SAN DIEGO, Calif.8212;The primary goal for Utah this season was to win its first conference championship since 2004. The goal now8212;hog the Mountain West Conference championship all for itself.
Brian Johnson threw for a career-high five touchdowns on 27-for-38 passing and the No. 7 Utes (11-0, 7-0) earned a share of the Mountain West Conference Championship with a 63-14 throttling of San Diego State.
“We want to win an outright conference championship next weekend,” Johnson said. “We haven’t had that here since 2004…we got part of it accomplished and we still have some work to be done.”
Utah is guaranteed a share of its first MWC Championship since 2004. Utah would win the title outright if it can beat BYU in next week’s instate rivalry matchup. Utah would also jump to a perfect 12-0 and all but be guaranteed an invitation to a coveted Bowl Championship Series bowl game.
“We don’t want to share nothing,” said linebacker Stevenson Sylvester. “We’re stingy over here.”
Questions about the Utah Utes’ ability to keep their eyes off next week’s Holy War were quickly put to bed on Saturday8212;nearly as fast as San Diego State’s chances of handing Utah its first loss of the season vanished.
The Utes forced San Diego State (1-10, 0-7) to fumble on the second play of the game and scored a touchdown on five of its first six possession to jump out to a 35-7 lead at the half. Johnson moved ahead of Alex Smith for second on the all-time touchdown list on a four-yard pass to Freddie Brown to put Utah ahead 14-0 early in the first quarter. Johnson later broke the record with his 50th career touchdown pass on a 3-yard hookup with David Reed just before the half.
“We came in and knew we could throw the ball fairly well,” Johnson said. “We had to come out and establish our game plan, spread the ball, do some option routes and offensively we were able to get into a rhythm and score some touchdowns.”
Style points have never been a big concern of Whittingham’s. That sentiment showed as the Utes ran the ball all but three times in the fourth quarter. That didn’t stop safety DeShawn Richards from making the score look more impressive to national pollsters. Richards returned not one, but two interceptions in the fourth quarter to give Utah its lopsided victory margin.
“Those two interceptions got the score the way it was, but we’re never concerned about that,” Whittingham said. “We never want to run up the score.”
Richards, whose first career on any level came on Sept. 13 against Utah State, returned a tipped pass at Utah’s own 11-yard line 89 yards the other way to put Utah up 56-14.
Three plays later, Richards picked off SDSU quarterback Ryan Lindley again, returning the ball 38 yards giving him as many touchdowns as Freddie Brown and Ute received David Reed.
“I was like, not again,” Richards said when he picked off the second pass. “I was pretty tired from the first one and I was like, “Here we go again.’ Feels good though.”
San Diego State came into the game giving up 273.9 yards on its ground game. Looking for a fast start, Utah passed the ball on 30 plays, compared to calling just 17 rushing plays and scored all five first-half touchdowns through the air.
“We have so much talent and so much depth at the wide receiver position and I’m really happy to be a part of it,” Brown said.
Reed also had a good game hauling in four receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Colt Sampson scored his fourth touchdown of the season on a 2-yard reception from Johnson on Utah’s first touchdown drive of the game.
“We just wanted to put up some points and get a big win here,” Reed said. “We did that and got a great win.”
Kicker Louie Sakoda, who has had a large role in several of Utah’s wins this season, was only needed for extra points. He went 9-for-9 but did not have to punt as Utah scored a touchdown on nine of its 12 possessions, had another one end in Johnson’s only interception of the night and two others ended with Utah holding the ball at the end of each half. The kick return game, which has been a problem for Utah all season, had a solid night with Brent Casteel gaining 41 yards on his only punt return and Utah averaging 27.3 yards on the kickoff, including Casteel’s 34-yard kickoff return to put Utah its own 41-yard line.
“Today we needed the emphasis on getting big plays on the punt returns and special teams period,” Casteel said. “My blockers did some great things out there and I had a couple of good returns.”
The win sets up potentially one of the most loaded versions of the Holy War to date. Not only is the conference championship on the line, but Utah can advance to its second BCS bowl game in five years, and go a perfect 12-0 for only the second time in school history with a win against BYU.
“It’s been a Hollywood script till this point,” Johnson said of Utah’s season so far. “I don’t think you can script it any better. There’s still work to be done and we’ve got to be ready to play.
Tyler CobbFreddie Brown and Jereme Brooks celebrate Browns touchdown catch Saturday against San Diego. The win guarantied Utah at least a share of the MWC title.