Rival cousins: Related Ute QB, Cougar receiver are dialed into rivalry

It's enough to make a Ute fan blue and cause a Cougar fanatic to see red.

Frequent conversations, mostly in the form of text messaging, between Utah's starting quarterback and a BYU wide receiver provide a twist of intrigue to the rivalry.

It's not, however, a case of double-reverse espionage.

Far from it, in fact.

Brian Johnson of the Utes and Michael Reed of the Cougars are cousins — and close ones at that.

They played high school ball together and hang out when back home in Texas.

On Saturday, their relationship will take a new turn. Johnson and Reed will play against each other for the first time as collegiate rivals — a meeting that was delayed for two years while Johnson recovered from a knee injury.

"It'll be my first chance. I'm excited," Johnson said. "I can't wait to get on the field."

After appearing on a television show Sunday night, Johnson called Reed and the two discussed this weekend's game at LaVell Edwards Stadium. They spoke for about 20 minutes.

"We talked about how crazy this week was going to be," Johnson said. "We kind of got it going — getting ready for the week."

There wasn't, he added, a lot of smack talk. It's not in either player's nature. Johnson said neither guy ever goes after the other one's throat concerning the rivalry.

"We'll talk about it. But there's nothing evil or anything like that," he noted. "We just kind of have fun with it."

They aren't alone. Their coaches from Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, Texas, are also getting involved — causing a flurry of text messages between the cousins.

"We texted each other to let each other know that our high school coaching staff will be down this weekend to watch both of us play against each other," Reed said. "It's exciting."

At the same time, however, Johnson acknowledges it's a little weird. Neither player knew much about the BYU-Utah rivalry while growing up in Texas.

"I don't think either one of us knew exactly how big this was," said Johnson, who added that it was just a weird coincidence that the players ended up at rival schools in Utah.

The intensity of the rivalry took them by surprise.