Utah Utes football: Asiata is off and running, starts season strong

Matt Asiata carried a big load in Utah's 35-17 win over Utah State on Thursday night.

The 5-foot-11, 220-pound senior touched the ball on 38 of the Utes' 80 offensive plays. He ran the ball 36 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

Asiata also caught two passes, netting 17 yards in the process.

"He wants the ball and we're going to give it to him," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.

That was certainly the case in the season-opener, where Asiata also took some direct snaps in helping the Utes generate 519 yards of total offense and 27 first downs.

When approached by a television reporter as soon as the game ended, Asiata acknowledged he was tired.

However, the former Hunter High and Snow College star wouldn't have it any other way.

Same goes for the coaching staff.

"That's going to be all season long. He's our guy. We knew that going in, as far as the run game," said Whittingham, who compared the situation to 2007 when Darrell Mack ran for 1,204 yards. "We expect a big year out of Matt. He's off to a pretty good start."

One area for improvement, however, is Asiata's average yards per carry — 4.3 in the USU game.

"We need to get five yards a carry at the tailback spot," said Whittingham, who noted that Asiata was on the verge of breaking into the secondary four or five times before getting tripped up against the Aggies.

"We've just got to work on some things," Asiata said before leaving the field. "We've got to learn from our mistakes."

Asiata fumbled once, but overshadowed the miscue with otherwise effective play. His 36 rushing attempts were the fourth-most in Ute history.

His 156 yards puts him well ahead of Carl Monroe's 27-year-old, school-record pace of 137 yards per game.

Asiata is also well on his way to becoming the 10th Utah running back to reach the 1,000-yard milestone in a season. In fact, he's in line to eclipse Monroe's record of 1,507 yards in 1982.

"I love the offense," said Asiata, who insists he's getting a lot of help. "I give it all to the 'O' line. The 'O' line's pushing the defense back and I've got to try to find the holes."

Asista's next opportunity to do so is Saturday night at San Jose State (ESPN-U, 8:30 p.m.).

e-mail: dirk@desnews.com