Ute Sports

 Thought that San Diego State's defense might give freshman quarterback Jordan Wynn a little trouble on Saturday,with his first pass which went for 44 yards to David Reed, it was obvious I thought wrong.

 Wynn is making it seem easy, isn't he?

 Wynn's numbers weren't anything outlandish in the Utes' 38-7 win over San Diego State on Saturday, he was 14-of-28 for 195 yards and a touchdown, but the stat that stood out the most was the red zone production, where the Utes were 4-of-4.

 The Utes were also 8-of-16 on third down conversions. Both areas have improved since Wynn has been the quarterback. Sure, part of the improvement could be part of the team's maturation through the season or maybe the playing calling from Aaron Roderick, but I give a lot of credit to Wynn's presence and his sense of defenses. 

 The Utes were playing down to their opponents in the beginning of the season, now after Saturday's win and the 45-14 win over New Mexico, you can't knock the Utes for doing that anymore.

 The 55-28 loss to TCU was a big one, but the Utes did manage to score more points than any other team had against the Horned Frogs.

 Now of course comes the next big question, how will Wynn do against BYU?

 Wynn said he has caught some replays of the rivalry game on TV and is eager for his shot. He also attended last year's game.

 "I've had fans come up to me and say beat BYU, that will make our season," Wynn said. "Obviously it's huge."

 Most of the questions after the San Diego State game were about the BYU game. Receiver Jereme Brooks summed up the game probably the best when asked if the Utes had to beat BYU to rate their season a successful one.

 "Of course," he said. "It's BYU, we have to win."

  Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, who was happy with Saturday's victory, reminded everyone as big as the game might be, it still only counts as one game.

 "You have to keep it in perspective," he said.

 Along those lines, I think Robert Johnson had the best perspective.

 "It means a whole lot," he said. "You can't explain it, whoever wins it takes over Utah."

 So how are Utah fans feeling after Saturday? I'd say you should be feeling pretty good about your chances against the Cougars even with a freshman at quarterback.

 More on Saturday's game here.

 Tied with BYU for second place in the MWC, the Utah Utes' bowl destination seems like it is between the Las Vegas Bowl or the Poinsettia Bowl, with the assumption TCU wins out and goes to the BCS.

 However, there could be a fly in the ointment, and its name is Air Force. 

 Let's say the Falcons upset BYU on Saturday then BYU beats Utah. That would give Air Force a final record of 8-4 overall, 6-2 in the conference and both the Utes and Cougars would be 9-3, 6-2, assuming the Utes beat San Diego State on Saturday.

 What happens then?

 Let's assume the Las Vegas Bowl would take the Cougars over the Utes because it would prefer to have a team that won its last game rather than lost. While there is some strong sentiment it's time for BYU to go to another bowl, Las Vegas Bowl executive director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said the Vegas bowl committee wouldn't have any qualms at all in taking the Cougars a fifth straight year.

 The Las Vegas Bowl has first pick of the MWC to match up against the No. 5 selection from the Pac-10.

 "Possibly they might like a different scenery, but when BYU is here the fans love it and Las Vegas has done a good job for BYU fans," Kunzer-Murphy said.

 That would leave the Poinsettia Bowl to chose between Utah and Air Force to match up with the Pac-10's sixth place team. 

 Bruce Binkowski, the executive director for the Poinsettia Bowl, said his committee would take a hard look at the Falcons in that situation.

 That discussion could be helped by Air Force, which has been to the Armed Forces Bowl the last two seasons and word has it is ready for a change. The school made a big push with all the bowls earlier this week saying it is committed to selling more tickets and bringing more fans to its bowl games to make it a more attractive option.

 "Air Force hasn't been here before and that could be an interesting potential matchup," Binkowski said. "Utah was great down here a couple years ago [in 2007 when the Utes defeated Navy 35-32] and we'd be pleased to have them back too. But it's too early to tell, BYU, Utah and Air Force are all still in the picture."

  USC currently is in fifth place in the Pac-10 and Cal is sixth. Former Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig is now at Cal.

 Personally, I'd rather see the Utes in Las Vegas or San Diego against the Pac-10 than in Fort Worth against a Conference USA opponent.

 Given the bowl situation, are Utah fans going to pull for BYU Saturday to beat Air Force and essentially eliminate the possibility of Fort Worth?

San Diego State's football team doesn't need any distractions while preparing for the Utes, but it is getting some thanks to its athletic director. Jeff Schemmel resigned from his position today following an investigation which revealed he requested reimbursement from the school for trips to visit a woman.

 Schemmel, who made $257,000 annually, requested to be reimbursed for a flight change, rental car and gas for a visit.

 The tryst with the woman came to light because of her divorce proceedings. Schemmel also is married.

 You can read more about the story here.

 Lot of talk this week about sending Utah's seniors out with a victory Saturday in their last home game. The Utes have 24 seniors, including key players such as Zane Beadles, Robert Johnson, Koa Misi, David Reed, Stevenson Sylvester, Kepa Gaison and Mike Wright.

 We'll look more at the seniors later, but did you also know that Saturday is another landmark day of sorts? Utah coach Kyle Whittingham turns 50 Saturday?

 He is 45-16 in his five years as the Utes' head coach.

 I remember he was asked once how long he might coach and Whittingham said he didn't envision himself coaching as long as LaVell Edwards did. Edwards retired when he was 70, serving as the Cougars' head coach from 1972-2000.

 Coaches such as Edwards, FSU's Bobby Bowden and Penn State's Joe Paterno, guys who have been at their institutions for 20-plus years, are becoming an endangered species because the pressures involved in coaching seem to get greater every year.

 Think Whittingham will still be coaching when he is 70 or will he move onto something else as he imagined he might?

Big win for the Utes tonight against Utah State. Our Utah State beat writer covered the game, so he'll have all the details in a bit, but to give some overall impressions it was good for the Utes to see Carlon Brown have as good of a game as he did.

 He came into the season saying he wanted to be a leader and a go-to guy, and he showed that in the second half when he really turned it on and finished with 22 points.

 A Utah loss wouldn't have been a surprise, seeing as how the Aggies have a more veteran team and were picked to win the WAC.

 Utah's defense was better than it was against Idaho. Getting beat on the boards by the Aggies though will certainly be something the Utes will talk about in practice.

 There were inconsistencies too, particularly in the inside game but that is to be expected so early in the season with inexperienced players.

 Overall, it was a nice win for the Utes and one that coach Jim Boylen can build on with his young team.