Utah Utes football: Wide carrying the load

Utah's ground game appears to have made a successful transition. Since taking over as Utah's featured back, Eddie Wide has posted back-to-back games with more than 100 yards rushing. The junior netted 129 against Louisville and 101 in last week's win over Colorado State.

"That's the exact type of game that we need from Eddie each week," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, who was especially pleased that Wide averaged six yards per carry at CSU.

Wide has stepped up in the absence of Matt Asiata, who was leading the Mountain West Conference in rushing before suffering a season-ending knee injury after scoring a touchdown in the Louisville game.

"It's been real smooth," said quarterback Terrance Cain, who noted that Wide and Asiata are great friends and get after each other. "When Matt went down, Eddie knew it was his turn to step up and that's what he did. He stepped up and made plays."

In the victory over the Rams, Wide scored Utah's last two touchdowns. The fourth-quarter trips to the end zone — a 1-yard run and an 8-yard scoring strike from Cain — capped a successful comeback for the Utes.

"It was a big thing for us," Wide said, "because we want to be on top of the Mountain West."

Utah's hopes of repeating as league champions are greatly enhanced with the ground game being solidified.

Besides replacing Asiata, the 24th-ranked Utes have had to deal with injuries that have sidelined No. 3 back Sausan Shakerin since the second game of the season. Wide receiver Shaky Smithson was moved over to help but suffered an ankle sprain after gaining 24 yards on four carries at Fort Collins.

"We had to scramble and revise some of our thinking when he went down," said Whittingham, who acknowledged the Utes had a package designed for Smithson and planned to give him 10-12 carries.

Things worked out last week, however, with Cain picking up the slack and rushing for 71 yards on 15 attempts.

This Saturday at UNLV, Utah's depth is expected to be much stronger. The Utes are expected to have Shakerin and Smithson back in the mix, and the plan is to give the duo a combined 15-20 carries against the Rebels.

Whittingham said they're on equal footing and it remains to be seen who will be more effective. Then there's Ray Stowers, Trevor Moss and receiver David Reed (on fly sweep series) providing another layer of depth.

"We think we'll be in better shape — knock on wood — this Saturday," Whittingham said.

Utah enters the game ranked third in the MWC with 205.2 rushing yards per game. UNLV, by comparison, has one of the poorest run defenses in the country. The Rebels give up an average of 216.7 yards a game on the ground.

Utes on the air

No. 24 Utah (4-1, 1-0 MWC) at UNLV (2-4, 0-2)

Saturday, 8 p.m. (MT)

Sam Boyd Stadium

TV: The mtn. Radio: 700 AM

e-mail: dirk@desnews.com