Rivalry rethought

Growing up in Holladay less than two miles apart, Steve Tate and Casey Evans didn't like each other very much.

They played on different teams in little league baseball and football, and being top players of their respective teams made them aware of each other. When they got to high school, they were on opposite sides of the bitter Skyline-Olympus rivalry.

"We never really liked each other," Evans said. "Growing up, we always had that Skyline-Olympus bitterness. You're supposed to hate the other team, that kind of a deal. We knew each other, but didn't like each other."

Said Tate: "We had a bit of a rivalry growing up. He went to Olympus and I went to Skyline, so naturally we had that rivalry and competitive spirit between us. We have a little history between us."

The two rivals ended up walking on to the University of Utah football team at different times and are now the best of friends as starters on the Ute defense, even if Tate has moved Evans out of his old position.

Because the Utes wanted to get Tate on the field at safety alongside Eric Weddle, Evans has been moved to one of the linebacker spots. So even though Evans weighs in at just 200 pounds, he is now the rover linebacker, taking over the spot occupied by 235-pound Spencer Toone last year.

"Our goal is to get the best 11 guys on the field," Utah defensive coordinator Gary Andersen said. "Casey and Steve are both great tacklers with great minds and are two of our best 11 defenders."

Though he was a bit wary at first, Evans is making the transition nicely this fall — and the Utah defense will be better for it.

"We needed to get our best 11 on the field, and Steve's one of the best 11," Evans said. "He was playing so well. We needed to find a spot for him, so I needed to move to linebacker."

That the two have ended up as starters together is remarkable, considering where they started.

Coming out of high school, neither Evans nor Tate was offered a scholarship at Utah, even though both had grown up as Ute fans and were all-state football players.

Evans had offers from schools such as Utah State, Weber State and Dixie State. But despite not getting a scholarship offer, he decided to walk on at Utah the next year. He had blown out his knee in a lacrosse game during the spring of his senior year, so he "grayshirted" his first year at Utah in 2002.