Beardall giving Utes a leg up

Thanks to Dan Beardall, preseason concerns about Utah's kicking game have alleviated. Entering Saturday's homecoming game with San Diego State, the senior leads the Utes in scoring with 42 points — making all 18 PATs he has kicked and connecting on 8-of-9 field goal attempts, including a 46-yarder against Air Force.

Beardall's accuracy (88.9 percent) is tops in the Mountain West Conference. He also leads the league in field goals per game (1.33).

"It's great. It's something you look at and it makes you proud," Beardall said. "But you don't want to take your focus off of what you've got to do — just going out there and making every kick."

With veteran Bryan Borreson sidelined with a nagging groin injury and last season's star, David Carroll, opting to serve an LDS Church mission, Utah entered the current campaign with question marks surrounding the kicking game.

Beardall, who saw limited action (two PATs and four kickoffs) as a junior in 2004, wound up earning the job. The former American Fork kicker, who played at Snow College before originally transferring to South Carolina, quickly made his mark as the Utes' top kicker. Beardall was named MWC special teams player of the week after his first start, making two field goals and three extra points in Utah's season-opening win over Arizona.

"(Utah kickers) haven't always had the best reputation. I'm sure there were people who thought it was going to be another problem this year. People are going to think what they're going to think," Beardall said. "I try not to let that bother me, either in a positive way or a negative way."

Kicking, he explained, is very mental. Early confidence can pay dividends throughout the season.

"It's an ideal situation. I've been very fortunate to stay healthy and stay away from injuries. Things have just worked out," Beardall said. "I've got to give a lot of credit to Brock Condie and Eric Weddle, the long snapper and the holder. They're a huge part of every kick. They're doing a great job and it helps me out."

OFFICIALLY SPEAKING: At the conclusion of his remarks on the MWC's weekly media teleconference, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham jokingly said he hoped there would be no reprimands this week. He was sanctioned days earlier for criticizing Atlantic Coast Conference officials following a 31-17 setback at North Carolina.

"I'd prefer to play with our officials. After experiencing other conferences, I really like the Mountain West Conference officials," Whittingham said this week. "I have no issues with them. They don't make every call correctly, just like we don't make every call correctly as coaches. They are human.