Cain looks an awful lot like the guy he replaced as Utes make run in MWC

So far, Utah quarterback Terrance Cain is proving to be more than able as Brian Johnson's replacement, with statistics that are remarkably similar to the former Ute signal-caller, who was the Mountain West Conference offensive player of the year in 2008.

Through five games, Cain has completed 99 passes, just as Johnson did last year. Cain has five interceptions, just as Johnson did.

Where Cain doesn't quite measure up is in completion percentage, as he's thrown 156 passes compared to 144 for Johnson last year, and in passing yards with 1,162 compared to Johnson's 1,246.

However, with 281 rushing yards, Cain is 282 yards ahead of Johnson, who had minus-1 yard rushing at this time last year.

Cain ranks second in the Mountain West Conference in total offense (288.6 yards per game) and 14th in the nation. He also leads the MWC quarterbacks in rushing and is sixth overall in the MWC in rushing with 56.2 yards per game.

TOUGH IT OUT: So what was the key to Utah's great comeback Saturday night against Colorado State?

Apparently it was colder hands.

Because it was extremely cold in Fort Collins last Saturday, with a temperature of around 20 and an even colder wind chill, the Utes had heaters set up on the sidelines.

However, when the Utes went down 17-3 in the third quarter, coach Kyle Whittingham turned off the heaters because he felt the Utes were spending more time trying to keep warm than worrying about the game.

As we all know, the Utes scored three unanswered touchdowns in the final 20 minutes of play for a comeback victory.

Perhaps the Ute players decided it would have been an even colder ride back home if they didn't turn things around that night.

O-LINE ATTENTION: Offensive linemen get the least credit of any players on the team. So let's give them a little love.

Left tackle Zane Beadles leads all Ute linemen with an 88 percent grade, followed by center Zane Taylor at 83 percent. Taylor leads the teams in cuts with 17 and pancakes with 8, followed by left guard Caleb Schlauderaff with 15 and 5, respectively.

EXTRA POINTS: After his three interceptions last week, Robert Johnson moved into a tie for third in the nation in interceptions per game and No. 1 in the MWC. ... The Utes have played four tight ends this year — Chris Joppru, Brad Clifford, Kendrick Moeai and Ben Hendy, but only Clifford has caught a pass and it went for minus-2 yards. ... Stevenson Sylvester leads the team in tackles with 29, followed by Mike Wright with 28 and Joe Dale with 27.

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