Utah coach Morgan Scalley did not sound like a man whose team had just stretched the nation’s longest active winning streak to 12 games. After his team’s impressive comeback win at Folsom Field, he gave Colorado coach Deion Sanders and his players more credit than most coaches would give a 2-4 team coming off its fourth straight loss.

Honestly, he had a point. Utah outgained Colorado 248-70 in the first half and led 13-0 amid the offensive struggles. Then Colorado flipped the game, outgaining Utah 324-161 after halftime.

Morgan Scalley gives Colorado’s defense its due

“Credit to Coach Sanders and Colorado for the way they competed and fought,” Scalley said after the game. “I knew going into this game, I thought this was going to be a battle, particularly their defense and how stout they were. I think you look at really all metrics that matter, and I don't know that we should have won this game, outside of the score.”

The numbers back him up. The Colorado front sacked Utah’s quarterback Devon Dampier three times and held Utah to 131 yards on the ground on 39 carries, just 3.4 yards per rush.

When asked why the offense never found a rhythm, Scalley pointed at that front again. 

“It's finishing in the red zone with touchdowns,” he said. “Now, a big part of that is their defensive front is pretty active, and they brought quite a bit of pressure all night.”

Morgan Scalley owns the late clock mistake

Scalley blamed his staff for a late incompletion that stopped the clock while Utah tried to close out the game.

“You cannot throw an incomplete. You got to keep the clock running,” Scalley said.

Asked whether the quarterback should have taken a sack to keep the clock moving, Scalley did not dodge it. 

“That's one of those situations where we're saying if it's not clean, you got to basically kill it. You got to go down,” he said. “We've not coached that well enough, obviously. So that is on the coaches.”

Morgan Scalley explains what Isaac Wilson exposed

Colorado quarterback Isaac Wilson, who was a former Utah product, threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns against his old team, including a 68-yard score to running back JaQuail Smith early in the third quarter. Scalley rejected the idea that his knowledge of Utah made the difference.

“No. That's any team that knows that we play man coverage. And there were too many times today where we came off coverage,” Scalley said. “Miscommunication on combos, stuff like that. So we just have to be cleaner in the back end.”

Morgan Scalley knows how close Colorado came

Utah survived thanks to a few plays from unexpected names. Utah cornerback James Chenault Jr. picked off Wilson in the fourth quarter and returned it 30 yards to the Colorado 22, and Utah linebacker Brock Fonoimoana recovered Colorado’s onside kick after the Buffs wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr.’s touchdown cut the lead to three with 1:21 left.

Scalley did not pretend the finish was comfortable.

“Brock Fonoimoana, if he doesn't recover that, it becomes very interesting, right?” he said.