Utah Utes football: Work to do in all phases

"I felt three opportunities was enough. So we gave Joe a shot. He came through and did a nice job," said Whittingham, who declined to say if the switch will become permanent. "We'll have to work it out in practice, but Joe did a nice job tonight. We'll just see how things shake out this week in practice."

While there were a lot of shortcomings in the game, Utah did have its share of successes as well.

The offense racked up 499 yards and the defense held San Jose to 22 yards rushing on 22 carries. The Utes also stopped the Spartans on 3-of-12 third-down situations. Penalties, however, were a problem with San Jose State picking up seven first downs on Utah infractions.

"Every phase (offense, defense and special teams) has things to address," Whittingham said. "I don't know if I'll ever sit here and say that there's not something we need to work on in any of the three phases. It's all constantly evolving."

EXTRA POINTS: Matt Asiata led the Utes with 94 yards rushing ... Jereme Brooks and David Reed each had five receptions ... Luke Matthews netted 31 yards on two punt returns ... Safety Joe Dale topped the team with 5.5 tackles ... Defensive end Koa Misi had 4.5 stops in his season debut ... Cornerback R.J. Stanford finished with two pass breakups and linebacker Mike Wright intercepted a pass ... Defensive end Christian Cox recorded Utah's only sack ... The Utes made six tackles for loss ... Right guard Tevita Stevens made his first career start.

e-mail: dirk@desnews.com