Utah Utes @ Iowa State Cyclones Football Preview

Utah 68, Iowa State 27

It could very well be that in the Mountain West Conference, much of America has been focusing on the wrong team as the leader of the pack and a potential threat to Boise State in the chase for an historic spot in the BCS National Championship Game.

So much of the country has been focusing on the TCU Horned Frogs over the first six weeks of the 2010 college football season, but maybe it's time to give a fresh look to the Utah Utes. The boys from Salt Lake City are just as undefeated as TCU is, and while the Horned Frogs have beaten Oregon State and reached a BCS bowl (the 2010 Fiesta Bowl against Boise State), one ought to remember that Utah's done this BCS bowl thing, too. Moreover, the Utes won the 2009 Sugar Bowl against Alabama and own a competitive culture just as entrenched and substantial as the one the Horned Frogs have cultivated in recent years. TCU's flirtation with a spot in last season's national championship game stirred a lot of talk about coach Gary Patterson's club, and TCU's perfect start in 2010 has kept the Frogs on the radar screen.

All the while, though, Utah has done just as much to warrant consideration for college football's main event in the second week of January.

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Indeed, while TCU's offense has had its share of ups and downs in a very uneven season, Utah's offense has steadily gotten better and better as the weeks have passed. This past Saturday in Ames, Iowa, the Utes flourished on the road and decked a not-great-but-not-horrible Iowa State club by 41 points. Things started slow for coach Kyle Whittingham's crew, but once the Utes got cranking, they put on an awesome show at Jack Trice Stadium.

Utah struggled in the first quarter against coach Paul Rhoads's Cyclones. Iowa State - fresh off a big win over Texas Tech thanks to a 52-point performance - ended the first quarter of this game by setting a 56-point pace. ISU scored two touchdowns to gain a 14-10 edge by the time 25 percent of this contest had been completed. Three more "14s" would have brought the Cyclones 56 points for the night, and almost assuredly another upset win.

Interestingly enough, the end of the first quarter marked the point in the proceedings when Utah ran away from the Cyclones, so much so that 56 points wouldn't have enabled Iowa State to win this game. Actually, 56 points wouldn't even have allowed ISU to stay within single digits of the Utes; a 12-point loss is all the home team could have managed this past weekend, since the men from the Mountain West hung a big "68" on the Trice Stadium scoreboard.

Utah did most of its damage in a 31-0 second quarter blitzkrieg fueled by three touchdowns in a five-minute span and 24 points in the final 6:31 of the first half. Utah receiver Shaky Smithson starred in the 31-point onslaught, throwing a 32-yard scoring pass to DeVonte Christopher and catching a 61-yard aerial from quarterback Jordan Wynn. While Iowa State's offense stalled against a revived and angry Utah defense, the Utes kept adding layer upon layer of points. A 17-6 third quarter gave Utah a 58-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter, and the competitive phase of this clash had come to an end.

Yes, it's perfectly reasonable to tout TCU this season. Just don't forget about Utah while you're at it.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer