their routines. More and more athletes from other sports soon caught on, and the football team started using it in 2003. The tradition went through another major growth spurt with high visibility during the 2008 undefeated Sugar Bowl season. The University incorporated a #FlashTheUFriday social media campaign in 2013.
The MUSS, one of the most avid and vocal student fan clubs in the nation, is in its 21st year in 2022-23. The group is 7,000 strong at Ute home football games and was named the Live Mas Student Section of the Year by Taco Bell and ESPN in 2021.
Originally known as the Student Fan Club and the Utah Fan Club, the group adopted the name MUSS for the 2002 football season. The name was originally derived from the school fight song lyrics (… No rival band of college fans dare meet us in the muss). Members now refer to MUSS as an acronym for “Mighty Utah Student Section.”
MUSS members are easily identified by their customized t-shirts and their policy of standing throughout the entire game. They have a number of other traditions during football games, including the Third Down Jump, in which members jump around and make noise every time the opposing team prepares for a third down play. Other rituals include the U of U Chop, which occurs every time the band plays a specific percussion song and involves MUSS members forming a U with their hands and “chopping” to the beat of the music, and the First Down Chant (members raise their hands in unison, yelling “first down,” and mimic the referees by pointing their arm in the direction of the first down).
The line of “5s” hanging in front of the MUSS section refers to the False Start Tally. Whenever the opposing team is charged with a false start, the MUSS hangs a numeral five in front of its section indicating a five-yard penalty.
Every time the Utes score, the band plays the school fight song, signaling the MUSS to sing along to the words of the Utah Fight Song. After every game, Ute team members congregate in front of the MUSS section and join in the singing of the Utah Fight Song.
The MUSS currently sponsors fan clubs for the Utah football, men’s basketball, volleyball and gymnastics teams. The football team began sporting a MUSS decal on the back of its helmets in 2004.
22 Forever and the Moment of Loudness – The Utah Football program endured two tragedies within a 10-month period in 2020 and 2021, with the deaths of student-athletes Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe. From those tragedies, however, has born a legacy of remembrance and inspiration. The number 22, which each wore as Utah Utes, was officially retired in 2021 in honor of Ty and Aaron. But the meaning behind the number has lived on in the fans, the coaches and the players. It has inspired all to be infectiously optimistic, to be 22-percent better each day, to remember Ty and Aaron, and all those whom we have lost – and to smile. This remembrance is on display at every home Utah football game, between the third and fourth quarters, when fans stand and participate in the “Moment of Loudness” in honor of Ty and Aaron, shining the flashlights on their phones, while the Utah team faces the videoboard for a video tribute that remembers Ty and Aaron, and now also incorporates fan submissions of photos of loved ones who have passed. The Moment of Loudness concludes with the crowd in unison shouting the football program's mantra “Family on Three!”
Utah Fight Song
VERSE
I am a Utah man/fan, sir, and I live across the green. Our gang, it is the jolliest that you have ever seen. Our students are the finest and each one’s a shining star. Our yell, you hear it ringing through the mountains near and far.
CHORUS
Who am I, sir? A Utah Man or/Fan am I. A Utah Man or/Fan, sir, and will be ‘til I die; Ki-yi!
VERSE
We’re up to snuff; we never bluff, we’re game for any fuss. No rival band of college fans dare meet us in the muss. So fill your lungs and sing it out and shout it to the sky, we’ll fight for dear old Crimson, for a Utah Man or/Fan am I.
CHORUS (same)
VERSE
And when we prom the avenue, all lined up in a row, and arm in arm and step in time as down the street we go. No matter if a freshman green or in a senior’s gown, the people all admit we are the warmest gang in town.
CHORUS (same)
VERSE
We may not live forever on this jolly good old sphere, but while we do we’ll live a life of merriment and cheer. And when our college days are o’er and night is drawing nigh, with parting breath we’ll sing that song: “A Utah Man or/Fan Am I.” Go Utes!