Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley knows very well about the emotions and inflammatory statements the BYU-Utah rivalry elicits from participants.
Scalley, an All-American safety and a former co-Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year, played for the Utes from 2001 to 2004. The Utes went 3-1 against BYU and won three straight against their rivals from 2002-04 during his time as a player.
“It’s always a fun game to play in,” Scalley said. “It’s always a tough battle. No matter what your record is, no matter how poor that other team has been playing, it’s anyone’s game. What you have to do is you’ve got to be able to channel the emotion the right way. Your emotion and your passion for that game can’t be ruled by ‘what is the other team saying’ or what’s going on on Twitter.”
Scalley, a Highland High graduate, played for former Utah coach Urban Meyer, who helped ratchet up the animosity between the programs by only referring to BYU as the “team down south” and reportedly having BYU-logo deodorizing cakes placed in urinals in the football offices.
Utah QB Tyler Huntley talks BYU-Utah rivalry, says attitude is "we don't lose to them people down South" pic.twitter.com/5f1vMYB0e5
— Lynn Worthy (@LWorthySports) September 4, 2017
Leading up to the rivalry game in 2004, Scalley appeared in a video – which lives on thanks to YouTube – wearing a backwards baseball cap saying, “You’re born either a Ute fan or a BYU fan.” The video also includes footage of him addressing teammates referring to BYU players with a derogatory term and claiming he hated them with a passion since he was born.
Time has tempered Scalley’s emotions towards BYU — at least his public expressions of it — and he hopes his players can use theirs productively.
“That’s got to be channeled into ‘Let me study their tendencies. Let me know who they are,’ and when you get on the field, being able to listen to some trash talk and turn away from it,” Scalley said. “Those are smart football players. Stupid football players are the ones that get penalties because they get riled up. You’ve got to be able to channel your emotion the right way.
“I should know, I said stupid things when I was a player.”
DHC a DNP
Utes redshirt senior Justin Howard passed sophomore running back Devonta’e Henry-Cole for the backup position on the depth chart by the end of preseason camp. While starter Zack Moss, Troy McCormick and Howard all had carries last week, Henry-Cole did not play in the season opener against North Dakota.
Earlier this week, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham referenced Henry-Cole being slowed by “some things that have been hampering him physically” when asked about Henry-Cole not playing in the opener.
Dueling schools
The Deseret First Duel between BYU and Utah athletic teams begins Friday with the matchup of women’s soccer teams at BYU’s South Field. The Deseret First Duel, established in 2007 by the two universities and Deseret First Credit Union, awards points to each school for head-to-head victories in each of the 12 sports the two schools compete against one another each academic year.
Most of the individual games/matches/meets award three points apiece to the winner, while Saturday night’s football game will be worth five points. The winner of the head-to-head competition in each sport gets $1,000 for its student-athlete scholarship fund, and the university with the most overall points at the end of the academic year gets an additional $5,000 for the athletic scholarship fund.