Scalley highlights 'healthy back-and-forth' between offense, defense that could help Utah football

SALT LAKE CITY — Defensive coordinator Colton Swan isn't holding anything back against the Utah offense with just over two weeks to go until the Utes kick off the 2026 season against FCS Idaho.

If there's a way to trick, disguise, simulate more pressure or simply make life difficult, Swan has done it.

"Swan's trying to get me," starting quarterback Devon Dampier joked Monday afternoon. "Swan's trying to make sure I see everything."

It's all been by design to help both sides of the ball improve — or to simply see what the team is made of ahead of the 2026 season. And it's something that began in spring — even as Utah worked into a new offensive scheme and introduced a new offensive line.

All of it is meant to push the limits and see where the cracks are in the system.

Much like the equipment and technology in use today, a stress test becomes a vital requirement used to check the quality and effectiveness of a product. Even a minute defect could make the most sophisticated product crumble under pressure. And the higher quality the product, the more effective it can be for its intended purpose.

It's no different for a football team.

For Utah, the stress tests have led to a "competitive" fall camp that has produced a lot of back and forth between the offense and defense, according to head coach Morgan Scalley.

In short, camp hasn't been a lopsided affair for either side of the ball, but it has the potential to be a positive thing to help each side develop and prepare for the season.

"It's good that it's competitive right now, that you don't have one side dominating the other," Scalley said Monday.

It's a healthy back-and-forth that has the potential to make the team better — assuming both sides of the ball are sufficiently prepared and talented. Based on the depth and talent on both sides of the ball, there's belief Utah has a quality team in the making.

Of course, all of that will be tested in the real world when the product is available for all to see — and expose, exploit and potentially disrupt.

"Man, I think that's great," Dampier said. "Honestly, that means that we're both elevating together. We're both going into film, one side of the ball has a worse day; we're going into film, they're applying it. Same thing as us, we have a worse day, we're applying it.

"So it's just great to see that we have a full team where not one side is dominating every day. We have a team that knows how to come back after a bad day. That just shows adversity, that we have that."

Much of that was on display Saturday as the team took part in its first scrimmage of the season. Scalley and the players each mentioned that the weekend scrimmage was a balanced affair for the team, with neither side ultimately having the upper hand on the day.

"Honestly, we scored pretty early on a drive; and, man, that next drive we stayed out there and defense shut us out just like that," Dampier said. "So, just for them to be able to respond every single time. And also, we got shut out, then we go back out and we do our thing. I'm just happy that we keep continuing to just apply things. We're hearing our coaching points and we're applying it."

"It's comforting to know that we're going against one of the best defenses in the nation, and it's iron sharpens iron," added offensive lineman Solatoa Moea'i. "They're getting us better for sure."

It's a good sign for what could come for the 21st-ranked team in the country, but it's not all sunshine and rainbows, either — at least as Scalley still sees areas of the team that need to be developed.

Scalley said he's been impressed with the "energy" that has been maintained, even amid the "dog days" of camp. Still, the team needs to work more on its "situational mechanics."

At the beginning of camp, the situational mechanics were "not clean enough, not fast enough," Scalley said, but it's been "much better over that last couple days."

There's also some red zone work that needs to improve on the offensive side of the ball, which has been "kind of a mixed bag," Scalley added.

"We need to be more efficient," he said. "Not enough touchdowns in the red zone, too many field goals. Having said that, the kicking game is really good — kicking game is really good."

But with two weeks to go, Scalley feels confident in his roster and what it can do this season to win games and compete for a Big 12 title. The makings of a quality product are there, now it's just time to prove it.

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