Nos. 22 and 23
The Utes made their first appearance in the Top 25 since the conclusion of the 2004 season this week, showing up in the AP’s Top 25 at No. 22 and in the USA Today coaching poll at No. 23.
“It’s awesome to get the spotlight like that,” wideout Bradon Godfrey said. “I think we deserve it. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to practice8212;we still have to prepare the same way every week, so that will keep that spotlight on us.”
Saturday’s win in Ann Arbor, Mich., definitely thrust the Utes back onto the national spectrum. Many experts had picked the Utes to spoil Rich Rodriguez’s debut, but several didn’t give Utah a chance.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham, who is a voter in the Coaches Poll this year, was honored, but at the same time is wary of polls and admits it’s still early in the season.
“I’m very proud of our players, because they deserve the recognition,” Whittingham said. “I’m oblivious to (the polls). All I do is try to figure out how to get another win. It’s a great accolade for our guys.”
Quarterback Brian Johnson said it’s a tremendous honor to be ranked, but said the focus is to keep winning.
“It’s one thing to be in there on week two, but, you know, I think we’d like to be there in week 12 or week 13,” Johnson said. “We gotta find a way to keep winning, keep getting better and play well.”
BYU moved up to No. 15 in both polls after 41-17 win against Northern Iowa. This is the first time that Utah and BYU have been in the Top 25 at the same time since 1996.
The next step
Coming off an impressive road win at Michigan, one can imagine how hard it would be to keep a level head. The Utes, and most specifically Whittingham, are looking to do that this week, in preparation for the season’s home opener against the Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV.
While the victory against the Wolverines was described as an “electric, electric atmosphere” by Whittingham, the Utes’ second-half performance made the win at the Big House bittersweet.
“The defense was very consistent from start to finish,” Whittingham said. “Offensively, extremely efficient in the first half. The second half, Michigan turned up the pressure a bit and we didn’t respond. That’s something we need to definitely address.”
The attention is now turned to UNLV, head coach Mike Sanford and most notably, running back Frank “The Tank” Summers, who ran over the U defense for 190 yards last year in Las Vegas.
After the 27-0 romp over the Utes, Mike Sanford, the former offensive coordinator at Utah, said that the U defense was “afraid” to tackle Summers once he was in the open field.
“Last year’s game has obviously been talked about a lot so far this week,” Whittingham said. “It was probably our worst game in a long time stopping the run. If you can’t stop the run, everything else becomes difficult.”
It was Johnson’s first game back after suffering a separated shoulder against Oregon State in last year’s season opener, and he struggled on account of lingering pain.
“I was still pretty sore,” Johnson said. “We don’t like to make excuses, we just didn’t play well.”
MWC honors given to Ute players
Johnson and kicker/punter Louie Sakoda were named the Mountain West Conference offensive and special teams players of the week, respectively. Johnson’s 305 passing-yard performance against Michigan earned him his second MWC Player of the Week award of his career. Johnson went 21-for-33 and one touchdown.
Sakoda’s eighth MWC Player of the Week award was a special one. Sakoda hit a career-long 53-yard field goal and averaged 47 yards on six punts.
“(Sakoda) was lights-out as usual,” Whittingham said. “Just another day at the office for Louie Sakoda.”
Injury report
The Utes didn’t escape Ann Arbor scot-free.
Limping onto the injury bandwagon was junior defensive tackle Kenape Eliapo, who suffered a broken left foot and will be sidelined for six to eight weeks. Sophomore Lei Talamaivao will replace Eliapo in the starting lineup and senior Aaron Tonga will be the backup. Starting free safety Robert Johnson (strained hamstring), starting left tackle Zane Beadles (sore knee) and change-up quarterback Corbin Louks (separated shoulder) are all questionable for Saturday’s home opener.
Tyler CobbQuarterback Brian Johnson earned just his second Mountain West Conference player of the week award this week.