2007 Utah Utes football team

American college football season February 2026 August 2023 football 2007 Utah Utes Utah Utes - U logo.svg 120 Mountain West Conference MW 9–4 5–3 Kyle Whittingham 3rd Andy Ludwig Spread 3rd Gary Andersen 3rd 4–3 Rice-Eccles Stadium Poinsettia Bowl champion 2007 Poinsettia Bowl W 35–32 vs. Navy The 2007 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by third-year head football coach Kyle Whittingham. The Utes played their homes games in Rice-Eccles Stadium. Schedule 2007 AP Mountain August 30 8:00 pm l y y Oregon State Reser Stadium Corvallis, Oregon FSN 7–24 40,409 September 8 4:00 pm l Air Force Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City mtn. 12–20 43,454 September 15 3:00 pm w y UCLA 11 Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City Versus 44–6 43,056 September 22 8:00 pm l y UNLV Sam Boyd Stadium Las Vegas mtn. 0–27 23,180 September 29 1:00 pm w y y Utah State Battle of the Brothers Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City mtn. 34–18 41,884 October 5 6:00 pm w y y Louisville Papa John's Cardinal Stadium Louisville, Kentucky ESPN 44–35 40,894 October 13 1:00 pm w San Diego State Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City 23–7 40,898 October 18 6:00 pm w y TCU Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, Texas mtn. 27–20 25,391 October 27 3:30 pm w y Colorado State Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, Colorado mtn. 27–3 16,718 November 10 1:30 pm w Wyoming Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City, CSTV 50–0 42,477 November 17 3:30 pm w New Mexico Rice-Eccles Stadium Salt Lake City mtn. 28–10 43,788 November 24 12:00 pm l y BYU 23 Holy War LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, Utah CSTV & mtn. 10–17 64,749 December 20 7:00 pm w y y Navy Poinsettia Bowl Qualcomm Stadium San Diego ESPN 35–32 39,129 http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/utah/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/uufbreviewb.pdf 2007 Utah Football in Review University of Utah 2009-06-22 https://web.archive.org/web/20121112072253/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/utah/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/uufbreviewb.pdf 2012-11-12 live http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/utah/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/09-mfootbl-mg-156-183.pdf Ute Record Book University of Utah 2009-10-21 2011-07-13 https://web.archive.org/web/20110713210940/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/utah/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/09-mfootbl-mg-156-183.pdf dead Game summaries Oregon State Utes 0 7 0 0 7 Beavers 0 7 10 7 24 2007 Oregon State Beavers football team The Utes and Beavers kicked off the 2007 college football season playing in the first game of the year. For the Utes, this game marked the long-awaited return of QB Brian Johnson, who sat out the 2006 on a medical red-shirt, and the debut of highly touted Junior College All-American transfer, RB Matt Asiata. Unfortunately, both Asiata and Johnson would suffer serious injuries that altered the season for the Utes. After only 4 carries, Matt Asiata's season ended when his leg was broken near the end of the 1st quarter. Brian Johnson threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Brent Casteel to take the lead moments later, but was injured as well near the end of the first half suffering a separated shoulder that would take him out of the game and on to the sideline. Utah's offense was never able to put together a consistent drive and left their defense on the field for the majority of the game. Oregon State's offensive line and senior RB Yvenson Bernard took advantage of a fatigued Ute defense, racking up 165 yards rushing and 2 TDs on 29 carries. Air Force Falcons 3 0 7 10 20 Utes 3 0 3 6 12 2007 Air Force Falcons football team In the conference opener for both teams, Utah's injury woes would continue against the falcons as junior WR Brent Casteel suffered a torn ACL which ended his season while Air force accumulated 334 rushing yards and controlled most of the game. In the final moments, Utah found themselves down 20–12 on the Air Force 1-yard line. On 3rd-and-goal, Freshman RB Eddie Wide took a direct snap through the middle of the line only to be taken down for no gain. With time running down to under a minute to go the final chance to score came on 4th down. Darryl Poston took a hand-off to the right side of the line and was met by a swarm of Air Force defenders who stopped him just a couple feet short of the goal-line. Utah was handed their 2nd defeat of the season and began 0–2 for the first time since 2000. UCLA #11 Bruins 3 3 0 0 Utes 7 7 13 17 2007 UCLA Bruins football team Having started the 2007 season 0–2, the Utes were off to their worst start since 2000, and with their starting QB, RB and star WR out to injury, their luck did not look like it was about to change against the #11 UCLA Bruins. The game started off with both teams scoring on their first possessions, Utah on a 53-yard touchdown pass from backup QB Tommy Grady to WR Marquis Wilson, and UCLA on a 45-yard field goal by Kai Forbath. The 2nd quarter was more of the same with Forbath kicking another 3 points onto the scoreboard for the Bruins from 52-yards out, and Grady finding RB Darrell Mack on a 12-yard touchdown pass just before the end of the 1st half. Trailing 14–6 midway through the 3rd quarter it looked as though UCLA was about to get closer to the lead the Utes held when UCLA QB Ben Olson found a wide open Marcus Everett who looked to be on his way to the end-zone for a 52-yard touchdown reception. Ute safety, Robert Johnson caught up to Everett and hit him before he crossed the goal-line causing him to fumble the ball through the back of the end-zone for a touchback. "That really killed any momentum we had gained", said UCLA coach Karl Dorrell. The Utes took possession and dominated the rest of the game with the help of their defense forcing 5 total turnovers and keeping the Bruins scoreless throughout the 2nd half. RB Darrell Mack ended the game with 107-yards rushing on 19 carries, becoming the first Ute running back to rush for 100-yards in a single game since Quinton Ganther in the 2005 Emerald Bowl. This was the Utes' first win over the Bruins. UNLV Utes 0 0 0 0 0 Rebels 3 10 0 14 27 2007 UNLV Rebels football team Coming off of one of the biggest wins in school history, the Utes next faced UNLV. Utah's offense struggled the entire game turning the ball over 4 times and never scored, being shut-out for the first time since 1993. Like their match against Oregon State, the Ute defense was dominated by a strong Rebel running attack. UNLV RB Frank Summers rushed for 190-yards and 2 TDs on 29 carries leading the way to the Rebel's first win over the Utes since 1979. Utah State Aggies 7 3 0 8 Utes 7 17 7 3 Utah State Aggies football Battle of the Brothers Utah State gave the Utes a scare, scoring first after Brian Johnson's pass to Jereme Brooks was taken away by James Brindley for an interception. Brooks would later redeem himself, catching his first career touchdown pass from Johnson, tying the game at 7 at the end of the first quarter. The Ute defense stopped the Aggies on their next possession, forcing them to punt. Derek Richards took the punt and returned it for a touchdown, the first punt returned for a score since Steve Smith against California in 2000. Utah would not trail again as Darrell Mack racked up 132-yards rushing and a TD on 26 carries. This victory marked the Utes' tenth straight against their oldest rival. Louisville Utes 14 13 7 10 44 Cardinals 0 7 14 14 35 2007 Louisville Cardinals football team San Diego State Aztecs 0 7 0 0 7 Utes 3 6 14 0 23 San Diego State Aztecs football TCU Utes 10 14 0 3 27 Horned Frogs 0 17 0 3 20 2007 TCU Horned Frogs football team Colorado State Utes 14 6 7 27 Rams 3 0 0 0 3 2007 Colorado State Rams football team Wyoming Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 Utes 10 30 3 7 50 Wyoming Cowboys football New Mexico Lobos 0 0 10 0 10 Utes 0 14 7 7 28 2007 New Mexico Lobos football team Brigham Young Utes 0 0 3 7 10 Cougars 0 3 3 11 17 2007 BYU Cougars football team Holy War This rivalry game, unofficially dubbed "The Holy War," is typically the most anticipated conference game for each of these two teams. In 2006, the rivalry was ranked in the Wall Street Journal as the 4th best college football rivalry game in the country. The game was largely a defensive struggle until the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. The Utes took the lead 10–9 when Darrell Mack scored the first touchdown of the game with just 1:34 left. On the ensuing possession, however, BYU converted on fourth and eighteen from their own 12 with a 49-yard pass from Max Hall to Austin Collie. Harvey Unga made the game-winning touchdown run with 38 seconds remaining, and Austin Collie caught a pass in the back of the end zone for a two-point conversion, putting the Cougars up 17–10. Unga became BYU's first freshman running back to gain 1,000 rushing yards in a season. This was also Collie's 6th game for over 97 yards receiving. BYU racked up 424 offensive yards to Utah's 244. Unga was named the MWC Offensive Player of the Week, and freshman kicker, Mitch Payne, was named MWC Special Teams Player of the Week making 3 of 4 field goals.http://www.byucougars.com/Filing.jsp?ID=9944 www.byucougars.com - Utah game recap 2009-06-28 2008-03-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20080311192536/http://www.byucougars.com/Filing.jsp?ID=9944 dead http://www.byucougars.com/Filing.jsp?ID=9951 www.byucougars.com - Unga and Payne named MWC Players of the Week 2009-06-28 2007-12-11 https://web.archive.org/web/20071211105256/http://www.byucougars.com/Filing.jsp?ID=9951 dead Navy Utah 0 7 14 14 35 Navy 0 10 7 15 32 2007 Poinsettia Bowl 2007 Navy Midshipmen football team left|thumb|250px|Utah defenders Loma Olevao, Damilyn Tanner, and Mike Wright pursue Reggie Campbell who is catching a pitch Utah started this game looking for their seventh straight bowl win since 1999. They did just that, led by Quarterback Brian Johnson, who threw and ran for a touchdown to lead the Utes to a 35–32 win. He finished the day going 20–25 for 226 yards and the two touchdowns. Running back Darrell Mack ran for 76 yards on 22 carries and 2 touchdowns. The Midshipmen were led by Quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada who went 7–14 for 122 yards, 2 touchdowns and just 1 interception. Fullback Eric Kettani carried the ball 12 times for 125 yards and 1 touchdown. Utah struck first on a 5-yard Mack run in the 2nd quarter. The Midshipmen then proceeded to score 17 straight points with 11:52 to play in the 3rd quarter. The Utes then struck back with three straight touchdowns including Brian Johnson's 19 yard scramble with 12:47 to go in the fourth quarter to make it 28–17 in favor of the Utes. Kaheaku-Enhada then hooked up with Shun White for a 10-yard pass that made it 28–25. Mack then had a 1-yard run to make it 35–25 with 1:27 to play. Kaheaku-Enhada then found Zerbin Singleton with 00:57 to play to make it 35–32. Navy then converted the onside kick. Utah safety Joe Dale then intercepted Kaheaku-Enhada to seal the Ute win. San Diego (AP), Johnson's 2 TD's lead Utah to seventh straight bowl win, ESPN.com, December 20, 2007. Personnel Roster Wide receiver  2 Marquis Wilson – Junior  3 John Peel – Junior  5 Brent Casteel – Junior 11 David Cravens – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 12 Sam Ewalefo – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 16 Brian Hernandez – Senior 19 Ben Macey – Freshman 21 Mychal Robinson – Freshman 26 Derrek Richards – Senior 81 Bradon Godfrey – Junior 82 A.J. Reilly – Freshman 85 Jereme Brooks – Freshman 86 Mike Hicken – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 87 Collin Robinson – Freshman 88 Freddie Brown – Junior Tight end 45 Colt Sampson – Junior 48 Matt Sims – Senior 80 Chris Joppru – Sophomore 83 Ben Hendy – Junior 84 Peter Tuitupou – Freshman 84 Brad Clifford – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 89 Dallin Rogers – Freshman Offensive line 57 Tyler Williams – Junior 62 Michael Steckling – Freshman 63 Kyle Gunther – Senior 64 Mike Lehr – Freshman 65 Dustin Hensel – Junior 66 Robert Conley – Junior 68 Zane Beadles – Sophomore 69 Jason Boone – Senior 70 Jordan Nelson – Freshman 71 Walter Watts – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 72 Caleb Schlauderaff – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 73 Daniel Bukarau – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 74 Corey Seiuli – Junior 76 David Astle – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 77 Zane Taylor – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 78 Louie Finner – Freshman Quarterback  3 Brian Johnson – Junior  8 Chad Mannis – Sophomore 12 Kyle Bowen – Freshman 15 Tommy Grady – Senior 19 Corbin Louks – Freshman Running back  4 Matt Asiata – Junior  6 Darrell Mack – Junior  9 Darryl Poston – Senior 20 Jake Cook – Freshman 21 Trevor Moss – Sophomore 24 Ray Stowers – Junior 36 Eddie Wide – Freshman 40 Zac Eldridge – 10px|Redshirt Freshman Defensive line 11 Paul Kruger – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 13 Alex Puccinelli – Senior 41 Koa Misi – Sophomore 42 Nai Fotu – Freshman 43 Lei Talamaivao – Freshman 49 Ryan Taylor – Senior 56 Greg Newman – Junior 58 Matt Black – Freshman 90 Kerrick Shelby – Freshman 91 Casey Sutera – Senior 92 Kenape Eliapo – Sophomore 93 Martail Burnett – Senior 94 Gabe Long – Senior 95 Neli A'asa – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 96 Nano Tonga – Junior 97 Isley Filiaga – Sophomore 98 Aaron Tonga – Junior 99 Zeke Tuinei-Wily – Sophomore Defensive back  1 Brice McCain – Junior  2 Lisiate Leota – Junior  4 Sean Smith – Sophomore  6 Nick Morrell – Freshman  7 RJ Rice – Junior  8 Elijah Wesson – Sophomore 12 Joe Dale – Sophomore 15 Nick Liefting – Freshman 17 Robert Johnson – Sophomore 18 Josh Broughton – Junior 21 Damilyn Tanner – Junior 23 Mookie Murphey – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 24 Chaz Walker – Freshman 25 R.J. Stanford – Sophomore 27 Brandon Burton – Freshman 28 Steve Tate – Senior 29 Justin Jones – Sophomore 31 Deshawn Richard – Junior 33 Chris Jones – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 34 Tysen Clements – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 36 Tyler Cahoon – Freshman Linebacker 10 Stevenson Sylvester – Sophomore 14 Kyle Brady – Senior 19 Matt Martinez – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 20 Mike Wright – Sophomore 22 Malakai Mokofisi – Senior 37 Loma Olevao – Senior 38 Toby Titus – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 44 Joe Jiannoni – Senior 46 Justin Taplin-Ross – Freshman 47 Kevin Freestone – Sophomore 48 Troy Bunting – Sophomore 50 Nate Empey – Sophomore 51 Jamel King – Freshman 52 Vilisoni Kotobalavu – 10px|Redshirt Freshman 53 Mo Neal – Freshman 54 Christian Cox – Sophomore 55 Tatum Drecksel – Sophomore 59 Kepa Gaison – Sophomore Long snapper 39 Clint Mower – Junior 60 Scott Coleman – Junior Kicker / Punter 30 Ben Vroman – Junior 35 Louie Sakoda – Junior 59 Mike Langston – Freshman Recruiting yes 2007 Griffin Robles QB Spanish Fork, Utah Spanish Fork HS 6 5 210 4.86 06/05/2006 3 3 77 Corbin Louks QB Danville, California San Ramon Valley HS 6 1 173 4.53 01/15/2007 2 2 72 Dallin Rogers TE El Dorado, California Union Mine HS 6 4 200 4.85 8/14/2006 2 2 71 James Aiono DE Murray, Utah Murray HS 6 4 225 4.9 06/15/2006 3 2 70 Jereme Brooks WR League City, Texas Clear Creek HS 5 9 165 4.45 02/07/2007 2 2 40 Brandon Burton CB League City, Texas Clear Creek HS 6 0 170 4.5 02/07/2007 2 2 40 Louis Finner OG Plano, Texas Plano East Sr. HS 6 3 295 5.39 08/09/2006 2 2 40 Nai Fotu ILB Kahuku, HI Kahuku HS 5 11 240 NA 02/07/2007 2 2 40 Mike Honeycutt CB Highland, Utah Lone Peak HS 5 10 165 NA 11/28/2006 2 2 40 Jamel King ILB Murrieta, California Vista Murrieta HS 6 3 230 4.6 02/07/2007 2 2 40 Maurice Neal OLB San Leandro, California San Leandro HS 6 2 200 4.5 02/07/2007 2 2 40 Thor Salanoa CB Honolulu, HI Radford HS 6 2 170 4.66 01/24/2007 2 2 40 Derrick Shelby DE Missouri City, Texas Hightower HS 6 3 200 4.6 02/07/2007 2 2 40 Lei Talamaivao DT Rancho Cucamongo, California Rancho Cucamongo HS 6 3 270 4.7 01/15/2007 2 2 40 Justin Taplin-Ross S Murrieta, California Vista Murrieta HS 6 3 185 4.6 02/07/2007 1 2 40 Westlee Tonga TE Spring, Texas 6 4 220 4.6 02/07/2007 1 2 40 Reggie Topps CB Monterey, California North Monterey County HS 5 10 165 4.4 02/07/2007 2 2 40 Eddie Wide RB Las Vegas, Nevada Cimarron-Memorial HS 5 10 170 4.365 01/14/2007 2 2 40 yes 2007 Utah Commit List 2007 Scout.com Football Recruiting: Utah 2007 Player Commitments – Utah yes Statistical leaders PassingPlayerCOMPATTPct.YDSTDINTQB ratingBrian Johnson111162 68.5116085138.8Tommy Grady 57 114 53.6 662 4 3 105.1 RushingPlayerATTYDSYPCTDDarrell Mack 254 1126 5.0 6Ray Stowers 35 215 6.1 1Corbin Louks17 90 5.3 1 ReceivingPlayerRECYDSYPCTDDerrek Richards 37 413 11.2 1Bradon Godfrey 33 337 10.2 0Brian Hernandez 28 302 10.8 0 TacklesPlayerSoloAsstTotal References Utah Category:Utah Utes football seasons Category:Poinsettia Bowl champion seasons Utah Utes football