The bowl season begins tonight as the Utes take on the Midshipmen. Navy comes into this game with an 8-4 record and on a 4 game winning streak. Utah comes in with an 8-4 record as well and winners of 7 of their last 8 games in the regular season. Utah has also won their last 6 bowl games and look to continue that streak.

Navy:

Navy will be playing their first game under their newly appointed head coach Ken Niumatalolo. Paul Johnson left for Georgia Tech after 6 seasons with Navy. The Naval Academy an option attack offense and they pride themselves on their ability to run a disciplined option attack. They force defenses to play assignment football and will burn you if each defender does not perform his job. The offense averages 351 yards per game on the ground and really wears on you with the monotonous option attack. They are a high scoring team averaging 39.9 points per game and try to outscore all of their opponents.

Navy's defense is a completely opposite as they are giving up 438 yards per game and their secondary is giving up 265 yards in the air. The run defense isn't much better, giving up 172 yards per game. They also allow teams to score an average of 36.5 points per game. The Midshipmen are undersized and don't have the team speed on defense to force teams to make plays against them.

Navy will grind the ball on the ground and force the Utah defense to make plays on every down. Defensively they will try to attack the Ute offense from different spots and force the Utes to make mistakes or turn the ball over.

Utah

Utah is looking to bounce back from the disappointing loss against BYU at the end of the regular season and extend their bowl winning streak to 7 games. Utah's offense has been a thing of inconsistency this year as they have spectacular performances on occasion and really lack luster performances at other times. The Utes should be able to have a balanced attack against the undersized Midshipmen. The offense should be able to put together long sustaining drives and force the poor Navy defense to make plays in order to get them off the field. Utah comes in only averaging 362 yards per game on offense, but they should have more yards against the Navy defense.

Utah's defense has a big challenge ahead of them tonight against Navy. They are facing a team with a very disciplined and assignment sound option attack. The good news for the defense is they have seen the option before against Air Force in past years, but experience can only do so much. The Ute defenders need to scheme properly and execute their assignment. One misread or missed assignment can lead to big plays for the Navy offense. Coach Whittingham has plenty of experience in preparing to play an option team and with the extra time to prepare for this offense, you can expect his defense to be prepared. Utah had been great against the run this year giving up just 130 yards per game and only 98 yards in the last 10 games of the season.

Utah will control the ball and make Navy march the entire length of the field on every drive due to their great special teams play. Utah needs to control the ball and not allow the Navy offense to have big plays. If they play assignment sound football and protect the football, they should be able to control Navy and pick up their 7^th straight bowl victory.

The game kicks off at 7:00 PM MT and can be seen on ESPN and heard on Kall 700 Sports (700 AM) .

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The Runnin' Utes get their first shot at a team ranked in the Top 25. Utah heads to Portland, OR to take on the Oregon Ducks. The Ducks come into this game with a 6-1 record and are ranked 19^th in the Associated Press Top 25.

Oregon has not played a game for about a week and half, so they should be fully rested. Utah is coming off an emotional win over Utah State on Wednesday and they are on a 3 game winning streak.

The Utes are looking to show that they can win a challenging game on the road. The Utes have a tough defensive battle ahead of them since the all five starters for the Ducks are averaging over 10 points per game and are lead by Malik Hairston (17.9 points/game) and Maarty Leunen (15.7 points/game).

The Utes will need to play solid team defense in order to slow down the Ducks. They will also need to continue their great field goal percentage. Utah is 4^th in the nation in field goal percentage at 53.3%. A strong defensive performance and a hot hand could give the Utes a chance to pull off the victory.

The game can be seen on ESPN's Full Court pay per view and heard on KALL 700 Sports (700 AM).

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Ravell Call / Deseret Morning News

Utah jumped out early on the Aggies of Utah State and gave them no opportunity to get back in the game.  The Utes were firing on all cylinders at the start of the game as they jumped out to an 11-0 lead before the Aggies could put any points on the board.  The Utes continued the onslaught as they extended the lead to 22-6 on a 3 pointer by Tyler Kepkay just 8 minutes into the game.

Utah took a 15 point lead into the half at 38-23.  The Aggies were able to get back within 10 points 7 minutes into the 2^nd half, but that would be the closest they would come the remainder of the game.  Leading 53-41 with 9:35 remaining, Utah would go on to outscore Utah State 19-7 the rest of the way and Utah would come out with the victory 72-48.

Luke Nevill lead the Utes with 20 points followed by Kim Tilllie (16 points) and Tyler Kepkay (11 points).  Jaycee Carroll and Gary Wilkinson were the only Aggies to score in double digits.  Utah's defense dominated Utah State holding the Aggies to a 37% field goal percentage for the game.

Utah improves to 5-2 for the season, 2-0 against in-state teams and will head out of town to face Oregon on Saturday, December 8^th.

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The Utes are headed to their 5th straight bowl game. The destination is San Diego and the Poinsettia Bowl on December 20th, 2007. The Utes have had tremendous success in bowl games as of late winning six in a row. They will be looking for their 7th straight bowl win against the Midshipmen of the Naval Academy.

Both teams enter the game with idential 8-4 records. Utah's marquee wins this year include UCLA at home and Louisville on the road. The Naval Academy, winner of the Commander in Chief's Award has wins against Notre Dame in South Bend and the Air Force Acedemy at home. The Air Force Falcons beat the Utes early in the season in a game that came down to the end. 

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Jeffrey D. Allred / Deseret Morning News

The Utes were back at home to face the UC Irvine Anteaters on Saturday afternoon and looking to start a new winning streak at home and extend their current streak to 2. The Anteaters came in looking for blood and their sharp shooters went to work early and often. UC Irvine opened up a 10-4 lead by dropping two 3-pointers early and controlled most of the first half.

With about 6 minutes to go in the first half and the Utes down six, Tyler Kepkay nailed a jumper that ignited the spark caused by Carlon Brown's baseline slam dunk. The Utes finished the first half on a 9-2 run and took a three point lead into the half at 31-28.

The second half was nearly a carbon copy of the first half, only a little more dramatic. The Anteaters came out of the half on fire from behind the 3-point stripe hitting five straight threes in the first 5:30 of the second half. Part of the reason for their success on the arc was due to the Utes packing it in on the inside and not allowing the Anteaters anywhere near the paint.

Eventually they would cool off and with 10:38 to play and down by 13, the Utes started to jel offensively. Coming out of a media timeout, the Utes got a layup and foul to send Carlon Brown to the line. Kepkay stole the ball on the other end and pushed it down the floor to Nevill who scored a quick layup bringing the Utes to within single digits of the lead.

Lawrence Bohra and Carlon Brown would follow up a missed three pointer with another feed pass for a layup as the Utes began mounting a comeback and over the next 5 minutes the Utes would outscore the Anteaters 17-3. The final four minutes of the game would be all Utah as they took the lead and never looked back. The Utes finished the game behind Lawrence Bohra's outstanding play on a 16-3 run that included an improbable reverse, behind the back layup by Shawn Green while being fouled with about 2 minutes to play. The final: 78-66 in favor of the Utes.

The Utes' next opponent is the Utah State Aggies from up north. The game is scheduled for Wednesday night at the Huntsman Center, tip at 8:00 PM.

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