Utah Rolls to Its First 9-0 Start

Alex Smith threw for 291 yards and four touchdowns, Morgan Scalley returned a fumble 88 yards for a score and No. 7 Utah beat Colorado State, 63-31, on Saturday night for its first 9-0 start in school history.

Marty Johnson scored three touchdowns to help the Utes break the school record for points in a season with 412. That tops the 405 points scored in 1985 and Utah still has two regular-season games to go.

Utah improved to 5-0 in the Mountain West Conference.

The Utes, who have had two other 8-0 starts, scored more than 50 points for the third straight week and moved a step closer to a perfect season and a possible bowl championship series bid -- the first for a school outside the six BCS conferences.

An Orange Bowl representative attended the game and the Utes once again put on a scoring display, although hoping for a spot in the national title game might be aiming a little high. Utah was sixth in the BCS standings entering the weekend and had little trouble beating the Rams (3-6, 2-3) for the second straight season.

Colorado State’s Caleb Hanie completed 11 of 25 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns but also threw three interceptions.

The Utes scored three touchdowns in each of the first two quarters and rested Smith, who is hoping to be Utah’s first Heisman Trophy finalist, for most of the second half. Smith, 18-1 as a starter, completed 21 of 26 passes and ran nine times for 55 yards.