Utah Utes football: Utes looking to climb mountain again

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the seventh in a nine-part series previewing Mountain West Conference football. Stories are in projected order of finish (last-to-first) from the league's preseason media poll. Today: No. 3 Utah.

What can Utah do for an encore? How can the Utes top being the only undefeated team in the nation? Can they climb the mountain again?

Offensive lineman Zane Beadles thinks so. The senior All-America candidate isn't ruling anything out at this point.

"We're probably just as talented, maybe even more talented, this year than we were last year," he said. "Now it's just a matter of guys stepping into roles and the team coming together as a whole."

With just four returning starters on offense and seven on defense, there are holes to fill. However, after making two trips to the Bowl Championship Series in five years, Utah has improved its depth and talent.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is looking forward to fall camp and the latest batch of recruits. He expects many of them to be on the field this season.

While noting a bit of a youth movement, senior linebacker Stevenson Sylvester described the 2009 Utes as a "young, experienced team."

The blend of veterans, armed with the Sugar Bowl experience, has the Utes thinking big things once again.

Confidence, Whittingham noted, isn't a bad thing.

"You want your guys to be confident," Whittingham said earlier this month.

"As long as their work ethic is intact, they're focused and their concentration remains at a high level, I think you're OK."

It's an approach that has worked well for the only non-BCS program to break into the Bowl Championship Series twice.

STRENGTHS: Confidence. Utah carries the nation's longest active win streak into the new campaign. The Utes have won 14 consecutive games dating back to the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl.

Though several key contributors to Utah's run of success have either graduated and left for the NFL, the cupboard is far from bare. Beadles, Sylvester, running back Matt Asiata, defensive end Koa Misi and safety Robert Johnson were named to the preseason all-conference team.

Utah's offense topped the MWC last season with 36.9 points per game. The defense was second, allowing only 17.2 points per outing.