3 areas No. 2 Utah needs to improve in ahead of Arizona matchup

Utah Utes kicker Dillon Curtis (17) kicks a field goal during the second half of a football game against the BYU Cougars, Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, in at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. | Erin Hooley, Deseret NewsThis article was first published in the Ute Insiders newsletter. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each Wednesday night.Utah is riding high after a 28-20 win over No. 9 BYU.Not only did the Utes secure their first victory over their rivals in four tries, but Utah improved to 9-0, kept its position at the top of the Big 12 standings, and moved up to No. 2 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings.The victory over the Cougars was exhilarating for Utah’s coaches, players and fans. It snapped BYU’s three-game win streak and became the defining win of the Morgan Scalley era — for now.As Utah fans celebrated with players on the field, Etta James’ voice filled Rice-Eccles Stadium.“At last …”Scalley was emotional in his postgame press conference, and you could feel just how much this win meant to Utah’s entire program.But as Utah’s coach said postgame, it was a big win, not the big win.“They’re going to celebrate and we’re going to have fun enjoying this win because it’s hard to win in college football,” Scalley said. “But we’ve got an Arizona team that’s hungry.”“... We cannot let the joy of this distract us from what the ultimate goal is.”Right on the heels of a good BYU team is an Arizona squad that could be Utah’s toughest test of the season, especially on the road after an emotional rivalry game.Utah had to turn the page quickly to the No. 23 Wildcats, switching on the BYU film and using it to get better. Despite the euphoric win, the Utes have plenty to correct before another important game.Here’s some of what Scalley focused on this week after watching the film.Special teamsScalley pointed to special teams as the area where the Utes need to see the most improvement.While punt coverage and kickoffs have been a strength, field-goal kicking and punting nearly bit Utah against BYU.Dillon Curtis missed a 29-yard field goal in the third quarter on a drive that featured a Devon Dampier reception on fourth-and-1. Scalley chalked that close-range miss up to a snap-hold exchange issue.Utah was also offside on a kickoff, which cost the Utes 5 yards.BYU almost delivered a game-changing play on Orion Phillips’ final punt. Payton VanSteenkiste was close to blocking the punt, and even though he didn’t get a hand on it, he still affected Phillips’ punt, which went just 19 yards and set the Cougars up with favorable field position around midfield.Safety Nate Ritchie would make that moot with a game-sealing interception, but the Utes cannot afford to have more special teams mistakes this week.TurnoversUtah won the all-important turnover battle 4-2 thanks to intercepting BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier four times, but the two turnovers could have been costly for the Utes.Utah put the ball on the ground twice in a disastrous second quarter in which it was outscored 17-0, and it could have been even worse. Braden Pegan fumbled early in the period, which led to a BYU touchdown. Late in the second quarter, Devon Dampier fumbled at the Utah 20-yard line, setting the Cougars up in the red zone with the chance to take a two-score lead. Utah’s defense made sure that didn’t happen after James Chenault intercepted Bachmeier to end the half.“Some good defensive play by BYU is what kept us from really keeping the momentum going early and then turning the ball over is obviously what allowed them to take the momentum and take the lead,” Scalley said.“We can’t turn the ball over in key situations,” he added.Utah can’t give an offense like Arizona’s extra possessions on Saturday.Getting aligned quicker One of the trademarks of Morgan Scalley’s — and now Colton Swan’s — defense has always been getting defensive calls in later. The strategy allows the defensive coordinator to get as much information about the formation, personnel, etc. and react to it.“That happens everywhere in college football, I’m here to tell you. Was it more of a problem in the first half? You bet. Yeah,” Scalley said. “It’s just a matter of getting the call out sooner and it was much cleaner in the second half, which I think we were much cleaner defensively, but definitely, that was an issue in the first half and we weren’t as good.”BYU’s staff knows Utah’s staff well and tried to use those later calls to their advantage, going up-tempo or snapping the ball when the Utes were still trying to get set.One example came on third-and-4 with 9:22 left in the first quarter. BYU, down 14-0, absolutely needed points and on a pivotal third down. Utah didn’t get set fast enough and missed putting someone on tight end Walker Lyons, who was wide-open for an easy first down. Misalignment, miscommunication and late calls have resulted in several big plays allowed by this Utah defense, and Scalley knows that needs to improve going forward against an Arizona offense that can take advantage of those mistakes.“We got to get better at lining up quicker on the defensive side of the ball,” Scalley said. Utah needs to see improvement in those three areas to beat Arizona this week.“There’s certain things that we’re doing that can cost us in the future and we’ve got to correct those things versus a very good Arizona team that’s had our number,” Scalley said.In case you missed itDampier climbed onto a box amid the thousands of red-clad Utah fans who had stormed the Rice-Eccles Stadium field, flashed a “U” and let out a celebratory yell.These were the moments that Dampier returned to Salt Lake City for.How Devon Dampier led Utah to its most important win over BYU since 2008.From the archivesExtra points‘There’s lots of things about that program that are fantastic’: Arizona coach Brent Brennan previews big-time matchup vs. UtahUtah picks up the intensity and aggression in second half to put away Weber StateUtah’s fourth-quarter defensive heroes are a rarity in college football