Utah Utes football: What others are saying

Here is a look at what other news outlets are saying about Utah and UNLV as the two MWC conference schools prepare to face each other Saturday in Las Vegas.

By Ryan Greene of the Las Vegas Sun wrote:

Take Five: Getting to know Utah

As far as mid-majors go, Utah is about as vaunted of a program as you'll find.

The No. 24 Utes are right there with the likes of Boise State as teams that can hang with just about anyone.

That was confirmed last season, when a veteran club under the leadership of Kyle Whittingham ran through the regular season undefeated, then upset Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

Several leaders from the 2008 team are gone, and after a summer in which league commish Craig Thompson held the Utes up on the projector screen as proof of everything that's wrong with the Bowl Championship Series, they're right back at it.

Read the rest of the story: here.

Mark Anderson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote about Utah players from the Las Vegas area:

Local product sparks Utes

Take away the leading rusher from most teams -- in this case, the Mountain West Conference's No. 1 guy -- and forget about any kind of real running game.

But not at Utah.Utes coach Kyle Whittingham knew what kind of talent he had in Eddie Wide III, a junior from Cimarron-Memorial High School.

So when starter Matt Asiata's football season ended with a knee injury in the first quarter two games ago against Louisville, Wide stepped right in and finished by rushing for 129 yards. He followed with 101 yards Saturday at Colorado State.

"He has not surprised me at all," Whittingham said. "The way he's running right now is the exact same way he ran in high school. He relies a great deal on speed and quickness, and yet he's able to lower his pads and put it up inside if he needs to."

Read the rest of the story: here.