GAME NOTES: Winners of four straight and six of seven games in 2009, the 19th- ranked Utah Utes try to stay in the hunt for the Mountain West Conference title as they entertain the Wyoming Cowboys in league action on Saturday.

The Utes, who ran the table last year as the only program in the Football Bowl Subdivision to go undefeated, had a lengthy 16-game win streak snapped in a 31-24 setback to Oregon on the road in the middle of September. But since then, Utah has rebounded with a month's worth of wins, the most recent of those coming last Saturday in a 23-16 overtime bout versus Air Force.

"Our players showed a lot of toughness and determination in our overtime victory over Air Force," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said of his team's victory last weekend. "It wasn't pretty, but in the end we found a way to win. It was nothing different than the last several games with Air Force -- it has come down to the last series or the last possession...they have no quit and they are tough, disciplined and determined and we needed to match them and I think we did."

As for the Cowboys, they were out of action last week after being shut out for the second time in a month, 10-0, versus those Air Force Falcons once again. Prior to the setback, the Pokes had won three straight games against the likes of UNLV, Florida Atlantic and New Mexico.

Wyoming's first-year head coach Dave Christensen has been trying to keep the Cowboys on an even keel, but now he is finally getting a clearer look at how the stronger teams in the MWC operate. The team has just four games remaining on the regular-season docket after this weekend, but two of those are home dates versus top-notch programs in BYU and TCU.

The Utes crushed Wyoming in last season's meeting, 40-7, moving the team to a 49-31-1 advantage in the all-time series.

Even though the Wyoming offense had trouble making things happen against the Falcons the last time out, the Cowboys have to be proud of a defense that kept them competitive and within striking distance the entire way.

Although just a sophomore, linebacker Brian Hendricks spearheaded the aggressive attack by the defense as he posted a school-record 23 tackles versus Air Force. Hendricks, who was named the MWC Defensive Player of the Week for this efforts, broke a mark that had stood since 1972.

Wyoming quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels struggled mightily in the contest, converting just 14-of-31 passes for 74 yards, while being sacked six times. Even though Carta-Samuels gained 45 yards rushing on 12 attempts, all of those takedowns behind the line of scrimmage left him with a net of minus-two yards on the day, the team generating a mere 100 yards on 35 attempts.

"I think we've made a lot of progress as a program to this point in time," coach Christensen said following the Air Force outing. "We set out with some goals to improve on a daily and weekly basis and I think that we've done that. It hasn't been perfect each and every week but I think some things in our program that are definites is that we are competing at a lot higher level, our kids are playing extremely hard from start to finish and we continue to protect the football with (just) six turnovers in seven games."

Carta-Samuels, who took over the starting job from Robert Benjamin, is still showing decent numbers with his 57.1 percent accuracy and six touchdowns against just two interceptions, yet the Cowboys are still second-to-last in the conference and 107th in the nation in scoring with a mere 19.4 ppg. UW quarterbacks have been dealing with a weak offensive line that has given up an average of three sacks per game (106th in the country) and that too has prevented the offense from operating more soundly.

As coach Christensen mentioned, limiting miscues and causing turnovers is where the strength lies in this group. Behind Air Force, which leads the country in turnover margin, the Cowboys are 12th nationally at plus-1.14 turnover per game, a number that will be tested when lining up against the likes of TCU and BYU down the line.

The overtime game for the Utes last weekend was just the seventh in program history and the first since the team took down BYU by a score of 41-34 in Provo four seasons ago. Eddie Wide scored the first and last touchdowns for the program, finishing with a game-high 121 yards on 17 attempts.

Quarterback Terrance Cain was able to connect on 11 of his 21 pass attempts for 167 yards and a score, but he also suffered three sacks along the way. David Reed had a huge game with his seven catches for 149 yards and a TD, the rest of the team combining for just four receptions for 18 yards.

The Utah defense allowed the Falcons to post 254 yards on the ground, but that was to be expected given how much Air Force relies on the run. That said, the Utes really can't take much away from limiting the visitors to only seven completed passes for 64 yards because the Falcons are one of the weakest passing teams in the nation. Although, Utah has to be pleased with earning the win after the defense was stuck on the field for almost 39 minutes.

Only once this season have the Utes surrendered more than 17 points, that coming in the seven-point loss to Oregon on the road. So for the most part, Utah has been doing the most productive work on the defensive side of the ball, allowing an average of only 17.7 ppg to this point in the campaign.

The secondary has been especially impressive, giving up just 160.4 ypg through the air, a number that has the Utes ranked second in the MWC and eighth in the nation. Much of that has to do with the pressure being brought by the guys up front as they attack the line of scrimmage.

While sacks are rather marginal with just 1.9 per game right now for the unit, tackles for loss have been coming with much more frequency, to the tune of almost seven-and-a-half per outing. The group ranks first in the league and 19th in the country in that department. What should scare opponents the most is the fact that the Utes have no fewer than 15 players who have at least two TFLs to their credit, which means they attack from all sides, all the time.

As someone who averages better than 250 ypg in total offense, the flexibility of Cain at the quarterback position has made it somewhat easier to transition from having Matt Asiata in the mix and handling the ball as much as he can, to having him on the sidelines and watching the action because of an injury. Many thought Utah's season might have gone down with Asiata, but for now his absence has simply opened a few more doors for other players to contribute and make their mark for the future.

Certainly the Cowboys should be proud of their efforts thus far under Christensen, but matching up with a balanced team like Utah is going to require even more effort to keep from being swept away.

"This week is our second-annual blackout game," coach Whittingham has reminded everyone. "We should have a good crowd and are looking forward to the game. We have to be ready to play. Wyoming is doing a nice job this year and we are trying to stay in the hunt for the MWC Championship. We have deficiencies and are looking forward to becoming a better team each and every week."

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Utah 28, Wyoming 10