Now that college football has entered the final stretch of the regular season, various award finalists will come into focus. Some awards, like the Heisman and Biletnikoff, are far from being settled. However, there is one award that should already be decided.

Utah Utes head coach Morgan Scalley has already done enough in year one to warrant Big 12 and National Coach of the Year consideration. He's above more established or sensationalized names. The typical group of would-be winners falls short of bottom-line results and common expectations.

The regular season has three more weeks of games. While a lot can happen in that time, the hard work for Utah has already been done. What remains is to simply continue doing what they have done. Beat the team in front of them and manufacture three more wins. If Utah can do that, there isn’t a coach in the country with a better claim than Scalley.

As college football evolves regarding NIL, transfer portal and playoff formats, one metric remains: Expectations. It defines good versus great. Why is Ohio State at No. 21 so shocking? It’s because they are Ohio State and are expected to be a top 10 team. When Alabama doesn’t make the Playoff, fans and media don’t know how to respond.

Even a Coach of the Year candidate like Curt Cignetti has changed the expectations in Bloomington. Falling below the standard will disqualify many candidates fans expect to see come award time.

Lane Kiffin has three losses and is one more bad game away from falling out of the AP Top 25. Despite losing a Heisman Trophy candidate at QB, Ryan Day is hearing fans call for his job. Lincoln Riley at USC has been on the hot seat for two seasons. Not to mention, Indiana, Alabama, Texas Tech, Oregon, Ole Miss and several others have taken bad losses or won games by surprisingly small margins.

Expectations are the one area Scalley is winning with room to spare. This is Year One of Scalley's as a head coach. He took over a Utah team from Kyle Whittingham and didn't look back. It's been a program defined for over 20 years. The first expectation Scalley exceeded was the projected win total for a team expected to be in a transition year.

Read More: Where Utah Ranks in the Latest College Football Playoff Ranking For Week 11

CBS Sports' Brad Crawford predicted a 10-2 season for Utah. ESPN's Bill Connelly had the Utes just a shade over eight wins before the season started. The Athletic's Stewart Mandel somehow has Utah at a 7-5 record with a 9th place finish in the Big 12 Conference.

Heading into their tenth game of the season, the Utes are No. 2 in the country with 12 first-place votes in the latest AP Poll. The 9-0 undefeated start. That record includes wins over a top 10 and a top 15 opponent. Scalley deserves all the praise for what he has done in Salt Lake City.

Utah travels to Tucson to take on Arizona on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX).