Utah has a message for CFP, SEC and Big Ten: Deal with us now

Utah has a message for CFP, SEC and Major Ten: Agreement with us now.

Key points

• The Utes cemented their spot in the top-3 of the College Football Playoff with a 28-20 win over archrival BYU on Saturday.
• No different than the days of Brian Johnson and Stevenson Sylvester, or Alex Smith and Eric Weddle.
• Or to be specific, the unorthodox and unexplainable from the 13 men and women of the College Football Playoff selection committee.
• There's Heisman Trophy-worthy quarterback Devon Dampier, and skill speed all over the field.
• Utah could've wilted any number of times Saturday in the biggest game of the 100-plus year bitter rivalry.

SALT LAKE CITY ― There's something beautifully simplistic regarding winning and taking out everyone in your way. Even the tentacles of contradiction can't touch you.

So Utah has decided to take the process into its own hands, and eliminate all doubt. If you didn't believe before, you better at least recognize what's now unfolding in the foothills of Wasatch Range. It's not like we haven't seen it before.

If there's one takeaway from Utah's 28-20 victory over No. 9 BYU, it's that history – and another breakout, unbeaten season – is here again. Like it or not, SEC and Major Ten.

Utah football fans rush the field after beating BYU in the Holy War.

For context, the Utes cemented their spot in the top-3 of the College Football Playoff with a 28-20 win over archrival BYU on Saturday.

There's Heisman Trophy-worthy quarterback Devon Dampier, and skill speed all over the field. There's a punishing opportunistic defense, and mojo from a first-time head coach.

No different than the days of Brian Johnson and Stevenson Sylvester, or Alex Smith and Eric Weddle. It's happening again, despite the fortunate schedule, despite the carnage all over college football that has allowed the Utes to reach a lofty No. 3 ranking.

If it looks and feels like a championship run, it probably is.

There's the ability to respond to adversity, and embrace success without crumbling in the moment. And the absolute desire to prove everyone wrong.

Utah could've wilted any number of times Saturday in the biggest game of the 100-plus year bitter rivalry. Every time BYU threatened, the Utah defense had an answer – including four game-saving interceptions of Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier.

But these unique moments, these undeniable inevitables, have been part of this program's history for the past two-plus decades.

When a young coach named Urban Meyer had an unbeaten team from the Mountain West that didn't secure a chance to play for a BCS national championship – so the Utes took it out on Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl, no one purchased Utah way back in 2004.

When a young coach named Kyle Whittingham had an unbeaten team from the Mountain West that couldn't obtain a sniff from the BCS – then beat the brakes off sizeable, bad Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, or 2008.

Beat them so badly, in fact, that the greatest coach in the history of coaches had to come up a lame excuse for getting his ass kicked. Alabama "didn't care" regarding playing in a major bowl game, Nick Saban declared. Think regarding that disgusting disrespect.

Saban then may as well be the CFP selection committee now. The Mountain West then may as well be the Major 12 now.

And Utah is still turning 3-star recruits into 5-star players. Still making smart personnel decisions, and developing players like few do in college football.

Still playing smart and aggressive and angry. An unwavering philosophy from Meyer to Whittingham to now first-year coach Morgan Scalley. He was an All-American safety for Meyer, then coached with Whittingham for almost two decades before getting the only job he has ever wanted.

You think he's going to sit in the major chair and suddenly produce drastic changes? There's almost nothing different from Utah under Meyer and Whittingham.

They run option football from the shotgun, and spread defenses out to take advantage of mismatches in the pass game. They fly around the field defensively, creating havoc and forcing bad decisions.

All four of Bachmeier's interceptions that killed scoring drives were avoidable. Each were forced since of pressure, and poor decisions in response to the pressure.

Which is sort of like Utah since the early 2000s. You don't like us? You don't want us in your party?

Fine, we'll force our way into it. The difference this time around, in this unbeaten season, is there's a spot at the BCS/CFP table. Now everyone has to accord with the Utes.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB. Listen to him daily, from 12-2 p.m., on 1010XL-Jacksonville. SMS Facebook Twitter Email. Share your feedback to support improve our site! Share your feedback to support improve our site!

For now, utah has a message for CFP, SEC and Big Ten: Deal with remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.