Utah Utes, BYU football: Running game key to BYU offense

PROVO — Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham knows one of the keys to stopping BYU's prolific offense is limiting the Cougars' rushing attack.

Leading that ground game is junior Harvey Unga, who last week became the No. 1 all-time rusher in BYU history. Unga now has 3,281 yards on 649 career carries, having surpassed Curtis Brown, who had 3,221 yards on 641 carries in his career.

Unga also leads the Mountain West Conference in rushing, averaging 90 yards per game. He needs 100 yards to reach the 1,000-yard rushing plateau for the third consecutive season.

"As important as it is for us to establish a run, it's that important on defense to not allow the (BYU) run game to get under way," Whittingham said.

Utah ranks No. 4 in the conference in rush defense, giving up an average of 142.3 yards per game.

One of the Ute defenders responsible for slowing down Unga will be linebacker Stevenson Sylvester.

Whittingham said Sylvester may have played his best game last week in a win over San Diego State, tallying a team-high nine tackles.

A two-year captain, Sylvester has 65 tackles this season, which is No. 2 on the Ute defense. He's also recorded 3.5 tackles-for-loss, one sack and a pass breakup.

Due to an ankle sprain, Unga hasn't been playing at full strength in recent weeks. BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said Unga should be healthier this week, adding that he could play 3 1/2 quarters.

"Hopefully a full game," Mendenhall added. "We'll rest him as much as we can and allow him to practice Thursday and then get as much as we can out of him on Saturday."

In last week's 38-21 victory over Air Force, Unga rushed 11 times for 67 yards.

"I love playing with the guy," said quarterback Max Hall of Unga. "He shows up every Saturday and it shows by the way he plays."

Contributing: Dirk Facer

e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com