Utah Football Team Hosts Lobos In Final Home Game This Saturday - The Official Athletic Site of the University of Utah

Utah Football Team Hosts Lobos In Final Home Game This Saturday
Utes are on a two-game roll and hoping to become bowl eligible.

Brian Johnson led a Utah sweep of MWC Player of the Week honors.

Nov. 7, 2005

SALT LAKE CITY -

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> Utah (5-4, 3-3 MWC) will host New Mexico (5-4, 3-3 MWC) in its final home game of the season on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 4:30 p.m. MST in Rice-Eccles Stadium ... Utah is riding a two-game win streak while New Mexico is coming off of a bye week ... Utah is 4-1 at home this year ... KJZZ will televise the game.

> Utah needs to win one of its two remaining games (vs. New Mexico and Brigham Young) to ensure a winning season and to become bowl eligible.

> Utah leads the MWC in total offense and ranks No. 11 in the nation, averaging 466.0 yards per game. The Utes are second in the MWC in scoring defense (23.8 ppg). For complete team and individual rankings, please see page 2 of this release.

> The Lobos beat Utah the last time they came to Salt Lake City--significant because the Utes would not lose their next 18 games. After falling to the Lobos on Oct. 25, 2003 (47-35), Utah won its final three games in 2003 to capture the Mountain West Conference title outright (6-1), then beat Southern Miss in the Liberty Bowl. Last year's Utes went 12-0 and Utah won its first two games this season to run the win streak to a school-record 18 before an overtime loss to TCU on Sept. 15. See "The Streak" later in this release for more details.

LAST WEEK

Brian Johnson and Eric Weddle starred in a 43-13 Utah blowout against Wyoming in Rice-Eccles Stadium. Johnson completed 32-of-45 passes for 384 yards and 4 touchdowns and also led Utah in rushing with 67 yards and a TD. Weddle moved from safety to cornerback to cover the league's leading receiver and held Jovon Bouknight to 4 receptions for 43 yards--well below his season average of 105.4 yards per game. Weddle also had a team-best 9 tackles, a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and 3 pass breakups. Wyoming took a 6-3 first-quarter lead, but the Utes erupted for a 17 unanswered points to take a 20-6 lead into halftime. John Madsen, whose 12 catches was a career-high, had 117 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Dan Beardall made all three field goal attempts and tied a school record by improving his string of field goals without a miss to 11. Utah compiled 563 total yards against the MWC's leading defense and allowed just 279.

THREE FOR THREE

On Nov. 7, for the first time in school history, Utah swept the weekly Mountain West Conference Player of the Week selections after beating Wyoming 43-13. Quarterback Brian Johnson was honored for the first time in his career, while defensive back Eric Weddle and place kicker Dan Beardall picked up their second weekly honor this year and for their careers.