Utah Begins MWC Farewell Tour With UNLV

by Michael Rueckert on Sep 10, 2010 11:32 AM PDT in Mountain West Football

Next Game

Saturday, Sep 11, 2010, 1:00 PM PDT
Rice-Eccles Stadium

TV: The mtn. HD

The Utes open their final season of conference play Saturday against UNLV. The Utes will be going for their 19th straight home victory in a place where UNLV has never won a game.

Utah may be without starting QB Jordan Wynn, who sprained his thumb against Pitt, who is listed as questionable for the game. If Wynn can't play the Utes will go with proven backup Terrance Cain.

Against UNLV last year, Cain completed 17/24 passes for 174 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed for 22 yards and 1 touchdown in the 35-15 win. If he gets the start, he should do just fine.

This is a game the Utes should easily win, as they are 21 point favorites. But everyone knows what happened in 2007, when the Utes overlooked the Rebels after a big home win. Since that game, which Whittingham describes as a "crossroads" for Utah, the Utes haven't overlooked an opponent. Don't expect them to do so Saturday.

In UNLV's lost against Wisconsin they used two QB's who both struggled. Mike Clausen got the start and was replaced by Omar Clayton after completing 4/10 passes. Clayton didn't do much better going 6/16 for 82 yards and a touchdown.

UNLV wont name their starting quarterback against Utah until gametime. They are both likely to play. Whittingham said that the Utes are preparing to face both quarterbacks.

UNLV struggled moving the ball and stopping the Badgers. They were outgained on offense 475 yards to 217. They gave up 278 yards rushing with Wisconsin averaging 5.6 yards per carry. With Utah's strength at running back, look for them to exploit that weakness.

Utah will want to clean things up after what was considered a "sloppy" win against Pitt. The Utes had two fumbles, an interception and a blocked punt in their close win. They can't get through their tough November schedule making mistakes like those so look for cleaning things up to be their biggest emphasis moving forward.

Kickoff is set for 2:00 p.m. MT and will be on the Mtn.

Follow Michael Rueckert on Twitter @MichaelRueckert

Next Game

UNLV Rebels
@ Utah Utes

Saturday, Sep 11, 2010, 1:00 PM PDT
Rice-Eccles Stadium

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Comments

glad to see you and BYU leave the conference—-maybe they will talk about the other teams in the Mountain West

by Ruth D on Sep 10, 2010 6:31 PM PDT reply actions

Besides TCU, do something that deserves talking about.

It’s really that simple. This bitterness is silly, especially towards a team (Utah) that has twice brought BCS money to your schools. Look, there’s a lot to get excited about: Air Force is already a force, SDSU and Wyo appear to be on the right track and UNLV finally has a head coach to to look forward to. Then there’s TCU, of course, who’ve been walking it like they talk it for awhile. Plus, there’s BSU, Fresno and Reno coming in. Just enjoy the season and root for your teams. If you want your teams to play in a BCS conference, do what you can as a fan to help them get better. Buy tickets and merchandise, go to games and loudly cheer your team on whenever you can; but don’t lay your team’s success (or lack thereof) or the conference’s future on Utah seizing an opportunity.

If you have to hate someone, keep on hating BYU. They deserved it before their weird little tantrum and they certainly deserve it now. At least Utah made their intentions clear, conducted everything in the open and gave plenty of notice.

by FeloniousMonk on Sep 10, 2010 10:58 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

utah won 38-10. they covered but can improve.the good part is they will be at least #16

in the rankings b/c all of the acc ranked teams lost who were in fron t of utah. 2-0 and we are already 16. next two weeks new mexico and san jose. we need to put 42 to 49 points on these fools. i want to be clost to the top ten by 4-0. btw iowa state looked awful vs iowa. i don’t think that game will be that hard to win now.

I'm all about covering the spread and moneylines. Glory favors the bold. Chance favors the prepared mind. Luck, well i have that too. University of Utah goes to the Pac-12 conference in 2011. I expect them to compete immediately for the conference CG. Brock Lesnar will defeat Cain Velasquez. Womens MMA, the next big thing in sports. Utah and Boise take care of business in week one. Don't be surprised if they both go undefeated.

by wolfmanshowlforever on Sep 11, 2010 9:08 PM PDT reply actions

16 sounds right.

We’ll pass VA Tech, GA tech (both of whom might fall completely out), FSU and Penn State. Might pass Miami too (putting us at #15), but I’m not counting on it. I think Miami will be #15 and Utah will be #16 in both polls.

Everyone hates a pink-shirt-wearing communist.

by displacedute on Sep 12, 2010 7:36 AM PDT up reply actions