Living outside of Utah. Have lived in Northern Cal, Missouri and South Carolina over the past few years. Few casual college football fans understand the difference between BYU and U of U. Few of them knew Utah existed before their couple of good seasons ten years ago. That flash in the pan just confused people, like the guy you talked to. "Wait, University in Utah playing football. Isn't that BYU? Why are they wearing red?"
Probably clearer to Pac12 fans now.