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Asiata, Johnson shine as Utah breezes past Utah State

Sep 14, 2008 - 5:27 AM LOGAN, Utah (Ticker) -- In a meeting of Beehive state rivals, Utah spotted Utah State a seven-point lead early in the first quarter. Then the rout was on.

Matt Asiata ran for three touchdowns and Brian Johnson threw for a pair of scores as 22nd-ranked Utah crushed the Aggies, 58-10, on Saturday.

Utah State took advantage of a muffed punt in Utah territory to jump out to a 7-0 lead on Sean Setzer's 9-yard touchdown strike to Otis Nelson, but were unable to gain any momentum from there.

Instead, the Aggies looked like the team that allowed 66 points to Oregon last week, as the defense was picked apart by a Utah squad that racked up 446 yards of total offense.

"We came up and got a win and did what we needed to do, but this team still hasn't played its best football and we know that," Johnson said.

Asiata, who carried 11 times for 56 yards, scored one of his three touchdowns to tie the game at 7-7, and after a 48-yard field goal by Louis Sakoda, Elijah Wesson recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff to stretch Utah's lead to 17-7.

Sakoda added two more field goals before Johnson connected with Freddie Brown for a 10-yard touchdown, staking the Utes to a 30-7 halftime lead.

A senior who also found Colt Sampson for an 8-yard touchdown pass, Johnson completed 22-of-31 attempts for 204 yards for the Utes (3-0).

"We had some errors we need to correct before Air Force, but I do like the way we played hard for 60 minutes and executed in both halves," Johnson said.

While Asiata found the end zone two more times in the second half, he was by no means the only weapon in the ground game for Utah. Darrell Mack gained 75 yards on 14 carries and Eddie Wide carried seven times for 54 yards as the Utes compiled 233 rushing yards.

"We haven't played our best football yet, but we're 3-0 out of the gate that is where we want to be," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said.

Ray Stowers capped the scoring with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Utah's defense held the Aggies (0-3) to 116 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers.

"We didn't compete at all," USU receiver Otis Nelson said. "We let them give it to us."