Utah 49, Colorado State 16

Just as I predicted last week, Utah came out with a vengeance and played their best game of the year. Just as the fans have been hoping (for the last three years) Utah went back to a true spread offensive attack. I'm not sure why they hadn't been running this offense earlier in the year, but it made for an exciting game, reminiscent of their '04 blowouts.

Utah was solid in every facet of the game. Their defense wasn't as stingy as other games, but they were content to allow the offense to control the tempo of the game. This ends Utah's easy streak as now their next game is in Albuquerque against New Mexico and then against TCU at home. Utah will be preparing for TCU on a short week's rest, while TCU will have the full week to prepare for the Utes (much like Oregon State earlier in the year). Incidentally, if you want to watch the TCU game, then you'd better make sure you have CBS College Sports Network. It's not nearly as widely distributed as Versus, unfortunately.

As predicted, Utah came out on top for the non-BCS teams in the BCS polls. I was hoping that they would be ranked a little bit higher, but these things require patience. It was exciting to see 6 non-BCS teams in the rankings. With this type of parity, I'm pretty confident that the BCS won't last forever. Hopefully, it dissolves sooner rather than later...

Utah 27, CSU 3

Utah beat Colorado State by... running the ball! They ran for 322 yards against the Rams and threw for 130 yards as well. As I mentioned in my post about their last game, I was prepared to be disappointed with the Utes this game. It turned out that I was far from disappointed and am now looking forward to Utah's next 3 games, all Mountain West Conference showdowns with Wyoming, New Mexico and one other team whose name escapes me right now.

As a friend of mine from the ward pointed out, the Utes had two running backs run for more than 100 yards. Mack led the way with 151 yards on the ground and Stowers (who had a pleasant breakout game, showing impressive speed - especially around the corners). Anybody out there have any idea the last time that the Utes had 2 backs with more than 100 yards each? I have no idea.

Here's some numbers for you. Utah's starting running back averaged 7.6 yards a carry. His backup, Stowers averaged 11.2 yards per carry while Elijah Wesson (who reminded me a lot of Utah's perennial Heisman Trophy candidate Brent Casteel) averaged 8.5 yards per carry. It was exciting to see Utah's run game finally gain some steam. If they can continue to show a balanced attack then their next opponents have their work cut out for them.

Utah 35, CSU 22

Utah played CSU yesterday at Rice-Eccles Stadium. It was a cold and rainy game, but luckily for us there was no snow. Utah started out quick in this game building up a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. CSU almost caught up with the Utes but they were able to keep them at bay and pull away in the end. The surprise in this game had to have been the offense.

For the first time all season, Utah seemed to pull out all the stops and then play an exciting offensive game. They faked a punt, Eric Weddle ran plays from the quarterback position more than ever (and he completed a pass) and the Utes threw a few trick plays into the mix - including a sweet triple-reverse.

I will be honest, I still don't know how good (or how bad) they are. On www.foxsports.com the Utes are ranked the 80th team out of 119. i don't think that they are quite that bad, but who am I to say. These next 2 weeks should both be exciting.