The Utes couldn't have asked for a better start to the season. As quarterback Brian Johnson said after Utah's win over Utah State, "You have to go 3-0 to go 4-0. The only problem to Utah's start is the shortage the Utes are having on the defensive line."

The Utes will be preparing for a true, old-fashioned football game Saturday when they travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., to take on the 3-0 Air Force Academy Falcons.

The Air Force Falcons were not flying offensively in the fourth quarter against Houston last week, but defensively held on for a close victory, 31-28.

Defending the option in football is like trying to catch three robbers who don't mind getting caught, because they're going to get up 60 more times, pound the snot out of you and eventually get something out of it.

Who has the edge in the upcoming game of the Air Force Academy vs. Utah Utes.

Friday night the Utes ended their four game losing streak in front of a record-breaking crowd at Ute field. They followed that up Sunday with a trip to Los Angles to face Loyola Marymount University, where the team had to endure its fourth overtime game of the year, and eventually had to settle for a 0-0 deadlock. The weekend was capped off Monday when Ute Rogers was named MWC Defensive player of the week.

The Mountain West Conference turned 10 this year, and no matter what Commissioner Craig Thompson and his office had planned to commemorate the first decade of the conference's existence, there was certainly nothing planned about this past weekend.

Volleyball notebook: Offense, defense, injuries and birthday presents

After two solid rounds the first day at the Ron Moore Invitational in Denver, the Utes slipped and finished in a tie for 13th.

The Pirates knocked off Virginia Tech and West Virginia, but take a closer peek at these victories, they aren't as astonishing as people are making them out to be. BYU and Utah have just as strong a case8212;if not stronger8212;forgetting a trip to a Bowl Championship Series goal as East Carolina does.