Utah Utes football: Utes wrap up share of title, but want more

SAN DIEGO — Utah got what it wanted Saturday night at Qualcomm Stadium — a share of the Mountain West Conference title. What the eighth-ranked Utes didn't get in a 63-14 win over San Diego State was complete satisfaction.

That will have to wait.

It'll require a victory over BYU this weekend. A triumph over the Cougars would give the Utes their third outright conference crown since 2003 and most likely earn them a second trip to the Bowl Championship Series, following in the footsteps of the 2004 team.

"There's still work to do. We still want to be outright conference champions and we've got a chance to do that next week," said Utah quarterback Brian Johnson. "We'll be ready to play and it'll be a great game."

Johnson directed an offense that netted 520 total yards and 30 first downs. He threw five touchdown passes in Utah's final road game of the season.

Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig said the Utes just did what they had to do.

"I'm real happy with our execution and look to build on that next week," he explained.

Johnson agreed. He was especially pleased by the final result.

"It was fun to get some points. We had 13 points the last two weeks (in wins over New Mexico and TCU)," Johnson said. "To come out and score 49 on offense and get two more on defense is something we wanted to do offensively, and we got it done."

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham noted that his team was "hitting on all cylinders" against the Aztecs.

"I thought we handled ourselves very well in this game," he said. "We did what we should have done as far as moving the football on offense and playing tough defense. Special teams were very good."

It didn't take long for the Utes (11-0, 7-0) to establish their superiority over the injury-plagued Aztecs.

On the second play of the game, Utah linebacker Stevenson Sylvester forced SDSU running back Tyler Campbell to fumble the ball.

Defensive end Koa Misi recovered it near midfield, and minutes later the offense responded by marching downfield for the game's first score.

Johnson capped a seven-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Colt Sampson. Louie Sakoda added the PAT and the rout was on.

After SDSU's next drive ended when Lane Yoshida missed a 47-yard field goal, the Utes made another trip to the end zone. This time, they ran 12 plays and took nearly 4 1/2 minutes off the clock. The drive, which included a pair of third-down completions from Johnson to Bradon Godfrey, concluded with a 4-yard scoring strike from Johnson to Freddie Brown.