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Notre Dame placed 20 players on Phil Steele's preseason all-independent team, including 13 on the first team.

BYU was a close second with 18. Army and Navy each had seven.

The usual suspects (Cierre Wood, Manti Te'o, Tyler Eifert) make the first team, as does Notre Dame's entire starting defensive line, even without transfer Aaron Lynch. There are some leaps of faith here, but that's to be expected when picking 52 total players from a pool of just four schools, as many players are unproven. Bennett Jackson and Christian Lombard will likely be first-year starters, and who knows if Davonte Neal will even get the chance to return punts during his first year with the Irish.

Here are all of the Notre Dame players on Steele's preseason all-independent team:

FIRST TEAM

• RB Cierre Wood
• WR Theo Riddick
• TE Tyler Eifert
• C Braxston Cave
• OG Chris Watt
• OT Zack Martin
• DL Stephon Tuitt
• DL Louis Nix
• DL Kapron Lewis-Moore
• LB Manti Te'o
• CB Bennett Jackson
• S Jamoris Slaughter
• KR George Atkinson

SECOND TEAM

• WR TJ Jones
• OT Christian Lombard
• LB Prince Shembo
• S Zeke Motta
• K Kyle Brindza
• P Ben Turk
• PR Davonte Neal

1. The Penn State Board of Trustees released another explanation Monday of its decision to fire Joe Paterno. After board members said in January that he failed to meet a moral obligation to do more when informed of the child-abuse accusations against former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, the board said Monday that Paterno showed a “failure of leadership.” How long before the board issues another explanation in its continuing attempt to deflect responsibility for its failures?

2. Of the 58 seniors in fall sports awarded a $7,500 postgraduate scholarship by the NCAA, only three play FBS football. That means three players out of about 12,000 on FBS rosters had the chops to earn this scholarship. Let’s hope that is less a commentary on the state of FBS academics than it is a compliment to BYU running back Bryan Kariya, Ball State wideout Briggs Orsbon, and Navy guard John Dowd. Make what you will of this: Kariya and Orsbon both have 4.0 GPAs and are married. Dowd, the slacker with the 3.91 GPA, already has won an $18,000 postgraduate grant as a Campbell Award finalist.

3. When I visited Arizona last week, Virginia Tech running backs coach Shane Beamer came through to watch Rich Rodriguez’s Wildcats. Beamer is part of one of my favorite stories regarding coaches making spring visits to other staffs. In spring 2003, as a graduate assistant at Tennessee, Beamer and other Vols coaches visited Texas A&M. Head coach Dennis Franchione welcomed everyone, and then threw Beamer out of the meeting. Why? That fall, the Aggies would play the Hokies, coached by Beamer’s dad Frank.

Our Mark Schlabach took another crack at his way-too early top 25 today. In response, we'll try again to rank Notre Dame's 2012 opponents.

1. USC (Nov. 24, away): Virtually every early outlook has the Trojans slated as the preseason No. 1 or No. 2 team, and rightfully so. Matt Barkley enters 2012 as the Heisman front-runner and USC will return to the familiar position of having the target on its back throughout the season.

2. Oklahoma (Oct. 27, away): Considering Notre Dame is the only current official, penned-in game that is absolutely going to happen for the Big 12 favorites next season, I'd imagine the Sooners would get up for that.

3. Michigan State (Sept. 15, away): A growing defense will keep Sparty plowing ahead in Year 6 of the Mark Dantonio era, which may just begin with MSU as the Big Ten favorite.

4. Michigan (Sept. 22, home): A number of early polls suggest Michigan as the leading Big Ten contender, but I think some of its losses on defense will be tough to replace. Nonetheless, any team with Denard Robinson under center has a chance to make big things happen, as Notre Dame fans are all too aware of.

5. Stanford (Oct. 13, home): Who needs Andrew Luck when you have that much time in the pocket? Throw anyone under center behind that offensive line and he'll have all the time he needs to make something happen.

6. Miami (Oct. 6, Chicago): The Hurricanes make the biggest jump from the last time we looked at the Irish's opponents. An experienced defense and a great recruiting year for Al Golden suggest this program is back on the rise, pending NCAA sanctions.

7. BYU (Oct. 20, home): I said it before and I'll say it again: If Riley Nelson has a big year, watch out.

8. Purdue (Sept. 8, home): This contest scares me if I'm an Irish fan. First game back from what is sure to be an exhausting season-opening trip in Dublin, with a hungry in-state rival waiting for them and looking to build on momentum following a strong 2011 finish and weak 2012 opener (Eastern Kentucky).

9. Wake Forest (Nov. 17, home): Jim Grobe teams usually perform better than they should, but the Deacs must recover from a weak finish in 2011.

10. Boston College (Nov. 10, away): No more Luke Kuechly means happier offenses everywhere. The Eagles just hope that means theirs, too, which will be in its first year under coordinator Doug Martin.

11. Navy (Sept. 1, Dublin): The Midshipmen have a brutal start to the 2012 schedule, facing the Irish in Dublin before going to Happy Valley to face Penn State, but things get easier afterward. Can they put the awful luck of 2011 behind them and beat the beatable opponents?

12. Pitt (Nov. 3, home): Paul Chryst seems like the right fit, but asking him to lift the Panthers out of their underachieving ways in Year 1 is a bit much.

With 2011 in the rearview mirror, here is an early look at Notre Dame's 2012 opponents, with the game date and site in parantheses.

1. USC (Nov. 24, away): Matt Barkley's return makes the Trojans a trendy preseason national title pick and Barkley a likely preseason Heisman frontrunner. They host the Irish in the regular-season finale, and how sweet it would be for Notre Dame should they knock their rivals off with the highest stakes on the line.

2. Oklahoma (Oct. 27, away): Like the Trojans, the Sooners return their prized quarterback (Landry Jones) and will, at the very least, enter 2012 as the Big 12 favorite.

3. Michigan State (Sept. 15, away): Kirk Cousins and Keshawn Martin are gone, but the Spartans return four offensive linemen and plenty of production on the defensive side of the ball as they go for a third-straight 11-win season.

4. Michigan (Sept. 22, home): Denard Robinson and several key skill players likely return, but the Wolverines lose a lot on each line and will rely on several young players to fill the void.

5. Stanford (Oct. 13, home): Perhaps the biggest mystery entering 2012. We just don't know how much this team will drop off following the likely loss of Andrew Luck. Time will tell.

6. BYU (Oct. 20, home): Another wild card. Much will depend on the growth of dual-threat QB Riley Nelson and the Cougars' offense.

7. Purdue (Sept. 8, home): The Boilermakers finished 2011 with back-to-back wins for the first time this season and have a bit of momentum under Danny Hope. Some see them as a darkhorse Leaders Division contender in 2012.

8. Miami (Oct. 6, Chicago): The Hurricanes will likely be led by a defense that returns eight starters for Al Golden's second year.

9. Wake Forest (Nov. 17, home): Quarterback Tanner Price is back, but the Demon Deacons must eliminate the mistakes that cost them five of their final six games and two assistants their jobs.

10. Boston College (Nov. 10, away): The Eagles got better as the season went on and hope new offensive coordinator Doug Martin can bring the unit up to speed with the defense, which loses Luke Kuechly.

11. Navy (Sept. 1, Dublin): Can Trey Miller build off 2011, when he was forced in midseason for the injured Kriss Proctor?

12. Pitt (Nov. 3, home): New coach Paul Chryst will have his work cut out for him on a team with quarterback, protection and, at least in the past calendar year, coaching issues.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tanner Mangum proved to be a new kind of dual-threat quarterback.

The four-star quarterback from Eagle (Idaho) High School began Thursday night's Under Armour All-America Game as a quarterback for the White team. He was forced to switch sides during halftime after the three quarterbacks on the Black team's roster were unable to play because of minor injuries.

"It's something new, but that's how football is. It wasn't too bad," Mangum said after his initial team, the White team, beat the Black team in front of a crowd of 24,710 at Tropicana Field.

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Texas -- The BYU coaching staff -- not to mention a slew of players standing on the sidelines -- were jumping up and down signaling quarterback Riley Nelson to spike the ball and stop the clock with the Cougars at the Tulsa 2-yard line and down 21-17.

But Nelson saw an opportunity and called his own play, giving the signal for a fake spike and a quick pass in the end zone.

"Half our guys didn't even get the signal and stood up, which was good because the defense stood up too," Nelson said.

But wide receiver Cody Hoffman got the signal. He ran into the end zone and then curled back toward his quarterback, catching the pass in the front corner of the end zone to give BYU the lead with just 11 seconds left. That gave BYU a 24-21 lead and eventually the win in the 2011 Armed Forces Bowl played on the campus of SMU just north of downtown Dallas.

"We have a fake spike play, where you fake it and throw a touchdown -- or you better throw a touchdown," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "He did that completely on his own."

The game-winning drive, which took 4:07 minutes and went 48 yards on 12 plays, included a fourth-down conversion by Nelson. He ran 14 yards on fourth-and-9 at the Tulsa 47 to keep the drive going. BYU also converted two other third downs to set up the winning touchdown.

"We were going to stop the clock and run two plays," Nelson said. "But I looked at the clock and where we were. We practiced that. We had a signal for it and I figured this is low risk, high reward because if it's not there, I can throw it in the stands. But the call from the sidelines was to spike the ball and we just decided to go for it. It was great."

Nelson said he was only looking at Hoffman, who had caught two touchdown passes earlier in the game and finished with 122 receiving yards on eight catches. He was named BYU's player of the game.

"His stance was square and had no stagger in his feet," Nelson said about Hoffman. "It added to the effect. He hurried up and lined up. When I faked it, he turned his back and I had his eyes and he caught it. He's a beast and a big security blanket for me."

Apparently it didn't worry Nelson that he'd never run the fake spike in a game or even completed it in practice. The last time BYU worked on the play was early November.

"It just never worked," Nelson said. "We ran it six or seven times in practice and I threw it away every time."

Nelson admitted that once he returned to the sidelines after the play, he thought about Dan Marino and his famous fake spike play against the Jets in 1994. Marino threw a touchdown pass to Mark Ingram after rookie cornerback Aaron Glenn was fooled into thinking Marino was spiking.

"I remember watching that all the time," Nelson said. "That's Dan Marino 101 right there. Maybe watching TV isn't all that bad. What a great way to end the season. I've seen that play time after time and it's classic. To put this one in the record books and send the seniors out with a win is special."

It's long been one of the difficult questions college football fans ask: Why won't anyone give Norm Chow a chance to run a program?

Chow, widely considered one of the best offensive minds in college football history, got plenty of interviews, most notably of late at Stanford in 2005, and made plenty of "candidates" lists during the annual coaching carousel. He also turned down the head coaching job at Kentucky in 2002 to remain at USC. But, in reputation and reality, he was the perennial bridesmaid.

You'd hear things, of course. All the why-nots. He wasn't terribly good at interviews. He was an Xs-and-Os guy who didn't have people or management skills. Most schools wanted a dashing, young, charismatic guy who could slap backs, enticing a flood of elite recruits and booster checks. Chow was never reputed to be much of a recruiter, something he doesn't particularly enjoy.

Chow, 65, is professorial. His personality isn't "big." He's not a commanding presence. He also is stubborn, territorial and not terribly good at coaching politics. He holds grudges — just ask Washington coach Steve Sarkisian and USC coach Lane Kiffin, whom Chow -- not unfairly -- believes pulled the carpet out from under him at USC with head coach Pete Carroll. (Carroll's almost childish jealousy of the credit given Chow during USC's glory days is another story entirely).

It also was perfectly fair to wonder if Chow's being Asian-American had anything to do with the critiques and whispers. His hiring at Hawaii, after all, makes him the first Asian-American head coach of a major football program.

First. That's pretty big, folks, even if most FBS rosters have little to no Asian presence, though if you go with that old standard "Asian/Pacific Islander" category, things change dramatically there.

Not only is Chow, after 39 years as an assistant coach, finally getting his shot as a head coach, he's going home to do it. He was born in Honolulu and is a Punahou School alum. He began his coaching career as head coach at Waialua High School on the North Shore of Oahu from 1970-72. This seems like a good fit, though coaching at Hawaii has built-in challenges, starting with geography.

Chow will serve as Utah's offensive coordinator in the Hyundai Sun Bowl against Georgia Tech on Dec. 31 before officially taking over the Warriors. For the Utes, it's a blow, but not a crippling one. Coach Kyle Whittingham brought Chow aboard to install a pro-style offense with a downhill running game, replacing the spread the Utes had long used. After quarterback Jordan Wynn went down in the fourth game against Washington with another shoulder injury, Chow's chief task was managing an extremely conservative, almost run-exclusive offense that didn't mess things up for a very good defense.

Chow did a good job of making running back John White into an effective weapon even when everyone knew he and his 24 carries a game were coming. But the Utes never got the full Chow offense. The expectation here is that Whittingham will look for a guy who believes in the same pro-style, run-first concepts. The Utes don't figure to go back to a spread, though that does seem to be the thing in the Pac-12 after the hiring of four new coaches who all run a version of it.

Utes fans should be more concerned about who's going to play quarterback in 2012. Whittingham is going to make a good hire at OC.

And this day is about Chow.

He's a three-time national assistant coach of the year. He's served as offensive coordinator for three national championship teams (Brigham Young, 1984; USC, 2003 and 2004). He has tutored three Heisman Trophy winners (Ty Detmer, BYU; Carson Palmer, USC; Matt Leinart, USC) and six NFL first-round draft picks.

His resume has always been impressive. Just not impressive enough to overcome the things whispered about him.

Over the past decade, he's been portrayed as a bit of a nomadic mercenary, but keep in mind he was a bastion of stability most of his career, coaching at BYU for 27 years before things turned sour and he bolted to N.C. State in 2000, the first of five jobs he'd hold over the next 11 seasons before landing at Hawaii.

Chow is coming home to get his big chance. No matter what happens at Hawaii, his coaching legacy is secure. But, let's face it, if he retires a big winner in 10 years, he'll surely enjoy at least thinking "I told you so" through a big grin.

Rick Neuheisel spent the last few weeks tirelessly lobbying to keep his job at UCLA, displaying the "relentless optimism" that he has often cited as a foundation for success.

On Monday, less than hour after his termination was announced, a subdued Neuheisel seemed to have a good grasp on why he's not coming back for a fifth year.

"Certainly when you're the UCLA coach you'd like to play better against USC, I know that," Neuheisel said. "We had our chances. When you lose in the fashion that we did, it's a difficult pill to swallow."

You can't go 21-28 in four seasons at UCLA, the lowest win percentage -- .429 -- by any Bruins football coach who was around for at least 20 games. You can't go 0-4 versus USC. And you absolutely can not lose 50-0 to the Trojans, as Neuheisel did on Saturday in a game that was widely viewed as his Rubicon.

The source for Neuheisel's comments was ironic, considering the circumstances. He was appearing on a conference call in advance of the Pac-12 championship game. You surely have heard -- it's been relentlessly mocked everywhere -- that UCLA, despite a 6-6 record and said loss to USC, is playing No. 9 Oregon in the conference's first championship game.

The Bruins are the South Division "champions." And their coach is out after the championship game. Offensive coordinator Mike Johnson will be interim head coach starting next week, according to a statement from the school.

So what if the Bruins, 31-point underdogs, win and earn a berth in the Rose Bowl?

"Let's ask that question at the appropriate time," Neuheisel said.

It is, however, the appropriate time to ask why things didn't work out for Neuheisel at his alma mater, where he once went from walk-on QB to Rose Bowl MVP.

It went wrong from the beginning when Neuheisel agreed to form a "dream team" with offensive coordinator Norm Chow and defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker. That was a mismatched troika from the start. Also, it's head coaching 101: Never, ever take a job where they suggest/tell you who will be on your staff.

Walker bolted after a year to become head coach New Mexico State, and the Bruins never again got good production at defensive coordinator. Chow hung around, but that turned out to be a bad thing. He and Neuheisel seemed to get along personally but not as coaches. The switch to a pistol offense was messy, and the prolonged process of cutting ties last winter just months after Chow was given an ill-advised contract extension was an ugly tango.

Recruiting peaked in 2010 -- the nation's 10th-ranked class -- and cratered in 2011.

And, really, Neuheisel never developed traction. Neuheisel upset Tennessee in his first game. The next week, the Bruins lost 59-0 at BYU. A 3-0 start in 2009 was followed by five consecutive losses. A strong 2009 finish was followed by an 0-2 start to 2010. A three-game winning streak after that 0-2 start -- including a win at Texas -- was followed by six losses in seven games. This year, the Bruins had won three of four before getting thumped by USC.

Neuheisel lost by 21, 21, 14 and 59 points to the Trojans.

The next coach can't do that.

What can we say nice about Neuheisel's tenure? Some used to question his character. That no longer is an issue. Neuheisel was by the book at UCLA and always conducted himself with class and graciousness. And that was doubly true of his conduct on a day that clearly knocked him for a loop.

Of his time at UCLA, Neuheisel said, "It won't be a bitter memory at all." As for what went wrong, he said, "I have plenty of time to think that over. I'm just thankful for the opportunity. This has always been a place where I wanted to have a chance to bring it back to being a place where everyone could be proud. Obviously, we have fallen short of that, but there are lots of things I'm proud of that happened during my time here. They don't always make it to the front pages of a newspaper."

According to the Los Angeles Times, Neuheisel's buyout is only $250,000. So he'll need to start thinking about his future fairly quickly, something he hadn't done on Monday.

"This has kind of hit me between the eyes a little bit," he said. "I hadn't thought about that. I'm on one track to do the best I can for this particular team. That'll be the case at least through Friday. I love coaching. I know that. I'll take some time to figure it out."

It's hard to imagine Neuheisel getting another shot atop a AQ-conference program any time soon. He could return to the NFL as an assistant. Or he could go into broadcasting.

What's next for UCLA? Almost immediately, big names were included in reports. ESPNLa.com reported that Boise State's Chris Petersen will be athletic director Dan Guerrero's first target. The LA Times said Guerrero "is expected to make a trip to Boise to meet with Petersen. UCLA is believed to be able to offer a contract worth more than $3 million annually that includes donations from boosters."

We'll see. I'd rate those odds as remote, though getting Petersen would be a monumental coup. The Times also lists Houston coach Kevin Sumlin and former NFL coach Jon Gruden as candidates. Yes, at this early juncture, you roll out the usual suspects.

But there's the immediate present first: Neuheisel's final game, one that most would project as a blowout defeat.

Neuheisel has made a habit of finding ways out of messes throughout his tumultuous career. But he wasn't able to do that UCLA, and it's hard to imagine a happy ending for the Bruins on Friday in Eugene.

BYU will not join the Big East after talks broke down because the two sides could not come to an agreement on television rights, The Associated Press is reporting.

The Cougars are independent and have their own television network. They wanted TV rights to their home games, and the Big East would not agree to that stipulation, according to the report. The Big East had sought out BYU to help form a West Division with Boise State and Air Force.

Adding BYU has become a top priority for the Big East, according to a report from The Associated Press.

Joe Schad of ESPN has already reported that BYU is seriously considering joining the league. The AP reported Wednesday night that BYU has become a key to its plans to expand to 12 teams. The Big East is trying to form a West Division that would also include Boise State. Both schools would be football-only members.

BYU is seriously considering joining the Big East as a football-only member, Joe Schad of ESPN is reporting.

The Big East is considering an East/West division format as it tries to add new members. Boise State and Air Force are interested in hearing more about a West Division, according to the report. In fact, Boise State president Bob Kustra has previously said that the Broncos would join the Big East only if there is a West Division.

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall acknowledged a few weeks ago that his school had held discussions with the Big East.

BYU has had discussions with the Big East about joining the league, coach Bronco Mendenhall said Monday during his weekly news conference.

"With the landscape changing, the main benefit I can see on a short-term scale would be inclusion to the BCS system," Mendenhall said. "That is up in two years, and whether the Big East can hold that spot with the new teams going in, my guess would be yes. I can’t speak as to what we are going to do other than just to verify we have been approached. I wasn’t involved in anything else."

BYU is in its first season as an independent after leaving the Mountain West. Boise State president Bob Kustra has spoken about the need for a West Division in order to join the league.

Sometimes things are so obvious, they practically smack you in the face.

So we have ... ouch ... Utah.

Toss aside the Utes' win over FCS Montana State and a highly competitive loss at USC. In Utah's' three other Pac-12 defeats, it lost the turnover battle 14-1. In its wins over BYU and Pittsburgh, it won the turnover battle 11-3.

And in Utah's first-ever Pac-12 victory -- 27-8 over Oregon State last weekend -- it won the turnover battle 3-0.

Ouch! Stop that! We get it.

The Utes do a lot better when they protect the football. It helps, too, when their opponents do not.

"You don't have a chance against quality football teams if you're minus-three, minus-four or minus-five in the turnover ratio," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "You can't compete when you do that."

What beating the Beavers did do is show that the Utes can compete in the Pac-12 when they're not going all Pig-Pen. And an underrated benefit of getting rid of the bagel in the "conference record" column ends a distracting line of questioning.

"I think it was a big lift," Whittingham said. "We needed it. It took far longer to get our first Pac-12 win than we had hoped it would. But we finally got it."

The Utes visit Arizona on Saturday. The Wildcats had a different experience with Oregon State. Their 37-27 loss to the Beavers dropped them to 0-4 in conference play and was followed two days later by the firing of coach Mike Stoops. Since then, however, Arizona has played better football, blowing out UCLA and losing a back-and-forth struggle at Washington.

"Even with the loss last Saturday, they have been 60-minute, gutty performances," interim coach Tim Kish said. "If we do that the remainder of the season, we'll be happy at the end of the day."

Both programs would like to string together a handful of pleasant weekends, but the Utes have a lot more to play for. With seven defeats already, the Wildcats won't be playing in a bowl game. A win in Tucson would put presently 4-4 Utah just one win away from bowl-eligibility with three to play, including a home-finale against ARCH-Pac-12-RIVAL Colorado, which remains winless in conference play.

Good news for the Utes: The Wildcats have forced only 10 turnovers this year, which ranks 10th in the conference.

Further good news, the Wildcats have struggled to stop the run, also ranking 10th in the conference in run defense (174 yards per game).

And protecting the football, running the ball, solid special teams and relying on its defense is how Utah wins. The only way, in fact, it can win because its passing offense ranks last in the Pac-12 and 100th in the nation.

"I don't know if that's how we'd like to play, but that's the blue print for what we think is best right now," Whittingham said.

The matchup of note is Wildcats QB Nick Foles versus a rugged Utes defense that's No. 1 or 2 in the conference in most major statistical categories, most notably for this matchup in pass efficiency defense and sacks (23). While the Wildcats rushed for 254 yards against the befuddled Bruins, they reverted back to their run game anemia at Washington, gaining just 36 yards on the ground. The Utes run defense ranks 11th in the nation (91 yards per game).

So this one feels ... ouch! Pretty obvious, too.

The team that gets a second conference W is going to be the winner of the Foles vs. the Utes pass defense showdown.

Oh, and the turnover battle will figure in there as well.

ESPNU All-Access visits Provo, Utah, this week and gets a player tour of facilities with JJ Di Luigi and Terence Brown, along with a look inside BYU practice as well as the 'Thursday's Hero' program that Coach Bronco Mendenhall started almost seven years ago when he first took over as head coach. The show will air on ESPNU on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. ET.

The following from Utah coach Kyle Whittingham would be an example of a coach cutting to the chase.

"It's safe to say that was our poorest performance of the year against Cal," Whittingham said to open his weekly news conference. "We didn't do too much on offense, and we reverted back to turning the ball over, which was a big disappointment. I thought we had gotten past that, but it reared its ugly head again. Cal got 17 points directly off those turnovers. We couldn't make first downs, we couldn't run the ball, we couldn't throw the ball. There were no redeeming qualities and we've got to get that fixed."

That about sums up Utah's 34-10 loss at California, which served as the nadir of the Utes' first foray into the Pac-12. They are now 0-4 in conference play, saddled with an offense that can't score.

Oregon State is coming to town, and it can identify with seemingly hopeless struggles. While coach Mike Riley is a softer touch, Whittingham's assessment would aptly describe the Beavers' 0-4 start.

Yet the Beavers also offer some hope. They've reversed the course of their season, winning two of three and playing better in every area during that process.

"We had a horrible start and we're growing," Riley said. "That's about it right now. We'll see if we can finally win two games in a row this week."

Yet there is a very distinct difference between the teams. Oregon State opted to make a stunning change at quarterback at the beginning of the season, benching returning starter Ryan Katz in favor of redshirt freshman Sean Mannion. Mannion has started to play well, justifying the change, but if he got hurt, Katz would be a more-than-adequate replacement.

The Utes have no such luxury at quarterback. When starter Jordan Wynn went down with a shoulder injury, there wasn't much promise on the depth chart behind him. Jon Hays, a transfer from Nebraska-Omaha, has scrapped and clawed but has often seemed overmatched by opposing defenses that are ganging up against what used to be a solid running game with running back John White and daring Hays to throw downfield.

Anyone for more straight talk from Whittingham? Good.

"The first thing [against Cal] is that we turned the ball over four times, all from the quarterback position," he said. "That's a big downer."

Yes, but one without an obvious solution.

"The question is how to generate more competition at quarterback," Whittingham said. "Griff Robles and Hays have a walk-on behind them. [True freshman] Tyler Shreve was really the three going into this week. It made more sense to stick with the redshirt plan. We've got to figure out a way to get better."

So, to conclude, said Whittingham: "We feel Hays at quarterback gives us the best chance to win, and we still feel that way. If the practice week dictates otherwise, we'll adjust accordingly."

There are reasons, however, not to automatically write this one into the win column for Oregon State. For one, there is a common opponent: BYU. The Utes whipped their arch-rivals 54-10, while the Cougars beat the Beavers 38-28.

Of course, the asterisk on that one is that Wynn was Utah's quarterback in that game.

The other two elements in Utah's favor are an A-list defensive front that could challenge the Beavers' offensive line, and playing at home. As good as Mannion has been of late, young quarterbacks tend to have ups and downs. If the MUSS gets to him, that could create turnover opportunities and a short field for Hays and company to generate points.

But Riley points to an improved running game as a big reason Mannion has been able to make plays downfield in the passing game.

"The consistency of the run was a big factor and helped everything," he said. "It makes play-calling a lot easier and makes your opportunity, if you want to call something on third and short, it makes it real. Maybe you’ll fake somebody out.”

Utah has a forgiving schedule ahead, and beating the Beavers would give the Utes a fourth victory and leave them needing just two to get to bowl eligibility. But late-season runs are an Oregon State staple.

The Beavers could be on the cusp of one, though the remaining schedule is tough. Or are the Utes ready to -- finally -- notch a historical victory for the program?