Utah’s 28-20 win over No. 9 BYU gave the Utes everything they could want in the moment: a rivalry breakthrough, a 9-0 record, the top spot in the Big 12 standings and a jump to No. 2 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.
It also gave Morgan Scalley plenty to clean up.
That was the message after the emotional night at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where Utah finally beat BYU for the first time in four tries and turned a long-awaited victory into the kind of scene that had Etta James’ voice ringing out over the crowd.
“At last …”
Scalley made it clear after the game that the celebration had a limit. The Utes enjoyed the win, but the next challenge arrived fast in the form of No. 23 Arizona, and the coach didn’t want the emotion of the BYU game to linger too long.
“They’re going to celebrate and we’re going to have fun enjoying this win because it’s hard to win in college football,” Scalley said. “But we’ve got an Arizona team that’s hungry.”
“... We cannot let the joy of this distract us from what the ultimate goal is.”
Utah had to move quickly from the rivalry high to film study, and the review pointed to three areas that need attention before Saturday’s road trip.
Special teams was the first issue Scalley singled out.
The Utes have been strong in punt coverage and kickoffs, but the kicking game nearly created problems against BYU. Dillon Curtis missed a 29-yard field goal in the third quarter after a drive that included a Devon Dampier reception on fourth-and-1, and Scalley said the miss came down to a snap-hold exchange issue. Utah also was offside on a kickoff, giving BYU 5 free yards.
Then came the late punt that nearly changed the game. Orion Phillips’ final punt traveled just 19 yards after Payton VanSteenkiste came close to blocking it and affected the kick enough to give BYU favorable field position near midfield. Safety Nate Ritchie eventually erased that threat with the game-sealing interception, but Scalley said those kinds of mistakes can’t keep showing up.
The turnover battle tilted Utah’s way, 4-2, thanks to four interceptions of BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier. Even so, the Utes put themselves in danger with two giveaways in a second quarter that got away from them, 17-0.
Braden Pegan’s fumble early in the period led directly to a BYU touchdown. Later, Devon Dampier lost the ball at the Utah 20-yard line, giving the Cougars a red-zone chance to push for a two-score lead. Utah’s defense stopped that from happening when James Chenault intercepted Bachmeier to end the half.
“Some good defensive play by BYU is what kept us from really keeping the momentum going early and then turning the ball over is obviously what allowed them to take the momentum and take the lead,” Scalley said.
“We can’t turn the ball over in key situations,” he added.
That warning matters even more with Arizona on deck.
The third issue is getting aligned faster on defense. Utah’s system is built around late calls, a tactic Scalley and Colton Swan have used to gather more information before the snap. But against BYU, that approach created problems in the first half when the Cougars used tempo and quick snaps to catch the Utes still getting organized.
“That happens everywhere in college football, I’m here to tell you. Was it more of a problem in the first half?
You bet. Yeah,” Scalley said.
“It’s just a matter of getting the call out sooner and it was much cleaner in the second half, which I think we were much cleaner defensively, but definitely, that was an issue in the first half and we weren’t as good.”
One of the clearest examples came on third-and-4 with 9:22 left in the first quarter. BYU, already down 14-0, needed a conversion and Utah didn’t get set in time, leaving tight end Walker Lyons uncovered for an easy first down.
Scalley said the issue has shown up in other games too, and he knows Arizona can punish those lapses.
“We got to get better at lining up quicker on the defensive side of the ball,” Scalley said.
Utah will need cleaner execution in all three areas if it wants to handle the Wildcats.
“There’s certain things that we’re doing that can cost us in the future and we’ve got to correct those things versus a very good Arizona team that’s had our number,” Scalley said.
As for the celebration, Devon Dampier had his own moment in the aftermath. He climbed onto a box amid the sea of red-clad fans who had rushed the field, flashed a “U” and let out a yell.
These were the moments Dampier came back to Salt Lake City for.
In Other News...
Utah Fans Have A Real Reason To Worry About Huntsman Center
The Jon M. Huntsman Center has long been one of the defining buildings in Utah athletics, but the numbers around it are getting harder to ignore. The arena operated at a $765,859 loss last fiscal year, and the projection for this year points to a deficit that could top $1 million, leaving the university to keep covering the gap while the building remains central to the Utes basketball identity.
Utah is already looking for a different path forward, with plans to renovate the arena through a private equity partnership with Otro Capital and Crimson Brand Partners that would handle commercial sports events and facility operations. The bigger concern is that the Huntsman Center is not standing alone in the red, either, since athletics overall is also projected to run a deficit amid conference changes and new salary pools for student-athletes, adding another layer of pressure to a department already trying to balance tradition with a tougher financial reality. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Fans Suddenly Have A Very Uncomfortable Reason To Watch Utah
The latest College Football Playoff rankings have given the Big 12 a real spotlight, with Utah sitting at No. 2 and BYU at No. 10 while several other league teams also landed in the top 25. For Utah, that kind of position only sharpens the stakes of every remaining result, because the Utes are now part of a conference picture that suddenly looks a lot stronger than it did a few weeks ago.
For BYU fans, though, the uncomfortable part is that Utahs path matters far beyond Salt Lake City. The Utes are now tied into a web of playoff possibilities that could ripple through BYU and Texas Tech depending on how the next games and the conference championship shake out, which means Cougar supporters have every reason to keep one eye on their rival. And even if this years bracket leaves some teams sweating, next seasons expanded 24-team playoff should make the road a little less nerve-racking for everyone involved. [Read more 🡒]
Utah's New Backcourt Class Says A Lot About Alex Jensen's Plan
Utahs 2027 recruiting class already gives a clear early look at how Alex Jensen wants to build his backcourt. The Utes announced the signings of Pierce Thompson and Jamaal McKnight Jr., adding two guards with different profiles but the same long-term value for a program trying to establish a new identity under its head coach.
Thompson brings a 6-foot-4 frame and international experience, while McKnight arrives as a four-star point guard who picked Utah over finalists that included Kansas. The pairing gives Jensen a mix of size, playmaking and versatility for the 2027-28 season, and it suggests Utah is not waiting around to reshape its guard room with talent that fits multiple roles. [Read more 🡒]