Utah's Morgan Scalley Could be in Rare Company With a Win This Week

The Utah Utes football program is experiencing something somewhat rare, even if the idea is flying under the radar. The Utes are out to an undefeated 5-0 record and 2-0 in the Big 12 conference. The Utes are beating their opponents by an average margin of victory of almost 30 points per game. That included two games of allowing 10 points or fewer and one was a shutout.

The most important stretch of the Utah 2026 schedule comes after this week. On Saturday, the Utes will travel to Boulder to take on the Colorado Buffaloes, who are in the bottom quarter of the Big 12 standings.

Utah needs to take care of business this week on the road. If they are successful, they should set up an interesting and advantageous approach to the rest of the schedule. Utah is scheduled to play two games against ranked opponents over the next three that follow the Colorado game. No. 20 Houston on September 24 and No. 8 BYU in the annual Holy War two weeks later. If Utah can at worst split those two games, being within range of the Big 12 title and a possible college football playoff run could be in their future.

For three years officially, and possibly longer than that unofficially, Morgan Scalley carried the additional title of “head coach in waiting” as part of a contract extension with Utah. The road from the extension in 2023 and being named the head football coach in 2026 was not a completely smooth process.

In 2026, former longtime head coach Kyle Whittingham stepped down. Only to take the Michigan job weeks later. This presented the opportunity to name Scalley as the new head coach. That decision came rather quickly and was expected by most close to the program. Getting the job officially was just the first hurdle.

The promise years in the making was that Scalley would simply take over where Whittingham left off. A smooth passing of the torch conceptually. The benefit of a head coach in waiting is that he is not new to the program. He understands the culture, customs, traditions, and most importantly how Utah football is expected to compete.

At his first Big 12 Media Day as the head coach, Scalley did not disappoint. He confirmed the dedication to what he had worked on for so long.

“Utah football has a brand that’s very recognizable,” Scalley began confidently. “It’s a physical brand and it’s very family oriented. And I don’t know if I want to necessarily change that recipe for success.”

Every new coach tries to win the press conference or say the right things before the opening kickoff of the season. However, few have had the start that Scalley has. The team is dominating the opponent in front of them. They are doing that without changing one aspect of what it means to play Utes football.

Scalley did not try to reinvent the wheel. He simply took the keys to the car and continued to drive it in the same lane. Quarterback Devon Dampier almost feels like he’s on an Alex Smith trajectory (possible conference offensive player of the year). Through five games, he has almost 1,200 yards on 72% completions and is second on the team in rushing.

Under the offensive direction of Kevin McGiven, the Utes rank as one of the most ‘balanced’ offenses in college football. Ranking no worse than 4th in offensive run/pass balance in the Big 12 conference.

Utah has almost always prided itself on playing physical defense. That is also reinforced with the start of the 2026 season. Utah is currently the 16th ranked total defense nationally. They are allowing only a shade under 260 yards of total offense, allowing under 20 points per game. Resulting in Utah winning their first four games by a better than 3:1 margin.

If Utah can beat Colorado this week, it sets up the remainder of their season. They would enter the Houston game 6-0 (3-0 in conference). With only two truly ‘challenging’ games left of the remaining six. If they beat who they should beat and go 2-0 vs Houston and BYU, an undefeated regular season is not unrealistic. However, even if they split between Houston and BYU, they are in good shape.

If they handle their business against Cincinnati (middle of the conference), Arizona (middle of the conference), TCU (bottom of the conference) and West Virginia (dead last in the conference), they would still have a high probability of making the College Football Playoff even without the automatic bid that comes from winning the conference. Setting up an important conference title game. Win that, and Utah would be looking at a first-round bye.

If Scalley goes 6-0 in his first six games as the Utah head coach, he would be in rare company. It would mark the first time in 40 years a Utah head coach went undefeated through the first half of the season, in his first season as a head coach.

The last coach to do it nationally was Curt Cignetti, who went on to win a National Championship one year later. In the last 50 years of college football, fewer than five coaches have equaled Scalley in their first season.