Ute Sports

Utah defensive lineman Kenape Eliapo, who missed the Air Force and New Mexico games because of an eye ailment, won't play Saturday against TCU and could be done for the year, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.

 The Utes aren't releasing many details about the illness. They aren't sure exactly what it is and tests are still being done on the senior, Whittingham said.

 "It's inter-related, several things," he said. "We don't have a determination of what it is but he definitely won't play this week and might not the rest of the season."

 Eliapo has 16 tackles and a fumble recovery in his seven games.

 Expected to fill his spot at nose tackle is freshman Dave Kruger who started Saturday and had just one tackle. 

  Backup linebacker Matt Martinez is out two-to-three weeks with a quad strain. Otherwise, the Utes should be at full strength for the Horned Frogs.

 "Everything from the game on Saturday is minor, nothing that should cause anybody to miss the game," Whittingham said.

Only a limited amount of standing room only tickets remain for Saturday's game at TCU. You can get them by calling 817-257-3764.

 TCU's last sellout was against Texas Tech in 2006. So far the Horned Frogs are averaging 34,269 fans in Amon G. Carter stadium, which has a capacity of 44,358.

 Not bad for a school that has an enrollment of just 8,865.

 You can read more on the game here, as well as a preview of the Utah men's basketball season and coach Jim Boylen's reconstruction plan.

 Utes haven't gotten much love in the lines so far.

 Today's BCS standings are a good indication of how screwy the polls can be. For several weeks now the Utes have moved up in the polls after what I'd consider subpar performances against bad teams. This week they finally show some life and potential and they move down, even with several upsets of teams ranked ahead of them. Go figure.

 The Utes slipped two spots to No. 16 in the BCS standings. Their biggest trouble spot in the BCS standings are the computers, which have given them an average computer ranking of No. 20. The Utes are No. 14 in the USA Today/Coaches' poll and are No. 16 in the Associated Press poll.

 TCU made a jump, improving two spots to No. 4 in the BCS standings. The Horned Frogs are No. 4 in the USA Today/Coaches poll and in the AP poll.

 Two-loss teams ahead of the Utes in the BCS standings are LSU (7-2) at No. 8, USC at No. 9 (7-2), Ohio State (8-2) at No. 11, Oregon (8-2) at No. 13 and Miami (7-2) at No. 14.

 BYU moves back into the BCS standings at No. 22.

 I can understand LSU being ahead of the Utes since its losses were to undefeated teams Alabama and Florida, but I don't think USC should be ahead of them, after all the Trojans were blown out worse by Oregon than the Utes were, losing 47-20 and losing at Washington 16-13.

 I'd knock Ohio State down too. It had a "good" loss, if you want to call it that, by losing 18-15 to USC but then lost to Purdue 26-18.

 Miami's losses were a 31-7 defeat to Virginia Tech and a 40-37 loss in overtime to Clemson. Oregon lost to Boise State 19-8 and to Stanford 51-42.

 I know the Utes are getting punished a bit because the MWC isn't strong top to bottom and no matter how the top half compares to the BCS conferences the MWC is always going to take a hit for having so many bad teams in it. (Course the ironic thing is ESPN's College GameDay is going to broadcast from Ft. Worth, making it the third time in four weeks it has shown a MWC team, so the very network that usually blasts the league for its weakness is giving it some legitimacy with its frequent visits).

 The Utes have at least taken care of business and haven't lost to any teams they shouldn't have. That is more than some of the teams ranked ahead of them can say.

 Penn State dropped below the Utes in the BCS standings but Miami, Ohio State and Houston all moved ahead of them.

 Well Jordan Wynn is good enough to beat the Lobos we all saw, how about TCU?

 I'll say this, I like his chances better than Terrance Cain. The offense really seemed to open up with Wynn as the quarterback, how much credit goes to the freshman quarterback and how much goes to the play-calling of Aaron Roderick is something we don't know.

 Asked about it following the Utes' 45-14 win over New Mexico and coach Kyle Whittingham said it was "all of the above." In other words, he isn't going to get into the details of the change.

 "It's not that we had to scale things down for Terrance but Jordan, he is savvy," he said.

 Whittingham did note that he liked the play-calling, so maybe that is a vote of confidence for Roderick. Asked again about the switches and why he made them, Whittingham said, "We struggled on offense against Air Force, against Wyoming and thought first of all just because you are winning doesn't mean there aren't problems," he said. "There were things that need to be fixed. Yes it's a gamble to make a move like that, but in my estimation it's a bigger gamble if you see something like that you think can be improved upon and not act on it until it becomes something that costs you."

 The Utes put up some big numbers offensively, but keep in mind it was against one of the worst teams in the country. However, the Utes have struggled against similar teams, so something obviously is working.

 Wynn admitted to some nerves, but said he settled down quickly.

 "You get in there and slowly start getting the feel for how the team plays and how the other teams plays and you just go from there," he said.

 You can read all the game coverage here.

 After the game, most of the questions the Utes answered were about TCU. Both offensive lineman Zane Beadles and linebacker Stevenson Sylvester said they were ready for TCU.

 "The whole team atmosphere is going to be great," Sylvester said.

 As for Whittingham, he called it a "huge game," which is a slightly different take from him in the past. Normally he says such games are just like any other games. Nice to see him at least acknowledging what all the rest of us know.

 "The guys are smart guys they understand what is at stake," he said. "It's a huge game. Every one counts as one and we try not to get ahead of ourselves but we all know that we have a chance to help the cause with this game."

 Overall he is pleased to be 8-1 considering all the transitions the Utes have gone through this season.

 "We've had a lot of turnover but we felt we have recruited very well the last five years and that is the most important thing, is the personnel we've recruited at this point," he said. "We have tough games ahead of us but at this point we are on track."

Have a little time before the football game to starts to share some bits from the Utes' exhibition against Findlay, which the Utes won 83-70.

  The Utes were led by Kim Tillie, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Carlon Brown, who had 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. Luca Drca went 0-for-5 in the game with seven assists.

 The Utes did commit 19 turnovers, which Boylen was concerned about, but overall he was happy with the effort considering he went with several different combinations as he finds what rotation and personnel he wants to use.

 There were 10 lead changes until the Utes pulled away in the second half.

 "We have a chance to be really good," coach Jim Boylen said. "I thought their speed and quickness at times cut into our gaps and hurt us, but that is why it was so valuable to play against a team with that speed and quickness."

 Center Jason Washburn, who has been out for six weeks with an injury, contributed eight points, four rebounds and four blocks.

 "He is going to be a low-post presence," Boylen said. "He has a jump hook and his ball goes in, kind of like [Luke] Nevill's soft touch, it hits the rim and goes in. I'm encouraged to think he and David Foster are young players and Jace Tavita and Jordan Cyphers are sophomores. That's encouraging."

 Boylen liked how Tavita and Cyphers played, two guys he has been pushing to produce more in practice. 

Cyphers had eight points and four rebounds in 13 minutes while Tavita had two points, a block, a steal and an assist in 15 minutes.

 "Tavita was solid as heck and Cyphers was instant offense," Boylen said.  "We've been waiting for those guys to step into the next role. Last year they were bit players, role guys and we've been waiting and waiting for them to step up and contribute and I'm thankful it happened."