It really was a harmless little quip at the rival school, should've never been made into anything.
Looks like Josh Newman (you know, the Josh Newman that got let go from his Utah reporter gig at the Trib) got ahold of it and quote tweeted it, which contributed to the Utah fan frenzy surrounding the tweet.
Soft, soft fanbase. Dishes but they can't take anything without the most vile in their fanbase doing what they do.