Eddie Wide has done it again.

For the fourth consecutive game, the junior has topped 100 yards rushing. He finished with 121 in Utah's 23-16 overtime win over Air Force at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"I sound like a broken record for four weeks in a row now," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. "But that's exactly what we need from Eddie Wide."

The 19th-ranked Utes are now 4-0 with Wide as their featured back.

"The win is awesome," he said in downplaying his individual accomplishments. "That's all we want to go for."

Wide, however, almost didn't get to finish Saturday's game. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the first half and was helped off the field.

After the break, Wide had to run sprints and make some cuts to prove to the coaches and trainers that he was able to return. He wound up scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run in overtime.

"I didn't like sitting out," Wide said. "So I wanted to come back and play."

It didn't surprise his coach.

"He's got a lot of toughness to him," Whittingham said.

INJURY UPDATE: Starting nose tackle Kenape Eliapo didn't play because of an eye issue that developed a couple of days ago.

"It's a weird deal," said Whittingham, who indicated there may be more to say about it on Monday.

Utah officials announced that Eliapo is out indefinitely.

"Losing him was definitely a blow," Whittingham said while noting that players like Dave Kruger and Sealver Siliga stepped up.

Wide receiver Shaky Smithson missed his second consecutive game with a high ankle sprain. Whittingham said he is not quite 100 percent healthy.

BALL INSECURITY: The Utes fumbled the ball six times, losing two, in the game. That ups their season tally to 22 and nine, respectively.

"That's still an issue," Whittingham acknowledged. "It's still a problem we've got to work on."

One, he added, that will continue to be stressed every minute of practice.

MUSS-Y FINISH: Whittingham didn't hesitate when choosing which end to play the overtime session in.

"We purposely chose to play in the south end in front of the MUSS student section," he said. "The fans really got into it and really sparked our performance."

HELPING OUT: Volunteers for "Project One Hope" collected donations outside the stadium to aid families affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami that devastated American Samoa, Samoa and Tonga.

The Utah football team has 30 Polynesian players on its roster and five staff members.

EXTRA POINTS: The attendance was 45,129 ... Scouts from the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins attended the game. So, too, did a representative from the New Mexico Bowl ... The women's basketball and volleyball teams were honored on the field for winning MWC titles last season ... It was Utah's 50th win at Rice-Eccles Stadium since the facility was refurbished in 1998.

e-mail: dirk@desnews.com