2010 Utah Utes football team The 2010 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The team was coached by sixth year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their homes game in Rice – Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City , Utah . They were members of the Mountain West Conference . 2010 was the Utes ' final year in the Mountain West , as they will begin play in the Pac - 12 in 2011 . Schedule . ! Notes Preseason . In the preseason Coaches ' Poll , Utah was ranked No . 24 ( tied ) . In the preseason AP Poll , Utah received votes , but not enough to make the top 25 list . The Mountain West Conference media picked Utah to finish second in conference . TCU was the unanimous choice to finish first in conference and received all 31 votes for first place . BYU was picked to finish third and Air Force was picked to finish fourth . Recruiting . Rivals . com named Utah ' s 2010 recruiting class the best in the Mountain West Conference . The complete list is available below : Coaching changes . During the offseason , Kyle Whittingham made several changes to his coaching staff . J . D . Williams , the cornerback coach in 2008 , left the team , leaving an open position on Whittingham ' s staff . Whittingham hired Brian Johnson , the 2009 Sugar Bowl MVP , as the new quarterback coach . Johnson replaced Dave Schramm as quarterback coach . Schramm will now be the tight end coach and the co - offensive coordinator . Aaron Roderick will join Schramm as co - offensive coordinator and will continue his duties as wide receiver coach . Jay Hill will replace Williams as cornerback coach . Preseason player awards . MWC All - Preseaon team . Utah had four players named to the Mountain West Conference ' s All - Preseason team . Three of the players are on the offense and one is on the defense . The players named are running back Eddie Wide , Caleb Schlauderaff and Zane Taylor from the Offensive line , and defensive back Brandon Burton . Watch lists . Two Utes were named to the 2010 Outland Trophy Watch List : guard Caleb Schlauderaff and center Zane Taylor . The Football Writers Association of America votes on the Outland Trophy , which goes to college football ' s best interior lineman each year . The 2010 award winner will be announced on December 9 , 2010 . Cornerback Brandon Burton was named to the Jim Thorpe Award Watch List . The Jim Thorpe Association awards the Jim Thorpe Award each year to the player it votes as college football ' s best defensive back . Wide receiver Shaky Smithson was named to the Paul Hornung Award Watch List . The award , in its first year , will be awarded to the college player that it deems the most versatile . Placekicker Joe Phillips was named to the Lou Groza Award Watch List . The Lou Groza Award goes to the top placekicker in college football . It is named for Lou Groza who played 21 season in the NFL and graduated from Ohio State . Running back Eddie Wide was named a candidate for the Doak Walker Award . The award goes to the nation ' s top running back . Pac - 12 . During the offseason , Utah successfully negotiated with the Pacific - 10 Conference ( Pac - 10 ) to join the conference for all conference sports . Colorado also agreed to join the Pac - 10 , which increased the number of schools in the conference to 12 . Once Colorado and Utah officially joined the conference , the conference changed its name to the " Pacific - 12 Conference " ( Pac - 12 ) . The Utes football team began playing in the Pac - 12 during the 2011 season . Consequently , the 2010 season was the last season Utah played in the Mountain West Conference . The formal announcement was made on June 17 , 2010 in a ceremony at Rice – Eccles Stadium . The ceremony included Pac - 10 commissioner Larry Scott , Utah Athletic Director Chris Hill , University of Utah President Michael K . Young , and Utah Governor Gary Herbert , among other dignitaries . Game notes . Pittsburgh . Utah leads series : 2 – 0 – 0 Utah defeated Pittsburgh 27 – 24 in overtime on September 2 . Placekicker Joe Phillips successfully kicked a 21 - yard field goal to secure the victory . The game matched Utah , from the Mountain West Conference ( MWC ) , against Pittsburgh , from the Big East Conference in the season ' s first game for both teams . This was the second meeting between these two teams . The previous time they met was in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl , a game Utah won 35 – 7 to complete Utah ' s 2004 undefeated season . Utah entered this game with a 17 - game home winning streak and a 7 – 0 record against the teams that are currently in the Big East Conference . Pittsburgh scored first in the game after Shaky Smithson fumbled a punt on the 28 - yard line to give Pittsburgh possession of the ball . Five plays later , Pittsburgh scored a touchdown when Dion Lewis rushed three yards for the score . On its next possession , Utah responded with an 11 - play scoring drive . Wide receiver Jereme Brooks scored a touchdown with a 19 - yard reception from Sophomore quarterback Jordan Wynn . Utah scored another touchdown before halftime to take a 14 – 7 lead on a 3 - yard pass from Wynn to Brooks . The teams traded field goals in the third quarter to bring the score to 17 – 10 . A few minutes into the fourth quarter , Pittsburgh scored another field goal to narrow the score to 17 – 13 . The Utes scored a touchdown on their next possession when Wynn completed a pass to DeVonte Christopher for a 61 - yard scoring strike and a 24 – 13 lead with 7 : 59 remaining in regulation . Just 48 seconds later , the Panthers responded with a touchdown on a 44 - yard pass from Tino Sunseri to Jon Baldwin . Pittsburgh then scored a two - point conversion off another pass from Sunseri to Baldwin , to narrow the score to 24 – 21 . On Utah ' s ensuing possession , it was unable to use the rest of the remaining time . When Pittsburgh took over , it moved the ball to the 13 - yard line . From there , Dan Hutchins kicked a 30 - yard field goal with no time left in regulation to tie the game at 24 – 24 . In overtime , Pittsburgh took possession of the ball first . On the first overtime play from scrimmage , Safety Brian Blechen intercepted a Sunseri pass to end Pittsburgh ' s overtime possession . During Utah ' s possession , Utah ran 6 straight run plays to move the ball to the 4 - yard line . From there Phillips hit the 21 - yard field goal for the victory . Utah won its first season opener against a team ranked in the AP Poll with the defeat of the No . 15 ranked Panthers . After the game , the MWC named two Utah players as its " Players of the Week " . Sophomore wide receiver DeVonte Christopher was named the offensive player of the week . Christopher had 8 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown . He averaged 19 . 4 yards per reception . Freshman Brian Blechen was named defensive player of the week . In addition to his interception in overtime , Blechen had five tackles , including two solo tackles . UNLV . Utah leads series : 14 – 2 – 0 Utah entered the game with an 18 - game home winning streak and a perfect record against UNLV in Salt Lake City . UNLV ' s two wins in the series were in 2007 and 1979 . During this September 11 game , the Utes continued their winning ways with a 38 – 10 defeat of the Rebels to push their home winning streak to 19 games and their record for the year to 2 – 0 ( 1 – 0 MWC ) . UNLV dropped to 0 – 2 ( 0 – 1 MWC ) and has an 0 – 8 record against the Utes in Salt Lake City . Backup quarterback Terrance Cain started the game for the Utes ; starting quarterback Jordan Wynn sat the game out with a thumb injury . Cain had started 8 games during the 2009 season before being replaced by Wynn . Cain completed 13 of his 20 pass attempts during the game . He had two touchdowns , no interceptions , and threw for 207 yards total . After UNLV tied the game at 3 – 3 , Utah responded with 21 straight points . Eddie Wide scored a touchdown on a 3 - yard rush . Wide helped the team again with 37 seconds remaining in the half . On a Utah punt , wide forced a fumble and then was able to recover the ball on UNLV ' s 20 - yard line . On the next play , Jereme Brooks caught a pass from Cain to take a 17 - 3 halftime lead . Antoine " Shaky " Smithson had two touchdowns during the game , which was an improvement over his game against Pittsburgh in which he had two fumbles . His first touchdown was a 55 - yard reception from Terrance Cain . His second touchdown was a 77 - yard punt return . Both scores occurred during the third quarter . After the game , the Mountain West Conference named Smithson as its special teams player of the week . He fielded a total of five punts for 128 yards or 25 . 6 yards per return . New Mexico . Utah leads series : 33 – 17 – 2 Entering the game , Utah held a lead of 13 – 12 – 1 for games played in Albuquerque , New Mexico . Utah had won the last three meetings . In this September 18 game , Utah defeated New Mexico 56 – 14 to improve to 3 – 0 ( 2 – 0 MWC ) . New Mexico dropped to 0 – 3 ( 0 – 1 MWC ) . Utah had three turnovers compared to New Mexico ' s one , but still managed to win decisively . Utah ' s first possession ended with a fumble by running back Eddie Wide . Utah ' s second possession almost had a similar end when running back Matt Asiata fumbled on the one - yard line , but the ball was recovered by Utah tight end Brad Clifford . Two plays later , Utah had the first score of the game when Asiata rushed for a one - yard touchdown . One of New Mexico ' s two scores was on another Utah fumble . The first play from scrimmage after half time was a completed pass from Terrance Cain to receiver Luke Matthews . Matthews was hit by cornerback Anthony Hooks forcing the fumble . Safety A . J . Butler then returned the ball 27 yards for New Mexico ' s first score of the night , to narrow the game to 21 – 7 . 40 seconds later , Utah responded with a 75 - yard touchdown reception from Cain to Jereme Brooks . One minute after that , Utah linebacker Matt Martinez intercepted quarterback Tarean Austin ' s pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown . For the second consecutive game , Antoine " Shaky " Smithson returned a punt for a touchdown . With 9 : 48 remaining in the third quarter , Smithson scored a touchdown off of a 73 - yard punt return . After the game , the MWC named Smithson as its Special Teams Player of the Week . Smithson returned a total of four punts for 140 yards or 35 . 0 yards per return . Cornerback Lamar Chapman was named as the MWC Defensive Player of the Week . Chapman had 8 tackles , including 7 solo tackles , 2 tackles for a loss , and one sack . San Jose State . Utah leads series : 6 – 1 – 0 On September 25 , Utah defeated San Jose State to improve to 4 – 0 ( 2 – 0 MWC ) and drop San Jose State to 1 – 3 ( 0 – 0 WAC ) . Utah entered the game with a 19 games winning streak at home . This was the second time Utah played San Jose State as its homecoming opponent . The previous time , San Jose State won 24 – 6 in 1974 . Jordan Wynn returned as Utah ' s starting quarterback after missing the two previous games with a thumb injury . He helped Utah have its largest margin of victory since a defeat of UTEP by the same score in 1997 . Utah had no turnovers and one five - yard penalty during the game . Utah scored on its first play from scrimmage when Reggie Dunn ran 43 yards for a touchdown on a reverse play . On the ensuing kickoff , Brandon Diver returned the ball 71 yards . Several plays later , the Spartans scored their only points of the game when Waid Harrison scored a 20 - yard field goal . During the second quarter , Utah scored 4 touchdowns to take a 28 – 3 lead at the half . Two of the scores followed San Jose State punting mistakes . On 4th and 6 from their own 32 - yard line , Spartan ' s quarterback Jordan La Secla punted the ball into the back of his own lineman . Reggie Topps returned the ball 10 yards for a touchdown . On San Jose ' s next possession , punter Jens Alvernik ' s punt was blocked by Mike Honeycutt . The ball went out - of - bounds at the San Jose State 24 - yard line , for no net gain on the punt . Three plays later , Eddie Wide rushed 8 yards for a touchdown . Utah scored three touchdowns during the second half to reach 56 points . Matt Asiata , Tauni Vakapauna , and Beau Burton , respectively , scored on rushing touchdowns . Iowa State . Utah trails series : 1 – 4 – 0 In this October 9 game , Utah defeated Iowa State 68 – 27 to improve to 5 – 0 ( 2 – 0 MWC ) and drop the Cyclones to 3 – 3 ( 1 – 1 Big 12 ) . Utah had 593 yards of total offense , 168 yards on kick returns , 156 yards on punt returns , and 109 yards on interception returns . Altogether , Utah amassed 1 , 026 yards . The 68 points Utah scored was the most Iowa State had ever allowed at home . Utah had a bye the week preceding the Iowa State game . Entering the game , Kyle Whittingham ' s teams were 5 – 0 in games following bye weeks . These two teams had met four time before , all in the 1970s . The teams met in 1970 , 1972 , 1975 , and 1976 with Iowa State winning all four games . At the end of the first quarter , Iowa State led 14 – 10 after capitalizing on two Utah turnovers . Utah scored 31 points in the second quarter to take the lead for good in the game . Those scores came from a number of different Utes . Shaky Smithson took the ball on a reverse play and then threw a 53 - yard touchdown to DeVonte Christopher . Matt Asiata and Eddie Wide scored on rushes of 1 yard and 2 yards , respectively . Smithson scored when he caught a 61 - yard pass from quarterback Jordan Wynn . Cornerback Brandon Burton intercepted a pass from Austen Arnaud and returned the ball to the Iowa State 8 - yard line . With only 1 second remaining before the half , Utah then immediately kicked a field goal ; Joe Phillips successfully connected on a 25 - yard attempt to give Utah 41 – 14 halftime lead . After halftime , another Phillips field goal pushed Utah ' s lead to 44 – 14 . Iowa State then responded with a 4 - play , 65 - yard touchdown drive . Collin Franklin caught a 36 - yard pass from Austen Arnaud to score the touchdown , but Utah blocked the extra point attempt . Utah scored on the ensuing kickoff when Reggie Dunn returned the kickoff 100 - yards for a touchdown . Eddie Wide scored one more touchdown in the third quarter off of a 5 - yard rush to make the score 58 – 20 entering the fourth quarter . Joe Phillips scored one more field goal in the fourth quarter on a 33 - yard attempt . Backup running back Sausan Shakerin scored Utah ' s last score to make the score 68 – 20 . Iowa State responded with a touchdown drive for the final score of the evening . Iowa State ' s backup quarterback James Capello scored on a 19 - yard rush . After the game , two Utah players were named as Mountain West Conference Players of the Week . Quarterback Jordan Wynn was named as Offensive Player of the Week . Wynn completed 23 of 31 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns . Shaky Smithson was named as Special Teams player of the Week . Smithson returned five punts for 145 yards and an average of 29 . 0 yards per punt return . Smithson had his longest punt return of the season with a 78 yard return to the 2 - yard line . He also returned two kickoffs for 41 yards and had a 61 - yard touchdown reception . Smithson had a total of 261 all purpose yards during the game . Wyoming . Utah leads series : 51 – 31 – 1 Utah defeated Wyoming on October 16 to improve to 6 – 0 ( 3 – 0 MWC ) . Wyoming dropped to 2 – 5 ( 0 – 3 MWC ) . Entering the game , this was the longest running series Utah had played with an out of state school . It ranked as the third most played , behind Utah State and BYU . Utah won the game despite having three turnovers and having an extra point blocked while forcing no turnovers from Wyoming . All three turnovers were interceptions of quarterback Jordan Wynn . Wynn completed 16 out of 25 passes for 230 yards and had two touchdown passes . The first touchdown pass game during the first quarter when Wynn connected with receiver Luke Matthews for a 45 - yard reception . The second one was during the second quarter when DeVonte Christopher caught a 16 - yard pass . While placekicker Joe Phillips had an extra point during the second quarter , he did make his only field goal attempt . Phillips connected on a 48 - yard field goal in the second quarter to make the score 10 – 0 . The kick was Phillips 17th consecutive successful field goal . Colorado State . Utah leads series : 55 – 22 – 2 The Utes defeated the Rams 59 – 6 , on October 23 , to improve their record to 7 – 0 ( 4 – 0 MWC ) and drop Colorado State to 2 – 6 ( 1 – 3 MWC ) . Entering the game , Utah had a 20 game home winning streak . This was the 79th meeting of these two teams , which has been the fourth longest series for Utah . Utah gained 648 yards of offense , which was the fifth highest total in school history , as Utah won its 21st consecutive home game , a MWC record . The defense forced two turnovers during the second half to help extend Utah ' s 24 – 6 halftime lead . Utah did not allow any second half points and forced two Colorado State turnovers : in the third quarter , Derrick Shelby caused a fumble as he sacked quarterback Pete Thomas , and in the fourth quarter , Conroy Black intercepted a Thomas pass . Both turnovers lead to Utah touchdowns . The 53 point margin of victory , was Utah ' s largest over Colorado State since 1955 . For his performance against Colorado State , the MWC named Jordan Wynn as a Co - offensive Player of the Week . Wynn completed 23 out of 29 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns . Wynn played less than three quarters of the game . Air Force . Utah trails series : 13 – 14 – 0 Utah defeated Air Force 28 – 23 on October 30 . The win improved Utah ' s record to 8 – 0 ( 5 – 0 MWC ) and dropped Air Force to 5 – 4 ( 3 – 3 MWC ) . Entering the game , Utah had won six of the last seven meetings with Air Force , despite trailing in the overall series . Air Force is the only Mountain West Conference team to have won the majority of its games against Utah . Utah ' s defense caused Air Force to commit five turnovers , which helped Utah to win the close game . Utah relied heavily on its running game to defeat Air Force ; the Utes rushed the ball 51 times for 179 yards , while only attempting 23 passes . On the Utes ' opening drive , they opened with seven consecutive runs by Matt Asiata , followed it with a 5 - yard pass from Jordan Wynn to Jereme Brooks , and then finished the drive with five consecutive runs by Eddie Wide , including Wide ' s 1 - yard touchdown run . The Utes took a 14 – 10 lead into halftime . Late in the third quarter , Utah seemed to take control of the game . Utah took a 21 – 10 lead with 4 : 25 remaining in the third , when Wynn completed a 36 - yard pass to Luke Matthews . About a minute later , Brian Blechen intercepted a pass from Tim Jefferson and returned it to the Air Force 18 - yard line . 6 plays later , Utah scored a touchdown to take a 28 – 10 lead . However , Air Force would keep Utah from scoring the rest of the game and scored two more touchdowns to make the game closer . Quarterback Tim Jefferson scored a touchdown off of a 59 - yard run . Air Force prevented Utah from gaining a first down on Utah ' s ensuing possession , and 72 seconds later , Air Force scored another touchdown on its next play from scrimmage . Jefferson completed a 49 - yard pass to Kyle Halderman , with 10 : 30 remaining in the game . However , both teams ' defenses kept the other team from scoring the rest of the game and Utah was able to secure the win . After the game , the MWC named Safety Brian Blechen as its Defensive Player of the Week . Blechen had 9 tackles , of which 6 were solo tackles . One of the assisted tackles was for a loss . He also had one interception and one fumble recovery . TCU . Utah leads series : 5 – 3 – 0 TCU defeated Utah 47 – 7 on November 6 and took sole possession of first place in the MWC . TCU improved to 10 – 0 ( 6 – 0 MWC ) , and Utah dropped to 8 – 1 ( 5 – 1 MWC ) . Utah had won all three games the two teams have played in Salt Lake City . In 2009 TCU beat No . 16 Utah 55 – 28 at Amon G . Carter Stadium . The previous time these two teams met at Rice – Eccles Stadium , No . 10 Utah defeated No . 11 TCU 13 – 10 . ESPN ' s College GameDay was at Rice – Eccles Stadium on the morning of November 6 to preview the days college matchups . Approximately 10 , 000 fans were present to watch the live airing of the show . Notre Dame . Utah trails series : 0 – 1 – 0 This was the first meeting ever between these two teams . San Diego State . Utah leads series : 17 – 12 – 1 Entering the game , Utah had won the last four meetings against San Diego State , and was 7 – 6 – 1 for games played in San Diego . BYU . Utah leads series : 54 – 34 – 4 This is the second longest series in Utah football history after the Utah – Utah State series . For games in Salt Lake City , Utah holds a lead of 35 – 17 – 3 . Over the last 10 games , the teams have split the series 5 – 5 . Maaco Bowl Las Vegas . Utah trails series : 2 – 5 – 0 Utah accepted an invitation to play in the 2010 edition of the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas . Utah ' s opponent was Boise State . Utah had been 2 – 0 in the Las Vegas Bowl . After the season . Awards . MWC Awards . MWC First Team MWC Second Team MWC Honorable Mention Walter Camp All - Americans . Utah had two players named to the Walter Camp All - American team . Walter Camp is one of the selectors the NCAA recognizes to determine Consensus All - Americans . NFL Draft . Utah had these players drafted during the 2011 NFL Draft :