Victory in Las Vegas is cherry on top for Utes

LAS VEGAS — It's an odd phenomenon. Incongruous, even.

The one place tourists almost always end up losing is the place college football teams go to win.

Vegas can be a downer for gamblers, but not for the Utes, or almost any other team in the Mountain West Conference. For them, it's like the 99-cent casino breakfast special: quick, fast and oh-so-tasty.

"I love eating in Vegas," noted linebacker Stevenson Sylvester, a native Las Vegan. "Lots of great buffets."

Is that what you call UNLV football? A buffet? Or maybe an appetizer.

It would seem so, following Utah's 35-15 win on Saturday. That moved the Utes to 2-0 in the Mountain West standings, 5-1 overall, and dropped Vegas to 0-3 in conference, 2-5 overall. Utah built its lead to 28-6 in the second quarter and cruised thereafter.

Still, you have to wonder exactly what is up with these Utes. They win, but they don't dominate. They haven't been killing people, but their luck is holding. They aren't great, but who knew last year at this time they would go on to an undefeated season?

They have been looking for a definitive win, a full-on slam-dunk, and this was the closest they've come. But when you're playing Vegas, how can you tell?

Saturday's game really only defined one thing: How bad UNLV really is.

Utah so far hasn't shown the killer instinct of its decorated predecessors. It averted disaster against San Jose State and Colorado State. It wasted its chance at Oregon. It was fairly convincing against Utah State and Louisville, but never overpowering.

Against UNLV, it was always in control, but never dominating.

At times it has seemed a bit lucky.

If anyone on the Utes' squad should know about luck in Vegas, it's Sylvester, a graduate of Valley High. To offset the house, he makes a habit to swing the balance his way.

"I'm very superstitious," he said, this week.

His normal good luck maneuver is to load up on ice cream sundaes the night before a road game.

"I have to have it," he said.

So he piles it high and deep: vanilla ice cream, with all the toppings.