Utah Utes football: Utes now look to title showdown with TCU

Utah took care of the lightweight portion of its Mountain West Conference schedule by beating New Mexico 45-14 on Saturday.

Now, it's time to settle the conference championship.

The 8-1 Utes play at unbeaten TCU next weekend in what shapes up to be the game of the year in the MWC. If things fall a certain way, BYU could still earn a share of the conference title, but for all intents and purposes, the Utah-TCU game is the MWC championship game.

"This is what you live for," said Utes offensive tackle Zane Beadles. "This is the reason why you play college football is weeks like this and games like this. I can't wait."

Utah's offense cured some ills against the 0-9 Lobos. The Utes rolled up 574 yards of offense and scored a season high in points. Beadles said it came just in time before next week's showdown.

"I'm excited," Beadles said. "It was exactly what we needed, especially offensively trying to get things rolling. It's going to be a big week and we're excited to get down there."

The Horned Frogs took care of business on Saturday to hold up their end of the bargain in making next week's game meaningful. TCU defeated San Diego State 55-12 on Saturday, scoring on five of its first six possessions.

The Horned Frogs look like a powerhouse, but Utah has had TCU's number. The Utes have taken three of the last four meetings between the two teams.

The Utes defeated TCU 13-10 in a classic clash last season. Brian Johnson directed an 80-yard scoring drive in the final minutes, completing a 9-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Brown with 48 seconds left to pull out the victory. That win put Utah in position to bust the BCS for the second time.

Now, it's TCU that looks like the BCS busters.

TCU has won 11 straight games, which is the third-longest winning streak in the nation. Only Florida (18 games) and Texas (13) have longer current streaks. The Frogs have outscored their last four opponents by a combined 175-25 and have racked up a total of 1,129 yards in their last two wins over UNLV and San Diego State.

Utah was the last team to beat TCU. The Frogs have had just two close games this season, a 20-17 scare against Air Force and a 14-10 win over Clemson. TCU entered its dismantling of San Diego State ranked No. 1 in the nation in total defense, allowing just 235.8 yards per game.

TCU was ranked No. 6 in the nation last week. The Utes were No. 17.

Fans have anxiously awaited this game, but the Utes say they haven't thought about it.

"The way our team is, we focus on the opponent ahead of us," said Utah center Zane Taylor. "There's no overlooking a team no matter what their record is. We'll study them (the Horned Frogs) hard and go full-speed on these guys."

Receiver and part-time quarterback DeVonte Christopher said the game will be decided by the same factors that determine most games — turnovers and execution.

"It's here and it's time to roll," Christopher said of the upcoming TCU week.

e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com