Utah Utes football: Team now No. 7 on BCS list

Utah's 13-10 win over TCU led to a rise in the Bowl Championship Series standings and polls Sunday. The Utes (10-0) moved up to seventh in both the BCS listing and USA Today coaches poll. They're No. 8 in the AP Top 25 and Harris Interactive rankings.

The news, however, isn't foremost on the mind of Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. The Utes are focused on Saturday's game at San Diego State. A win over the Aztecs will give them at least part of their primary goal, the Mountain West Conference championship.

"That's certainly a motivational factor this week," Whittingham said. "If we're able to get a win, it guarantees us at least a share of the championship."

Everything else, he added, is secondary.

The Utes are determined to maintain their seasonlong quest to focus on the task at hand. And this week it's San Diego State.

"We just figure our part is just to keep on track. Things at the end of the season all take care of itself. You can't worry about that," Whittingham said. "You don't concern yourself with that because a lot of it you have no control over. All you concern yourself with is what you can do and that is to get out and play as good of football as you can play each and every week."

The BYU game on Nov. 22 and the BCS situation, thus, are on the backburner for now.

"It's all about San Diego State," Whittingham said. "That's our focus. That's our entire focus."

Preparations kick into high gear today when practice resumes. After watching the TCU film and making corrections, Whittingham gave his team the weekend off.

The extra days off, he added, are a positive to help heal bumps and bruises. The Utes came out of the TCU game without any significant injuries and everyone should be available for the game in San Diego.

"I really like our toughness. I think that's probably the overriding thing that we're most pleased about — the toughness they've displayed and the way we've been able to handle adversity,"

Whittingham said. "There's been three or four games this year where we've had to overcome some circumstances and have been able to do it."

The ability to do so has allowed Utah to extend its overall win streak to 11 games, dating back to last season.

Whittingham credits Utah's determination to take things week-to- week and not get ahead of things for the successful run.

As such, no one is taking last-place San Diego State (1-9, 0-6) lightly. Whittingham noted that every game is important.

"They're all big," he said. "Every game is the same. Every game in conference counts as one."

FEEDING THE FRENZY: Whittingham and 12 players spent part of the weekend at the Rice-Eccles Stadium ticket office. They visited with and handed out pizza to students who braved the cold weather Friday night to get tickets to the BYU game.

"Our fans have been tremendous this year, particularly the MUSS — our student section," said Whittingham, who estimated that a couple of thousand students were lined for tickets. "It was a great display of dedication to the team."

Utes on the air

No. 8 Utah (10-0, 6-0) at San Diego State (1-9, 0-6)

Saturday, 6 p.m.

TV: The mtn.

Radio: 700 AM

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E-mail: dirk@desnews.com