​Stacy Revere/Getty Images FRISCO, TEXAS – JULY 08: Head coach Morgan Scalley of the Utah Utes speaks to the media during the Big 12 Media Days at The Ford Center at The Star on July 08, 2026 in Frisco, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) ©Credit – GettyThe No. 2 Utah Utes hit a massive unexpected travel roadblock right before one of the biggest rivalry games of their season. On Friday night, head coach Morgan Scalley and his team were all packed up and ready to fly from Salt Lake City down to Tucson, Arizona, for their huge Big 12 showdown against the Arizona Wildcats!However, as national college football writer David Ubben reported on X, Utah’s charter flight got completely shut down at the last minute, leaving the entire program stranded in Utah overnight when they were supposed to be settling into their hotel rooms.The root of the whole travel nightmare was a rare, four-hour nationwide ground stop issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday afternoon. Air Route Traffic Control Centers across the country experienced serious communication glitches, forcing aviation officials to freeze takeoffs nationwide for safety reasons.Because commercial and charter flights were stuck sitting on tarmacs and at gates for hours on end, airline schedules across the United States went off the rails, creating a massive ripple effect just as college football teams were trying to head out for their weekend road games.A coach’s travel nightmare unfolds hours before one of college football’s biggest matchups. Subscribe to stay on top of the chaos, controversies, and pivotal moments shaping the season.Even after the FAA finally resolved the technical issues and lifted the ground stop on Friday evening, Utah’s bad luck wasn’t over. When the Utes tried to get their flight moving again, their charter airline broke the frustrating news: every single pilot available to fly them had officially “timed out” for the day.Under strict federal aviation safety rules, pilots are only legally allowed to be on duty for a certain number of hours before they must take a mandatory rest period, and sitting around waiting for the four-hour ground stop to lift ate up all of their remaining clock.With zero legal crew members left to operate the plane, the flight simply couldn’t happen. Suddenly facing a logistical crisis, Coach Scalley and Utah’s athletic department had to make a quick call on how to get a roster of over 100 players, coaches, and staff down to Tucson.Driving wasn’t really a smart option since a charter bus trip from Salt Lake City to Tucson takes roughly 12.5 hours, which would have wrecked the players’ sleep and left them stiff and exhausted on game day.So, the team packed back up, headed back to the Eccles Football Center on campus in Salt Lake City for a good night’s sleep in their own beds, and pivoted to a same-day flight plan for Saturday morning.Because same-day travel in college football is super rare and throws off a