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Perfect Utah Headed For BCS

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The Associated Press

Published: November 23, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah is BCS bound once again.

Brian Johnson passed for 303 and four touchdowns and the eighth-ranked Utes completed a perfect regular season by beating No. 16 BYU 48-24 Saturday, winning the heated state rivalry and taking the undisputed Mountain West Conference title away from the two-time defending champion Cougars (10-2, 6-2).

Utah (12-0, 8-0) forced five turnovers by BYU quarterback Max Hall, including a career-high four interceptions, and went unbeaten in the regular season for the third time in school history. The last Utah team to do it was the BCS Busters of 2004, which was 11-0 before winning the Fiesta Bowl.

The Fiesta is one of the possible bowl destinations for the Utes, who were already No. 7 in the BCS standings and now just have to wait for the announcement Dec. 7.

NO. 9 BOISE STATE 41,

NEVADA 34

RENO, Nev. - Kellen Moore threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns and No. 9 Boise State kept the nation's best rushing offense in check, beating Nevada to remain undefeated.

Moore threw for 319 yards by halftime, when the Broncos led 24-3.

Ian Johnson broke free for a 66-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for Boise State, which turned back a late Nevada rally to clinch its sixth WAC title in seven years. The Broncos (10-0, 7-0) close the regular season Friday at home against Fresno State.

Colin Kaepernick passed for 241 yards and a touchdown and ran for 70 yards for Nevada (6-5, 4-3), which got the ball back with 1:34 left in the game near midfield and moved to Boise's 26 on Kaepernick's 28-yard pass to Chris Wellington with 28 seconds remaining.

But a delay-of-game penalty pushed the Wolf Pack back, and on fourth-and-13, Brandyn Thompson and Kyle Wilson knocked down his throw to Marko Mitchell in the end zone as time expired.

NO. 15 TCU 44,

AIR FORCE 10

FORT WORTH, Texas - Another 10-win season for TCU.

Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes and ran for two more scores and the No. 15 Horned Frogs' defense mostly smothered Air Force's usually potent rushing attack to win their regular-season finale.

TCU (10-2, 7-1 Mountain West) has its fifth 10-win season in seven years. The senior class won its 40th game, matching the 1932-35 TCU squads for the most in a four-year period, with an undetermined bowl still to play.

Air Force (8-4, 5-3) was held to 150 yards rushing - 111 of that coming on only two runs. The Falcons were averaging 279.7 yards per game, fourth-best among FBS teams.

NO. 21 OREGON STATE 19,

ARIZONA 17

TUCSON, Ariz. - Justin Kahut hit a 24-yard field goal as time expired, and No. 21 Oregon State rallied to defeat Arizona and move within one victory of its first Rose Bowl trip since 1965.

Kahut nailed the winner just minutes after missing the potential tying extra point.

The Beavers (8-3, 7-1 Pac-10) can clinch a trip to Pasadena, Calif., with a victory vs. No. 24 Oregon in the Civil War on Saturday.

Trailing 17-16 with 1:19 to play, the Beavers took over at their 20 with no timeouts left.

On the third play of the drive, backup quarterback Sean Canfield found Sammie Stroughter alone behind the Wildcats secondary for a 47-yard gain to the Arizona 7.

Four plays later, Kahut came on and calmly nailed a 24-yard field goal to seal the Beavers' comeback.

Keola Antolin rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown for the Wildcats (6-5, 4-4).

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