No. 8 Utah Vs. Air Force: Utes Clip Falcons In Colorado Springs, 28-23

Colorado Springs, CO (Sports Network) - Eddie Wide scored twice on the ground as eighth-ranked Utah survived to take a 28-23 win over Air Force at Falcon Stadium.

Wide had 82 yards on 23 carries while Matt Asiata added 95 yards and a score on 26 totes for the Utes (8-0, 5-0 MWC), who face undefeated TCU next Saturday in front of their home crowd in a game that could go a long way towards determining the conference champion. Jordan Wynn went 15-for-23 with 148 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the win.

No, it wasn’t pretty. But after Utah’s offense couldn’t put any points up in the fourth quarter, the Utes’ defense stepped up and stopped the Falcons twice to keep their record unblemished.

After being gashed for two big plays from Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson, the Utes stuffed Air Force runs on third and fourth down on two consecutive drives. Then, after the ball went over to the Utes, the Utah offense bled clock, punted, and downed it at the Air Force 1, giving the Falcons a 99-yard path to victory.

Does a 49-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Halderman sound like atonement? Tim Jefferson sure hopes so.

After forcing a Utah three-and-out that included a personal foul and a rare sideline interference penalty, Air Force capitalized with a one-play drive that featured that Jefferson-to-Halderman hookup and a touchdown that cut the Utah lead to 28-23 after a failed two-point conversion.

Tim Jefferson giveth, and Tim Jefferson taketh back.

The Air Force quarterback atoned for his two-interception night with a 59-yard touchdown run, cutting Utah’s lead to 28-17. He’ll need to add more atonement to be fully redeemed, though, because despite his efforts in leading the Falcons in passing and rushing, they still trail Utah by double digits with under a quarter to go.

Any optimism about Air Force’s chances was premature and misplaced.

Another Air Force turnover — this one a Tim Jefferson interception — gave Utah the ball with just 18 yards to travel, and though it took the Utes six plays to do so, a second one-yard touchdown run for Eddie Wide gave them a 18-point lead and a 28-10 score.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Utah is beating Air Force with a methodical, efficient attack.

It’s been one touchdown per quarter so far for Utah, but all three of them have come on 12-play drives. This one in the third quarter spanned 91 yards, and got capped not by a one-yard run, but a 36-yard pass from Jordan Wynn to Luke Matthews.

Utah has gotten off to a good start in its toughest road test of the season so far.

Running back Eddie Wide capped a 13-play, 68-yard drive with a one-yard plunge, and the Utes are up 7-0 on Air Force in Colorado Springs.