‘Does God care who wins this game? No’: Morgan Scalley talks rivalry ahead of Utah-BYU matchup
· Yahoo Sports
Morgan Scalley is as well-versed in the Utah-BYU rivalry as anyone.
Utah’s first-year head coach grew up a Ute fan, played for Utah for four seasons, then joined Utah’s coaching staff in 2006, rising up the ranks from safeties coach to defensive coordinator to head coach for his alma mater.
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Scalley knows the importance and intensity of the rivalry game, recalling the lengths he went to play in Utah’s 3-0 win over BYU in 2003 during his Monday press conference.
Scalley, then a star safety for Urban Meyer’s Utes, tore his meniscus during the Utes’ 47-17 win over Wyoming the week prior to the BYU game. With an outright conference championship on the line, Scalley had surgery on Monday and played that Saturday.
“That’s how much the rivalry ... It means a lot,” Scalley said.
Utah shut out the Cougars at a freezing cold LaVell Edwards Stadium, snapping BYU’s home scoring streak that started in 1970. BYU registered just 156 yards of offense to Utah’s 220, with a second-quarter Bryan Borreson field goal lifting the Utes to their first outright conference championship since 1957.
Scalley contributed two tackles in the win.
“The 3-0 game down in Provo, that was neat because it was our first outright conference championship in 50 years that we had won,” Scalley said. “It was the coldest game I’ve ever experienced either as a player or as a coach. I think it took everyone that was driving back to Salt Lake City two hours to get home because everyone was sliding off the road.”
Utah’s coach also fondly recalled the Utes’ dominant 52-21 victory over the Cougars in 2004 that capped an undefeated season and punched Utah’s ticket to the BCS.
Utah quarterback Alex Smith wears a sombraro as he celebrates his team's win over BYU in Salt Lake City Saturday, Nov. 20, 2004. The win is expected to send Utah to the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., on January 1. | AUGUST MILLER“We’d never done anything like it when we beat BYU to be able to go to the Fiesta Bowl,” Scalley said. “You lose that game and all of a sudden your dreams are dashed to that. And so that, the fans rushing the field, throwing Tostitos chips up in the air and my helmet was stolen, no idea where it is, but we were able to get another one.”
Flash forward
Now, 22 years later, Scalley is preparing his team for one of the most consequential games in the rivalry’s storied history. For the first time ever, the matchup will feature two top-10 teams — No. 3 Utah and No. 7 BYU — and just like last year, the winner will have the inside track on a spot in the Big 12 championship game if they take care of business during their remaining three games.
For the Utes in particular, a win over the rival Cougars for the first time in four tries would give them the edge over BYU in a tiebreaker scenario and give the Utes a margin for error down the stretch.
Aside from the huge stakes for this game in particular, what makes the rivalry so unique is the proximity of both schools, which means that fans on both sides interact with each other every day at work, church and more. There are often both BYU and Utah fans within families, and that carries over to the current staffs of both schools.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake, of course, coached at Utah from 2005-14, including a six-year stint as the Utes’ defensive coordinator. Aaron Roderick, Sione Po’uha, Lewis Walker and Gary Andersen all either played or coached at Utah before joining BYU.
Utah running backs coach Mark Atuaia played and coached at BYU.
The familiarity both staffs have with each other is part of what makes the rivalry game such a close affair each year. In the past 20 years, just three games — all of which Utah won — have featured a margin of victory of 10 or more points.
“Obviously this is staffs that know each other and know our schemes and it just comes down to execution,” Scalley said.
Ties the bind
Just 12 years ago, Scalley and Sitake were both on the same staff at Utah. Now they’re both leading top-10 football teams.
What Scalley has been able to do in his first season at Utah has been nothing short of impressive. Despite longtime coach Kyle Whittingham taking a number of staff members — including offensive coordinator Jason Beck — and players with him to Michigan, Scalley hasn’t missed a beat.
He has the Utes 8-0 in his first season with impressive victories over Houston and Cincinnati.
Sitake, meanwhile, shepherded BYU through independence and into the Big 12, where the Cougars have posted two straight 11-plus-win seasons and have made an appearance in the Big 12 championship game.
“At the end of the day, does God care who wins this game? No. Does he care about people? Yes.”
Utah coach Morgan Scalley on the Utah-BYU rivalry
There’s football greatness happening in the Beehive State, and the most important sporting event in the state of Utah will settle the score this Saturday.
“We’ve got BYU coming up, huge matchup. I believe it’s the first time that we’ve both been in the top 10 going up against each other. It’s awesome. Awesome for the state,” Scalley said.
Though Sitake and Scalley have faced off against each other as head coach and defensive coordinator seven times, this will be the first meeting of the old staff members as head coaches.
“Kalani … the ultimate competitor. He and I are very alike in the sense that we love to have fun, we love to joke, but when it gets down to it and competing and you cross those lines, it’s, OK, it’s time to win. Respect him so much as a human for the good that he does, the good that he is,” Scalley said.
Scalley shared that he, Sitake and Utah State head coach Bronco Mendenhall had dinner together before the 2026 season kicked off.
“Kalani’s a dear friend, so I love him and I’m grateful for what he taught me and excited to go against him,” Scalley said.
‘Be more civil’
In an intense rivalry that often runs red-hot and results in tensions boiling over between fans, the hope from both programs is that fans can look to the examples of the two coaches. Sitake and Scalley are friendly off the field, but when the whistle blows, they want nothing more than to beat their rivals.
“At the end of the day, it’s mine and Kalani’s hope that this thing can be more civil. The hatred, the toxicity that is spewed from both sides, to me it’s not good for the rivalry,” Scalley said.
“What makes it great is it’s competitive, is the back and forth, is the fact that — look at us — in one state within 30 minutes of each other and you’re sitting here ranked in the top 10,” Scalley said. “That’s awesome. No other state can say that. So much respect for Kalani and that crew and we expect a great matchup.”
Keeping perspective
The religious aspect of the Utah-BYU rivalry differentiates it from other rivalries around the nation. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the sponsoring institution of BYU, and many of its players are Latter-day Saints, though some Cougars, notably quarterback Bear Bachmeier, are not.
Dubbed by many national news outlets as the “Holy War,” there will always be a religious component to the rivalry between the flagship public university of the state and the one operated by the state’s predominant religion.
That said, University of Utah president Taylor Randall, Scalley and a number of staff members and players are also members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, alongside many Utah fans.
Scalley feels like too much is made out of the religious aspect of the rivalry.
“Yes, you have a predominant religion as part of one school, but I think we make too much of that. There are young men playing on both teams that aren’t LDS and there are fans that aren’t LDS. They’re fans and they’re players,” Scalley said.
“At the end of the day, does God care who wins this game? No. Does he care about people? Yes.”
“So I think we can be better to each other in that realm. Definitely, like I said, the proximity, how close we are, and family members having gone to both schools — the whole family draw is what can make it so good.”
Utah offensive guard Kelvin Obot out for season
Five-star freshman offensive guard Kelvin Obot, who earned a place in the Utes’ starting lineup, is out for the season, Scalley announced.
Obot played 244 snaps this season and started at left guard from the Iowa State game on, but suffered a lower-leg injury in Utah’s game against Colorado.
Roger Alderman has taken Obot’s place in the starting lineup. Against Cincinnati, the offensive line played its best game of the season, allowing zero pressures or sacks.
Utah offensive tackle Kelvin Obot waits for the snap during game at Iowa State at Ames, Iowa on Saturday Sept. 26, 2026. | Anna Fuder, Utah Athletics