"Didn't even look at it," he said. "Had a personal dislike for BYU."
A star running back at West Valley City's Hunter High, Matt Asiata committed to play for BYU, which seemingly wanted him more than any other school. But after failing to qualify academically, Asiata was re-routed to Snow College.
When the BYU Cougars and Utah Utes line up on Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium (4 p.m., the Mtn) in arguably the most important game of their long and bitter rivalry, Jorgensen will be chasing Asiata all over the field - no surprise there.
The wrinkle is that Jorgensen will be wearing blue, while Asiata will be decked in red.
Welcome to the Turncoat Tussle, one of the few college football rivalries in the country where stories like the ones Jorgensen and Asiata have are common.
"As much as people don't like to admit it, we've got a lot of ties to each other," Jorgensen acknowledged. "Deep ties."
Then again, what can you expect when Utah's president, Michael Young, graduated from BYU and BYU's president, Cecil Samuelson, graduated from Utah?
It is simply something that makes Utah-BYU (or BYU-Utah, to half the state) unique.
Does a player ever commit to Michigan and end up at Ohio State? Does the father of a USC Trojan ever have to throw out his cardinal and gold and load up on Notre Dame gear?
Happens all the time here, as Jeff Jorgensen - father of Jan and J.D. - can attest.
The reasons are plentiful and have been hashed over endlessly: family ties, religion, proximity and just plain happenstance. Sometimes, it is just a matter of personal preference.
For instance, BYU didn't stay in touch with Asiata while he was at Snow like Utah did, so he switched to the Utes.
It was more of a football decision for him. His family didn't have an allegiance one way or another and he said he rarely thought about the rivalry himself.
"Now that I'm here, it's pretty big," said Asiata, who has 122 carries for 633 yards for Utah this season.
It was personal for Jorgensen, who says that while on an LDS Church mission in Portland, Ore., he decided he was not going to go to the school he signed with (Kentucky) and was considering Utah, Boise State and BYU, one of the first schools to offer him a scholarship.
"I made a list of pros and cons for each team, and the only bad thing I could write about BYU was that I had a personal dislike for them," he said. "I realized that wasn't enough to keep me from coming here."
Then there's the case of Utah freshman defensive lineman Sealver Siliga. The Copper Hills High product's family followed BYU, and he committed to the Cougars in the summer of 2007. Less than two weeks later, he committed to Utah, having been persuaded by the reputation of Utah defensive coordinator Gary Andersen.
"Coach A's success with defensive linemen caught my eye," he said. "My family grew up BYU and I still have some who are BYU, but they support me 100 percent."
So far, the decision seemingly has worked out well for Siliga. Coaches wanted to redshirt him but he has earned playing time instead behind veteran Greg Newman, because of injuries. He weighed about 360 pounds when he arrived at Utah, according to coach Kyle Whittingam but is down to 315.
Players also go the other direction.
BYU's star running back, Harvey Unga, committed to Whittingham after an all-state career at the football powerhouse just down the road from BYU, Timpview High. He declined to get into specifics in an interview for this article as to why he changed his mind and signed with BYU, but the turnaround is well-documented.
Unga decided to call both Whittingham and BYU assistant Lance Reynolds and tell them both he was choosing the other school. The coach that "handled it better" would get the prized recruit.
"I just wanted to be here [at BYU]," he said. "This is the place where I wanted to be. I committed to [Utah]. Then I de-committed and ended up here. No regrets. None at all."
And the list of ties goes on and on.
BYU defensive back Andrew Rich's brother and brother-in-law are Utah students, and his sister is a Utah graduate. Utah deep snapper Clint Mower's sister will be on the field Saturday, performing with BYU's Cougarettes.
"Really, this game can be caught up so much in the emotion, and it becomes personal for so many friends, neighbors, family members," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "I am not sure reasoning even becomes part of this week. . . . There comes a point where poeple just won't listen."
But some will switch sides.
