Once and future rivalry: Utah, Colorado together again

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When he took a handoff and dashed into the end zone for a clinching touchdown in a 1962 season opener, Bud Scalley could not have known he was scoring the University of Utah's last points against Colorado for roughly a half-century.

Just as unlikely: Having the schools become members of the same conference again, after more than 60 years apart.

As the newest additions to the Pac-10, Utah and Colorado will renew one of the most often-played football series in their histories. Thanks to geography, scheduling rotations and Utah's strong alumni base in the Denver area, the schools seem likely to redevelop a rivalry.

"This is going to be a natural [rivalry]; it was for many, many years," said former CU star Joe Romig.

In recent interviews, alumni of both schools including Colorado's Bill White and ex-Ute quarterback Gary Hertzfeldt expressed surprise that the teams had not met since their era. Having shared membership in two conferences from 1910-47, before Colorado joined the then-Big Seven, the schools still kept playing in football nearly every year through '62.

Some combination of Utah's move into the Western Athletic Conference in '62, Colorado's beginning to play the newly created Air Force Academy and the Buffaloes' booking of more intersectional games resulted in the breakup of the series. Renewing it proved difficult.

"There always seemed to be something that got in the way," said Utah athletic director Chris Hill. "There are not any roadblocks now."

Ironically, a few years before the Pac-10 expansion brought them together, the schools had agreed to a home-and-home football series beginning Sept. 22, 2012 -- exactly 50 years since their most recent meeting. "It was logical," said Bruce Woodbury, a former Utah athletic official who negotiated the series. "It's a rivalry that should have gone on for a long time."

If Colorado succeeds in having its move from the Big 12 Conference become effective in 2011, as is the case for Utah, the schools separated by 500 miles will renew their ties next year.

The Utah-BYU and Colorado-Colorado State rivalries presumably will remain intact, but the Utes and Buffs will have an intra-conference flavor. While the Utes have no true rival other than BYU in the Mountain West Conference, Colorado will need an emotional replacement for Nebraska. Divisional alignments are still to be determined in the 12-team league, but the Utes and Buffs are expected to play annually.

"When you think back to our history in the '50s, Utah was our rival," Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn told CUBuffs.com. "I'm certainly not ready to call them our rival yet ... but it'll be great to have them as part of this exciting expansion."

Hill said: "It takes years to build a rivalry, but this is a start."

Even having gone nearly 50 years without facing Colorado, Utah has played only Utah State, BYU, Wyoming and Colorado State more frequently than the Buffs, who lead the series 30-24-3. The programs were almost even until the 1950s, a decade Colorado dominated.

"They were a powerful team in those days," said Don Rydalch, a Utah quarterback in the early '50s. "They were just a little bigger and a little faster."

Utah nearly pulled off an upset in 1957 when Lee Grosscup passed for 248 yards, but Colorado scored a last-minute touchdown in a 30-24 victory. That was part of the Buffs' run of nine wins and a tie in 10 meetings. After a two-year break in the series, Hertzfeldt's passing sparked a 21-12 win at Boulder's Folsom Field in 1961 as Utah stunned an unbeaten, No. 7-ranked Colorado team that was headed to the Orange Bowl.

"We played the best game we could possibly play," said Scalley, a halfback for a Utah team that would finish 6-4.

"We took them lightly, and they put it to us," said Romig, an All-America offensive lineman (while also playing defense in the one-platoon era) and a future Rhodes Scholar.

In a Salt Lake City courtroom, Romig later appeared as a forensic witness in a case involving Scalley, an attorney. "He still looked like a linebacker to me," Scalley said.

Besides running for the touchdown that secured a 37-21 victory in the '62 rematch, Scalley threw a halfback pass for a score.

When the Utah-Colorado series resumes, Scalley will have a connection beyond his own memories of facing the Buffs. His son Morgan, born 17 years after that '62 game, coaches Utah's defensive backs.