College Football in Utah – Week 5

Utah 4-1 (1-1 in the Big 12)

The Utes bounced back from their loss to Texas Tech with a win in the eastern mountains of the Big 12. Utah beat West Virginia in Morgantown 48-14. Utah’s star quarterback Devon Dampier had another great game. Dampier was 21 of 26 for 237 yards and five total touchdowns in the win. Utah has this coming week off before hitting the road to take on Arizona State.

Utah State 3-2 (1-0 in the Mountain West)

I thought that USU could and would upset Vanderbilt. Thought Bryson Barnes and the Utah State offense could score a lot on Vandy’s defense. I was right that the Aggies could score a lot on the Commodores, but I didn’t see Vanderbilt’s explosive offense coming. USU was able to put up 35 points on an SEC team on the road, but they gave up 55 points themselves. Utah State will have next week off before they visit Hawaii on October 11 ^th.

Weber State 2-2 (0-1 in the Big Sky)

The UC Davis Aggies completed their sweep of FCS teams from the state of Utah with an emphatic 34-12 win over Weber State. UC Davis would be 0-1 without teams from Utah for them to beat up on this season. I’m glad they’re finally done with Utah teams. Weber State has a bye this week and then plays Sacramento State in Ogden.

Utah Tech 1-4 (0-1 in the United Athletic Conference)

It was ugly from start to finish for the Trailblazers. The offense couldn’t do anything, and the defense had them in a 28-3 hole at halftime. It would eventually be 42-3 in the Governors favor before Utah Tech got a late garbage time touchdown to make the final score 42-10. Tech stays on the road this week with a visit to Central Arkansas.

Southern Utah 1-4 (0-1 in the United Athletic Conference).

West Georgia dominated early, building their lead up to 24-3 in the third quarter. The Thunderbirds came roaring back. A 60-yard pass from Bronson Barron to Mark Bails and a couple of Joshua Dye rushing touchdowns, and SUU tied West Georgia. The Wolves got the ball back at their own 27-yard line with only 24 seconds left in the game. Amazingly, they drove down the field and set up a 46-yard field goal to win the game as time expired. SUU has had heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss since their season opener against Idaho State. Now, they hit the road to play at 5-0 Tarleton State in Texas.

Steve Young Award Player of the Week

Adding a new portion to these weekly reports on college football in the state of Utah. I’m going to add a player of the week named after BYU legend Steve Young. This week it’s actually two players and their team lost. Bryson Barnes and Jacob Conover started their careers at Utah and BYU and both are now at Utah State. I thought the Aggies could upset Vanderbilt because of how good the quarterback play has been for Utah State. While I was wrong about the upset, I was right that USU’s quarterbacks still played well. They were 26 of 36 for 253 and five passing touchdowns. I expect USU to be at the top of the Mountain West in this their last season in the conference.

Writer’s Note: All FBS team rankings referenced are from the College Football Power Rankings here at TheForkball.com. All FCS rankings are from the FCS STATS poll.