Utah Won The Holy War — And It’s Winning The Kyle Whittingham Divorce

There were no assurances made. No guarantees. No use of the word “retirement.” What played out was a Cold War that concluded with the motorcycle-riding, dead-lifting, 66-year-old Kyle Whittingham departing the program he stood up for decades for a Midwestern blue blood. Left to pick up the pieces? Whittingham’s ex-lieutenant and longtime coach-in-waiting, Morgan Scalley. After Saturday’s holiest of Holy War wins over No. 9 BYU, it sure looks like No. 3 Utah is winning that divorce. “We had a coach in waiting, and it really paid off because he was ready to go and knows our program,” Utah athletics director Mark Harlan told me in March. “We didn’t expect to turn over as many staff members as we did, but that happens in college football. “Just when you think you had it figured out, something happens.” Something has happened: Utah is a College Football Playoff front-runner. Michigan couldn’t be further from it. The Utes’ win on Saturday was more befitting of a boozy late-night evening in Las Vegas than a dirty soda-infused 10 a.m. local time kickoff in Salt Lake City. Still, it ended approximately the same way — with everyone exhilarated, exhausted, rushing the field and holding a memory they’ll long cherish. The stands shook. The Cougars wobbled. Utah? Its offense hummed right along. The Utes finished Saturday’s contest averaging 5.3 yards per play against a BYU defense that had been holding teams to less than 4.5 yards per snap. Utah’s do-it-all quarterback Devon Dampier provided the wizardry on Saturday. He sliced and diced the Cougars’ defense to the tune of 87 yards rushing, while his 6.8 yards per attempt passing were the fourth-most given up by BYU all season. Oh, and he notched a reception — a diving, back-shoulder, fourth-down catch along the sideline tossed by wide receiver Creed Whittemore. As the fourth quarter opened, it was Dampier’s quarterback draw from 3 yards out — a play set up by a BYU pass interference call on the previous third down — that had the one-time New Mexico import Griddy-ing across the back portion of the end zone at Rice Eccles Stadium. Boy, would Michigan kill for that. The Wolverines’ offense has been at best anemic and at worst unwatchable through eight games. It ranks 16th of 18 in the Big Ten in yards per game, 17th in points per game, and dead last in the league in passing offense. That won’t get it done. To what degree Dampier was an option for the Wolverines isn’t totally clear. Bryce Underwood and his $3 million annual contract was certainly an impediment. Still, there was a thought in college football circles that, with Whittingham bringing a host of characters from Salt Lake City to Ann Arbor — including offensive coordinator Jason Beck — his quarterback might follow. He didn’t — and Michigan has suffered through signal-caller Hell on account of that decision. “He’s the ultra competitor,” Scalley said of Dampier during his postgame interview. “He’s rare. He’s unflappable. That’s what he’s improved on the most since last season; the ability to let things go.” And how about that defense? For all the discussion of the physicality BYU flashed in its upset win over No. 11 Notre Dame two weeks ago, Utah bullied its cross-town rival in the trenches, holding Cougars star tailback LJ Martin to just 19 yards on seven carries in his return from injury. Twice, the unit also bowed up and made tackles short of the sticks on BYU’s final drive to quell any hopes the Cougars had of a last-ditch tying prayer before picking off BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier’s final pass of the afternoon to ice the Holy War. This, of course, was without starting cornerback Smith Snowden, dominant interior defensive lineman Jonah Lea’ea, and All-American edge rusher John Henry Daley. That trio — and a handful of other former Utes — followed Whittingham to Michigan. Surely they regret that decision on an afternoon like Saturday. “We knew (BYU) was going to get their plays,” Scalley continued as the Utah faithful crowded around him, chanting his name in unison. “They’re a good offense. They’ve got good players. We just wanted to make life uncomfortable for them.” The CFP picture is admittedly far from a completed piece of work. The selection committee will gather this weekend, rank teams once more and the greater college football world will undoubtedly gripe about whatever order they land on. Start here: Utah should be No. 1. Michigan? Well, whatever postseason aspirations weren’t lost with a last-second “win” over Western Michigan have long faded away. Whittingham’s squad is stumbling along in a season that has felt lost for weeks. None of that will matter to the people of Utah. The Utes are undefeated, beat their hated rival and are in the driver’s seat for the Big 12 regular-season title. There is no post-divorce, midlife crisis playing out in Salt Lake City these days. Utah and Scalley are poised to drive their top-down red Ferrari of a program right into the national title conversation.