Utah had an impressive first half against the Wolverines.  They made some mistakes early on Michigan's first drive by fumbling a punt return and then getting called for a pass interference, which negated an interception by Robert Johnson, but they responded with a touchdown drive of their own and then cruised in the 2nd quarter by adding another 16 points off of 3 field goals and a touchdown.

Tom Smart/Deseret Morning News

Utah's defense dominated most of the game by allowing Michigan to have just 203 yards of total offense.  They did have some mistakes with penalties and giving up a 33 yard TD pass after a blocked punt in the 4th quarter.  Overall, I was pleased with their effort.  They held Michigan to 36 yards rushing and held Michigan to 3/14 (21%) on third down conversions.

Utah's offense looked solid in the first half.  They were driving the ball and getting into scoring position the entire first half. Louie Sakoda was 3/3 on field goals in the first half and didn't have to kick a punt until the final two minutes of the half.  Utah managed to put up 341 yards of total offense in the game.  The only concerning thing to me was the net of 36 total yards of rushing for the Utes.  Mack and Asiata had a net of 94 yards on 21 carries, but Johnson had a net loss of 66 yards.

Tom Smart/Deseret Morning News

Louie Sakoda looked fantastic, but overall, the special teams were not impressive at all.  We fumbled a punt and had both a PAT and punt blocked.  That is horrible!  We need to improve the special teams play if we want to be successful this year.  Special teams are a key component of successful football teams.

Despite the negatives, I can't complain about this victory.  It was a great win over a historically big program.  This win will help gain back some of the national attention we received in 2004.

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