Poor, poor Rebels, they've found their way into the New York Times' crosshairs this weekend, as The Quad previews all 119 college football teams. Today, UNLV comes in at a pitiful 111th. Here is a look at what they had to say about the struggling football program in Sin City.

When it comes to U.N.L.V. football, maybe what happens in Vegas really should stay in Vegas. The Rebels are perennially at the bottom of the Mountain West Conference, compiling a 17-49 record in league play since joining the Mountain West in 1999. They have had one winning season since 1995. The decision to hire Mike Sanford after the 2004 season has turned into a questionable one; Sanford has only six wins in three years, making 2008 a make-or-break season for the Urban Meyer disciple. With little history to speak of, the Rebel football program will always be an afterthought with college sports fans, who think of U.N.L.V. as a basketball school first and a football school second. For fans of college golf, the Rebel football program may be running third; U.N.L.V. men’s golf is currently ranked 15th in the nation.

Ouch, they don't hold back on the punches and unfortunately for Utah, they find their way into the article as well.

High point: A 27-0 whitewashing of Utah on Sept. 22 evened the Rebels’ record at 2-2 and put them at 1-0 in Mountain West play. It was the program’s first shutout since blanking North Texas, 38-0, in 2000.

Ok, well I guess you can take this two ways. It still totally sucks the Utes lost to UNLV last year (revenge will be mighty sweet), but at least we're a big enough program that this win warrants a spot at the highest point of last season. Then again, the Rebels would only win another game the rest of the way, so it's not like they were overflowing with good moments in '07. Though they did manage to almost stun Wisconsin and surely that would have made our loss sting less had they done that, right? Eh, probably not.

Finally, their season prediction seems to suggest UNLV will be shopping for a new coach come December.

There are four Mountain West teams head and shoulders above the rest: Air Force, B.Y.U., Utah and T.C.U. The Rebels will be competing with Wyoming, Colorado State and San Diego State to stay out of the Mountain West cellar for another year. Unfortunately, my guess is a 3-9 finish and another year at the bottom.

It's an interesting read and a fairly solid write-up for an east coast paper, so check back here to see when they do entries on other Mountain West teams and of course, Utah.

You're a successful assistant coach at a solid BCS program, however, your resume isn't nearly good enough to get a dream job. Wanting to wet your feet as a head coach, hoping to climb your way up to that dream job, you take over a tradition weak non-BCS team. The school has minimal resources, plays in a 30,000 seat stadium, yet there is potential. The school is located in a recruiting hotbed, with a growing population surrounding the campus and plans to upgrade the football facilities. It's a risk, though, since the team is coming off a 3-win season and hasn't had a winning season in nearly four years. Their bowl drought is much larger, not making the postseason in ten. The climb will be a battle, but you're ready to go at it.

When building a non-BCS program, you need to look at the best way to utilize what you have. Some programs have done this quite well, while others seem destined to toil in mediocrity. The program we're looking at -- not a real one, by the way -- fits in with the latter. So what tasks must a coach undertake when trying to build a stagnant program? Well firstly, it depends on the talent level. Some programs underperform, others have a dearth of talent and need a lot more than just motivation and good coaching. For the sake of this article, we'll say talent has been there, but the program has struggled living up to the potential on the football field.

This is something familiar to Utah fans, as we experienced this type of change with Urban Meyer. The year before he arrived, Utah went 5-6, pretty much sucked and that cost Ron McBride his job. With basically the same players, Meyer went 10-2, won an outright championship fpr the first time in 50-years and guided the Utes to their first top-25 finish in 9 years. So this fictional program is one that has talent, but for whatever reason, it just hasn't panned out on the field. That's the job of the head coach, to find a way to mold that raw, unsuccessful talent into something dramatically different.

Unlike some non-BCS programs, this one doesn't need to schedule just for the sake of making money. These bodybag games that send teams to Norman, Oklahoma or Gainsville, Florida are not necessary. So you can put together a schedule that benefits your program in different ways.

• A tough game to toughen the team up. This is not always a bad idea, since your team can learn a lot when playing a far superior team. It doesn't have to be a game against #1 LSU, but a game against a solid BCS team. And if the team is lucky, they could pull off the stunner.

• A weak opponent to soften the possibility of injury. It's a no-brainer, the tougher the team the more likelihood of an injury. They're bigger, they're stronger and they sure as hell hit harder. The weak teams, though? They're smaller, at times weaker and even though they hit hard, it's not like getting slammed by a brick house. More like a tough shed.

• A poor BCS team. Hey, a win over a BCS team is a win over a BCS team, right? So what if it's Duke or North Carolina, it's still a BCS team and that's still pretty huge for a program trying to find its identity. Imagine if Utah State could manage to knock off a BCS team...or any team for that matter.

Once the schedule is in place, you've got to set the course for program goals. Now obviously you're not going to come out of the gate expecting a BCS bowl berth and a top-5 finish. But every team, no matter how bad, should aim for a winning record. It's only 7-wins and with a schedule tailored to this, it is very possible.

So it's your first season and the schedule is mixed with a tough BCS team, a not-so-tough BCS team, a mediocre non-BCS team and a D1-AA team, along with the regular conference slate. Last year the team dropped all of its out of conference games, but won 3 in conference to finish the conference season 3-5. Not good, but it does offer some hope.

Now this season, with better coaching, the team still manages to lose that tough out of conference BCS game, but manages to beat the poor BCS team, the mediocre non-BCS team and the D1-AA team. That equals last year's record and the conference schedule hasn't even started yet. So once that rolls around, the better coached team lives up to its talent level and manages to win 5 conference games, to finish with a record of 8-4. Just like that, the once poor football program is in a bowl game and owns a winning record.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well it kind of does and it really isn't entirely realistic, though it has happened. Coaches like Urban Meyer at Utah or even Dick Tomey at San Jose State managed to do that -- and more -- in their first seasons with a poor program. The talent didn't change, but the coaching did and it paid off. This isn't to say it's this easy for every non-BCS program, because it isn't. But the foundation can be laid with the right leadership on the sidelines and if you are a non-BCS team, that's where hope should lie.

The fact is, I think many non-BCS programs just make the wrong hire and it does their programs no good. But this is the difficult aspect of college football, especially for these programs, because a hire is a gamble. Utah had the luxury of knowing what it was getting because Urban Meyer had success at Bowling Green. However, it wasn't like that when they hired Ron McBride or Kyle Whittingham -- two coaches without head coaching experience. Both turned out to be decent hires, with it still unknown if Whitt is anything better. But for smaller non-BCS schools, they have to take a risk on an assistant, hoping he has the ability to build the program and make it more attractive to other coaches if they lose their head coach to another school.

And that is ultimately where non-BCS programs struggle the most, because unlike BCS teams, they rarely are capable of poaching other head coaches from other schools. So how do you -- if you're stuck hiring assistants -- know if you have the right guy? Well firstly, it doesn't hurt if the guy has been around for a while. Urban Meyer was an assistant under some great coaches, working his way up by coaching at Ohio State, Colorado State and Notre Dame before he landed a job at Bowling Green. Kyle Whittingham is the longest serving coach with the Utes in the modern era of Utah football. But really, it is a risk and the success of a program depends on that risk. If the department fails and hires a coach not ready to take over a team, then it takes a step back once again. However, if the opposite happens, then it's in position to build a solid non-BCS program.

Here's a look at some familiar teams and the paths their coaches took.

• Utah State, Brent Guy. Guy was the defensive coordinator at Arizona State, however, had ties to Utah State as a linebackers coach in the 90s. Yet at Arizona State, it wasn't as if his defenses were known for being great. In fact, Arizona was far more an offensive oriented team, which may explain the fact he hasn't done anything in Logan yet.

• San Diego State, Chuck Long. I know I've ranked Long as a poor coach before, but I actually think he has the resume of a good one. He was Oklahoma's offensive coordinator and had great success there, yet it hasn't really spilled over to San Diego State. Regardless, it wasn't a bad hire for the Aztecs based on what he had done and may prove to be a decent on in years to come.

• UNLV, Mike Sanford. An interesting hire for the Rebels and one that hasn't lived up to its hype. Now Utah fans are familiar with Sanford, as he was the offensive coordinator here for two seasons when the Utes went 22-2. But it was Urban Meyer who saved Sanford, as he was pretty much being pushed out of the door at Stanford after a horrible season in 2002. Outside of Utah's offensive performance in 2003 and 2004, Sanford doesn't have much to hang his hat on and that has proven to be a problem, as Sanford could be canned this season.

• BYU, Bronco Mendenhall. On paper, Mendenhall was a bad hire. His defenses at Oregon State, New Mexico and BYU were not good. Yet he seems to be a completely different head coach, as he's guided BYU to their best two seasons in a very long time. Bronco, though, had trouble winning prior to taking over the Cougar program, as he was the defensive coordinator through the worst stretch of BYU football in the last 30 years, didn't do much of anything at New Mexico and was pushed out the door with the entire Oregon State football staff in 1997.

It's tough for non-BCS teams to build their programs, because they don't have nearly the money or the capabilities. But it is possible and it all starts with the hiring of a good head coach. Someone who can motivate not only the players but an apathetic fanbase. If that happens, many non-BCS programs can do what Utah, Boise State and Hawaii have been able to do. The problem is, it's not that easy and for every Dan Hawkins and Urban Meyer, there is a Mike Sanford and a Vic Koenning.

Obviously we won't know the answer until the season begins, but I'm guessing I am not the only Ute fan who has questions about this year's team.

10. Can Utah beat Michigan? It's going to an awfully tough game, even if Michigan lacks the talent they have seen in the past. If there is one year to grab a win over one of the most elite programs in college football history, this is it. However, I'm still not expecting a win, because I honestly don't think the Wolverines will look past the Utes. Luckily, though, Utah should be more familiar with Michigan's offense than the Wolverine players themselves -- since it's comparable to what the team has run since the Urban Meyer days.
9. Can Utah put together a full season? And when I ask this, it isn't necessarily asking if they'll go undefeated (we'll get to that later), but rather not having a game that leaves most fans with a bad taste in their mouths. In each of the last 3 years, there have been games (sometimes multiple in a season) where the Utes should really not have lost and they definitely should not have lost the way they did. Will 2008 be any different, or will Utah drop a few games over the course of a season that costs them more than just a gaudy record?
8. Can Brian Johnson stay healthy? Last season was hyped as being the return of Brian Johnson after a season of sitting out over a leg injury. Yet, in the first game, he went down and his outlook has been questionable since. Add on the collarbone injury and the Utes' fortunes definitely cling to whether or not Johnson can be healthy enough to play as well as he did during the height of the 2007 season. If he can, Utah should be good to go, but if there is a nagging injury there, it could set Utah back this year.
7. Can the offense produce at a high level consistently? I've proven to be one of Andy Ludwig's harshest critic, but I'm also optimistic that maybe this is the year everything comes together on the offensive side of the ball. Last season, the Utes' offense played efficiently, but struggled in some key games, namely the final regular season one against BYU. Under Ludwig, Utah's offense tends to play up and down and this is the year where it probably needs to play consistently well if Utah is going to make some noise either nationally, or within the conference. If the offense continues to play up and down, well question 9 will probably not happen.
6. Can Utah go undefeated at home? It doesn't sound that important of a question, however, going undefeated at home automatically gives Utah 6-wins on the season. Couple that with the fact Utah faces some probable Mountain West Conference championship contenders (BYU and TCU) and it becomes apparent why winning at home is so important. Had Utah gone undefeated at home last year, they would have finished 10-3 and would have been a stop away from winning the Mountain West championship. Instead, they went 9-4 and finished tied for 3rd.
5. Can Utah finally win the Mountain West? Let's face it, the success of a program is tied to conference championships and since Urban Meyer left Salt Lake, Utah hasn't really been in contention for one since. That has to change and this is Utah's best shot in a few years to win it. Not only do they have a favorable schedule, they return much of their talent from last year and should be good to go. But this will require many of the above questions, which has been a problem for Utah the past 3 years. If Utah is going to become a dominant football program, it will have to start by winning the Mountain West this year. If they do that, then success should come in the future.
4. Can the Utes crack the top-25? They won't start there, but they should begin the season with votes, as they generally do. Now a win over Michigan could catapult the Utes into the top-25 and set the course for something special. But even if Utah does lose their opening game against Michigan, the schedule breaks down fairly favorable to where they can run off a pretty impressive winning streak and crack the top-25 that way. After Michigan, Utah plays very winnable games against UNLV, Utah State, Air Force, Weber State, Oregon State, Wyoming and Colorado State. If they win those games, they should easily enter the top-25 as they arrive to the meaty part of their schedule.
3. Can Utah stop the revenge factor? Wyoming is going to be pumped to play the Utes and this is a game that actually concerns me more than most any other on the schedule. It's one Utah should win, however, the Cowboys will easily remember last year's 50-0 loss to the Utes in Salt Lake and I'm willing to bet they come out charged for this one. Of course, Utah should equally remember Joe Glenn giving Kyle Whittingham -- and subsequently the team -- the one-fingered victory (not) salute. This should be a brawl.
2. Can Utah finally beat BYU? I think we can all agree BYU has had their little run and now it's time for Utah to regain the series advantage. BYU hasn't won two three in a row over the Utes in 16 years and the last time the Cougars did win two in a row, the Utes followed it up with a 4-game rivalry winning streak. This is a good year to start another Ute winning streak, right?
1. Can Utah have that special season? Probably not, but if all the above questions are answered positively, they should. That would require beating Michigan, winning all their home games, not having an offensive letdown, a healthy Brian Johnson and most importantly, winning the Mountain West. As Utah won't come close to sniffing the BCS If they can't win the conference.

As expected, there weren't any Utes taken in this years draft, however, there were a few players selected from other Mountain West schools:

San Diego State quarterback Kevin O'Connell was selected in the 3rd round by the Indianapolis Colts New England Patriots.

UNLV OLB Beau Bell was selected in the 4th round by the Cleveland Browns.

New Mexico wide receiver Marcus Smith was selected in the 4th round by the Baltimore Ravens.

BYU's OLB Bryan Kehl was selected in the 4th round by the New York Giants.

San Diego State's Tyler Schmitt was selected in the 6th round by the Seattle SeaHawks.

San Diego State's Brett Swain was selected in the 7th round by the Green Bay Packers.

San Diego State receiver Chaz Schilens was selected in the 7th round by the Oakland Raiders.

Not a great draft for Mountain West programs, but clearly San Diego State cleaned up. It's a wonder, with all this talent, how they continue to suck in football. The Aztecs consistently are at the top of the conference in terms of draft selections, yet fail to have any of that success translate into wins. So while Aztec fans are rightfully proud of getting 4 of their players picked, they have to be frustrated that all they have to show for it on the football field is a bunch of losing seasons.

Eric Weddle made his coaching debut Saturday in the sixth-annual Red & White game, leading the White team to an 18-10 victory. Not bad, for a first time head coach.

Though this year's spring game lacked the flair of years past, Weddle's appearance helped make up for the fact many starters were sitting out nursing injuries. Running the White team's offense was Chad Manis, who finished the day completing 6-of-13 passes for 68 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The Whites actually rolled to an 18-0 lead, before holding off the Reds, who were led by DeVonte Christopher. Christopher finished with a game-high 84-yards on the ground, but only completed 2-of-7 passes for 28 yards. He also threw an interception.

Utah's presumed starting quarterback Brian Johnson, who worked with both teams, connected on 2-of-4 passes for 23 yeards, he too was intercepted. Johnson, though, only played one series each for both sides.

Manis was behind all three of the White team's scoring Saturday, throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Brown, while also rushing it into the end zone twice from 8 and 5-yards out.

Even though Utah was lacking its important backs, the ground game looked fairly solid Saturday. Eddie Wide ran for 65-yards while Ray Stowers finished with 50 and a touchdown. Out of the receivers, Freddie Brown managed the best game, as he had the lone touchdown reception of the day.

On defense, the White's Chaz Walker returned an interception 56 yards, while also recovering a fumble. Lisiate Leota, who played for both teams, had 4-tackles and an interception, while Toby Titus had 7-tackles to lead the white.

The play of the day, though, came from former Ute Eric Weddle. After Manins ran in a touchdown, Weddle set up for the PAT, which was then subsequently blocked and then recovered by Justin Taplin-Ross, who then pitched it to Sean Smith. Noticing the chance of giving up a score, Weddle, in street clothes, sprinted after Smith down the sidelines, following him into the end zone, failing to prevent the score. It was a moment that brought great cheer from the crowd and probably would give the San Diego Chargers a conniption fit if they saw the play transpire.

In the end, it was a fairly uneventful spring game, as most of Utah's starters sat out. It's impossible to gauge how good this team will be, but at least Utah got through spring practice relatively healthy, as linebacker Jamel King was the only serious injury, with his torn anterior cruciate ligament, an injury that has forced him to sit out the 2008 season.

The following players did not play:

• 
  
• Red Team: WR Brent Casteel, WR Elijah Wesson, DE Paul Kruger, QB Corbin Louks, LB Mike Wright, DB Terrell Cole, DB Tysen Clements, LB Tatum Drecksel, OL Tyler Williams, DT Isley Filiaga.
• White Team: RB Matt Asiata, RB Darrell Mack, LB Stevenson Sylvester, DB Robert Johnson, DB Grayson Dart, DE Koa Misi, LB Jamel King, DT Greg Newman, WR John Peel, WR Mike Hicken, DT Kenape Eliapo.

The Red & White game wrapped up Utah's spring practice and was the last football fix until fall camp later in the summer. Then it's on to the 2008 football season and Utah's opener against Michigan.

The Utes will close spring camp this Saturday with the sixth-annual Red & White game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The scrimmage is free to the public and set for a 1 p.m. start, however, other events will accompany the game.

• 
  
• Prior to the scrimmage, MUSS members will partake in a scrimmage of their own, as will Alumni members. The MUSS game starts at eleven, while the Alumni game is scheduled to begin 50 minutes later.
• Former Ute and current San Diego Chargers defensive back Eric Weddle has returned to Salt Lake and will coach the White team. Brian Johnson will play quarterback for both squads, while DeVonte Christopher will take over for him on Red team and Chad Manis on the White team. Corbin Louks, who suffered a concussion in Friday's scrimmage, will miss the spring game.
• The rules, as listed on Utah's Official Site: If a team falls behind by more than 10 points, it will get the ball back after it scores until the point differential drops below double digits ... There won't be any punt or kickoff returns in the game. Punts will be kicked to "air," meaning the return team will get the ball wherever it comes to rest. In place of kickoffs, the teams will start their opening drives from the 35-yard line ... The field goal and PAT teams will be in action, which could prove a problem for the White team, which did not draft any kickers. All-American Louie Sakoda and backup Ben Vroman will take turns place-kicking for the Red team ... All of the quarterbacks will be off limits to tacklers ... Players who made position changes during spring camp are WR Mookie Murphy (from DB), LB Chaz Walker (from DB), TE Zac Eldridge (from RB), DL Troy Bunting (from LB) and DL Christian Cox (from TE).
• The stadium parking lot will be open for pregame tailgating and you can join Ute Fans Dot Net for their Spring Football Tailgate. The Crew will begin tailgating at 8:00 Friday night with the Saturday tailgate kicking off at 10 a.m. and goes until the stadium opens for the scrimmage.

Enjoy the spring game, since it will be the last football you see from Utah until fall camp later this summer.

Last summer I decided to rank the Mountain West coaches in a purely opinion based way. I ended that article by stating I hoped this time next year we would be ranking Kyle second instead of fifth. Well it's almost been a year since I wrote that piece and I think it's the perfect time to revisit my original rankings.

Firstly, a look at the 2007 Coaches Ratings:

1. Gary Patterson
   
2. Joe Glenn
   
3. Sonny Lubick
   
4. Bronco Mendenhall
   
5. Kyle Whittingham
   
6. Rocky Long
   
7. Chuck Long
   
8. Mike Sanford

About my first list: Sonny Lubick retired and Joe Glenn has no business being that close to the top, while I clearly underrated Bronco Mendenhall. But I don't think that was too out of place, since it wasn't clear if 2006 was a fluke or not.

So with last year's results out of the way, here's a look at the 2008 Coaches Ratings:

1. Bronco Mendenhall (3 seasons, 28-10).

Seriously, what else can be said about Bronco? He's a good coach and as a Ute fan, I can readily admit it. In fact, he's proven to be the best coach in the conference, at least for the moment. I mean, you can't ignore the fact he became the first coach in Mountain West history to lead his team to back-to-back undefeated conference seasons, all the while leading the Cougars to back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since Saint LaVell did it in 1989-1990. Even with how much talent BYU lost on offense prior to the start of the 2007 season, they still managed to pretty much roll through the Mountain West. Impressive. Now don't stone me.

2. Gary Patterson (8 seasons, 62-25).

Patterson easily is one of the best non-BCS conference coaches in the country and the fact he consistently has TCU competitive is testament to his leadership. Yet the Frogs stumbled a bit last year, which hurt, since many expected them to contend for the BCS and win the Mountain West outright. But that does not diminish the fact Patterson is the most successful coach the Frogs have seen this side of Good Ol' Dutch Meyer.

3. Kyle Whittingham (3 seasons, 24-14).

Ok, so he didn't leap into 2nd place, but he's pretty close. Whittingham proved once again you can never count his teams out, as they looked dead after an embarrassing loss to the Rebels last year, only to find new life by way of a 7-game winning streak. Unfortunately for Whittingham, he still hasn't figured out how to win the Mountain West and is now 1-2 against Bronco and the Cougars. If you're going to cut it at Utah, one of those is going to have to change.

4. Rocky Long (10 seasons, 61-61).

Let's hear it for Coach Long, after 10 seasons, he finally climbed to a .500 career record. And I'm not being sarcastic, he's done a pretty solid job with the Lobos, especially last year after he guided them to 9-wins and their first bowl win since the Lyndon Johnson administration. Long isn't a great coach and he's probably not the type of coach who will turn many heads, but he's reliable and that seems to be what New Mexico wants from their football program. You can generally expect 7-8 wins from these guys and with how little money they actually pump into the football program, that's pretty good.

5. Troy Calhoun (1 season, 9-4).

What a first year for Calhoun and the Falcons. Picked to do nothing in the Mountain West last year, Air Force actually contended for the championship and yes, beat the Utes in Salt Lake. Calhoun proved last season that talent, coupled with coaching, can lead to some good results. Mike Sanford and Chuck Long should take note.

6. Joe Glenn (19 seasons, 164-73 @ Wyoming, 26-33).

What's that sound? Joe Glenn crashing in the ratings. I know falling from second to sixth is pretty extreme, but I think it was more extreme putting Glenn at #2 in the first place. That was a mistake on my part, because Wyoming has really not done anything since they managed to win 7 games in 2004. Glenn, who fired his offensive coordinator after last season's dismal 5-7 finish, will probably need 7-wins if he plans on coaching in Laramie next season. Then again, it's Laramie, so maybe he's tanking on purpose?

7. Chuck Long (2 seasons, 7-17).

The Aztecs improved marginally last season, but when you're coming off a 3-win season, it isn't like it's that hard to do. But now the pressure turns up for Long, who's in his 3rd year at San Diego State. Some Aztec fans are getting restless and won't accept another losing record. So is Long good enough to get things turned around in San Diego State, or is he their version of Mike Sanford?

8. Mike Sanford (3 seasons, 6-29).

Mike Sanford is pretty much gone at UNLV, since it'll take a miracle to get this team back to respectability. UNLV has not improved on their win total once since Sanford took over after John Robinson retired and two of those seasons were after the NCAA allowed teams to play a 12-game schedule. Embarrassingly enough, though, one of UNLV's wins last year came against the Utes. Had Utah not lost that game, the Rebels probably would be working spring drills under a new coach.

Colorado State's Steve Fairchild will start his first season with the Rams this year, thus I omitted him from the rankings.

There you have it, the Mountain West coaches ranked from top to bottom. Whittingham made some gains and can even climb further up the list if the Utes win the Mountain West this year. Agree? Disagree? Let me know.

Utah held its second scrimmage, a tune-up before the Red & White game Saturday, Friday afternoon. It offered a glimpse into Utah's ground game, which was dominant at times last season and propelled the team to some key victories down the stretch.

Quarterback Corbin Louks, who had a solid line during Utah's last scrimmage, again played well, leading the number one and two offenses with 100-yards on the ground. Those 100-yards running on 7 rush attempts was tops on the day.

Louks, who will most likely back-up Johnson this season, continues to impress the coaching staff, especially Kyle Whittingham. "Corbin Louks continues to make plays out there," Whittingham said, also adding, though, that Louks needed work on his read progression.

Other than Louks, Matt Asiata and Eddie Wide also rolled up the yards on the ground. Asiata finished with 47-yards on four carries, including breaking a run for 24-yards against the first team defense. Wide, on five carries, rushed for 44-yards and one touchdown, a 12-yard run during the red zone drills.

Brian Johnson, running the number one offense, went for 6-for-12 for 71-yards and a touchdown pass, a 12-yard completion to Freddie Brown, the lone touchdown pass of the day. Receiver Jereme Brooks had three catches for 41-yards, while Brent Casteel had two for 21-yards.

Utah will wrap up spring play this weekend with the Red & White game, which is free to the public at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Right now, it looks like the offense is producing well, though it should be noted Johnson is still only around 70-80% and it's not clear how close to 100% he'll be at the start of fall camp later this summer. But for now, Johnson seems to be on the mend, at least at a reasonable pace.

SMU has had some hard times over the years. Not only did their football program nearly go under in the late 1980s, the team hasn't really found its way back to respectability since. That may -- though most likely not -- change with the hiring of former Hawaii coach June Jones, but it appears the Mustangs' tradition is deeply rooted in the decade of bright colors, crazy music and big hair. Which may be the only way anyone can explain this:

Now ya' gotta love the cheesy, do-it-yourself title at the beginning of the video, which definitely screams 1980s era America's Funniest Home Videos. However, the dancing makes this video. SMU players treat us with their version of YMCA, one song that I've heard but don't recall and a bit of MC Hammer's Can't Touch This before finally entering an era of music that wasn't dominated by Valley Girls, popped collars and Reaganomics.

But I'll give 'em credit, at least they know how to have fun. The sad part, though, is that their program is without a doubt a bigger joke than this dance video.

Utah held its first scrimmage of the season Saturday afternoon at Rice-Eccles Stadium. There, Corbin Louks stole the show, as he led the No. 1 offense with 11-of-16 completions for 66 yards and ran for 39 yards on the ground. Senior Brian Johnson connected on 4-of-6 passes for 56 yards and also threw for one touchdown. Chad Manis passed for only 23 yards, completing 2-of-6 passes.

Collin Robinson caught 5 passes for 34 yards, while sophomore Eddie Wide ran for 34 yards on 12 carries. Receiver Brent Casteel and running back Matt Asiata, both who missed most of last season, sat out of live contact, however, both performed in the non-contact drills.

On defense, Brandon Burton had two picks, sophomore tackle Lei Talamaivao recorded 2 sacks, along with DB Chaz Walker, while Aaron Tonga had a fumble recovery.

Utah kicker Louie Sakoda, an All-American last year, made 6-of-6 field goals, which accounted for most of Utah's scoring.