Utah football is back at No. 2 in the AP Top 25, and that puts the Utes in familiar territory.
Saturday’s win over BYU pushed Utah to the highest ranking in program history, matching the No. 2 spot the team last reached in 2008. That season ended with a Sugar Bowl win over Alabama.
For Morgan Scalley, though, the ranking is more marker than destination. The Utah head coach made it clear the Utes can’t let the attention change how they operate from week to week.
“You have big games because of the way you behave leading up to it,” Scalley said. “You have to prepare for each game, and they have to see it from the coaches too that each game means that much.”
He said the standard has to stay the same no matter who is on the schedule, and that treating the BYU game as something different from the rest would send the wrong message.
“Every game matters,” he added. “You don’t know when someone is going to upset you, when one game matters versus the other.”
Even with the praise pouring in after the latest victory, Scalley said Utah still has work to do. The staff is still sorting through mistakes that could become issues later, especially with another major test looming.
That next challenge comes on the road against No. 22 Arizona in Tucson. It’s another chance for Utah to show it can hold its place among the nation’s top teams, but Scalley’s message hasn’t changed: the job isn’t close to finished.
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BYU Could Be Getting Two Key Starters Back At The Right Time
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There is still some uncertainty layered into the update, though, because tight end Roger Saleapaga is also listed despite his recent injury. For BYU, the timing matters as much as the names themselves, with the Cougars heading into a matchup where reinforcements at key spots could help stabilize both the ground game and the secondary. The only question now is how much each player can actually handle once the game starts. [Read more 🡒]
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The comparison naturally brings up AJ Dybantsa, the one-and-done star BYU secured in December 2024 before he went on to lead the nation in scoring and become the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Young has even described Branchs style in similar terms, which only adds to the intrigue around how he develops the freshman early and how quickly that progress might show up in a BYU rotation built around high-end recruits. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Is Climbing Early And Fans Can Dream Bigger
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For a team still early in the season, that kind of climb matters less for the number itself than for what it suggests about where BYU can go next. The rankings for the week of Nov. 9 show the Cougars getting noticed nationally, and with those first two tests out of the way, the next stretch will go a long way toward showing whether this is just a strong opening or the beginning of something bigger. [Read more 🡒]