Utah Utes football: Second-half surge a team effort

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham took a big picture approach to Saturday's 42-21 win over UNLV.

"You don't judge the game in segments," he said. "You judge the game as a whole and as a whole I thought we played very well."

The Utes (2-0), who are now ranked 22nd in both the AP and coaches polls, overcame a slow start to roll past the Rebels at Rice-Eccles Stadium. They trailed 14-7 late in the first half before reeling off 35 straight points over the second, third and fourth quarters to pull away.

"I don't know why it took us until the second half to wake up offensively but we finally did," Whittingham said. "We were fortunate to be tied at halftime. In the second half we sharpened up."

Offense, defense and special teams all made key contributions as the Utes avenged last season's 27-0 setback at UNLV.

Quarterback Brian Johnson said revenge, however, was secondary to the process of preparing and playing well each week.

"We've still got a ways to go," he explained. "But we're proud to be 1-0 in conference. It's a big thing for us. That was step one in us accomplishing our goal as a team, which is to win the Mountain West Conference."

Other positives included six players (Johnson, Matt Asiata, Jereme Brooks, Freddie Brown, David Reed and Colt Sampson) scoring touchdowns; Louie Sakoda making all six PATs he attempted and not having one of his four punts returned; and a defense that held UNLV to just 11 yards (minus-6 rushing) in the decisive third quarter.

Most of the success came in the second half.

"We kind of woke up," defensive end Paul Kruger said. "I felt like we came out with the fight and energy we should have in the first half."

After being challenged to execute better in the locker room at halftime, the Utes responded. They were off to the races as soon as Reed returned the second-half kickoff 49 yards.

"We definitely needed a big momentum swing and we got it," Reed said.

Wide receiver Brent Casteel shrugged off the rough start offensively, noting that the team expected to face some adversity in the game.

"A lot was said at halftime but nothing really had to change," he said. "The first half was just weird. It was like something was in the air."

And after that ...