Beehive State rivals square off with Mountain West crown at stake

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11/19/2008 - Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The regular-season title in the Mountain West Conference and a chance to compete in a BCS bowl game all come down to this, the meeting between 16th-ranked BYU and the eighth-ranked Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City this Saturday.

Riding a 12-game win streak dating back to last season, the Utes are 11-0 for just the second time in school history and entered this week as one of only five undefeated programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Utah has already clinched at least a share of the MWC regular-season crown, having beaten TCU, but needs a win this weekend to be all alone atop the standings. The Utes, who blew away San Diego State last week in a lopsided 63-14 decision, are currently ranked seventh in the BCS standings and could advance even higher depending on the outcome of this game and the meeting between Texas Tech and Oklahoma.

As for the Cougars, their only loss this season came against 24th-ranked TCU in Fort Worth back on October 16th. If it were a close setback perhaps BYU would be held in higher regard from a national perspective, but the team was trounced in a 32-7 decision. But the Cougars have managed to bounce back and have won four in a row since then, claiming a 38-24 victory over Air Force last week to give the program 10 wins for the third straight season and leaving them the possibility of gaining at least a share of their third straight Mountain West Conference title.

Last year, the Cougars picked up a 17-10 win in the annual meeting, yet BYU still trails in the all-time series by a count of 52-33-4.

"I was proud of our team, going on the road to win our 10th game and having a chance for a championship again," noted BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall after the Air Force meeting. "We knew it would be a difficult football game and it turned out to be. (Air Force) plays hard and there is no quit in them." Quarterback Max Hall delivered another huge effort for the Cougars with his 354 yards and two touchdowns. A finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, Austin Collie continued to dominate with his ninth straight 100-yard receiving game and now has 1,315 yards on the season to establish a new school single-season mark. Not to be overlooked is Dennis Pitta who reeled in nine passes for 113 yards for the group as well.

But as great as Hall and the passing attack has been for the team this season, opponents have to remember that running back Harvey Unga is still waiting for his chances coming out of the backfield. Unga posted a pair of touchdowns versus Air Force and now has eight on the season to go along with his team- best 945 yards rushing. Between them, Collie and Pitta have accounted for 21 of the 34 touchdown passes thrown by Hall thus far.

Considering how much was on the line last week, it's not like the Falcons simply rolled over for BYU. In fact, Air Force gave the Cougars one of their toughest tests of the season by putting up 323 yards rushing and 421 yards of total offense. Although the Cougars failed to get to quarterback Tim Jefferson, just as most opponents haven't this season, they did limit the home team to only 5-of-14 on third down in order to regain possession and keep the Falcons offense off the field.

Take away the back-to-back meetings against UCLA and Wyoming earlier in the season when the Cougars held both opponents scoreless, as well as the 21-3 win over a disappointing New Mexico squad and the defense for BYU has been rather average for the most part. In fact, the team allowed at least 32 points in three straight games, which means there are some cracks in the armor that the Utes can exploit. Because of those early shutouts the Cougars are listed third in the conference and 21st in the nation in scoring defense with just 18.7 ppg allowed, a number that might be a bit misleading at this point in the campaign.

"I felt that we played a good football game on Saturday, particularly on offense," may be the understatement of the year by Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham after his team crushed San Diego State by 49 points. "Brian (Johnson) might have had his best game of the season - he distributed the ball very well." Yes, Johnson distributed the ball well, to the tune of five touchdowns in the first half. The signal-caller converted 27-of-38 passes for 283 yards for exiting, his only mistake being an interception. Eight different players caught passes, with Freddie Brown going downtown for 11 grabs, resulting in 110 yards and a pair of scores. Not to be overlooked was Matt Asiata who gained a team-best 83 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries as well.

Asiata leads the program this season with 633 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground and has added a new dimension to the scheme with direct snaps that he is able to take and run with. Despite having nine picks (no more than one in any single game), Johnson has remained under control for the Utes and has 20 TDs to show for his efforts, even if he does seem to run hot and cold from one half to the next.

The Utes gave up a pair of insignificant touchdowns in the second and third quarters to the Aztecs, but they were offset in a span of just 70 seconds in the fourth quarter when Deshawn Richard tied a school and Mountain West Conference record with two interceptions returned for touchdowns. With 127 yards in returns Richard set a new conference record and established an NCAA high for this season on his way to being named the MWC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. Richard, who has just 20 tackles in 10 games this season, is now second on the squad with his three picks and consequently gives Max Hall something to think about as he looks for his receivers down the field.

While Richard and Sean Smith (four picks) take care of the secondary, the attack at the line of scrimmage is being handled by Paul Kruger who has team highs of 7.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. As a unit the Utes are second in the conference and 22nd in the nation with 6.8 TFLs per contest, numbers that have helped the group place second in the MWC and 13th in the country with a mere 16.6 ppg allowed.