LARAMIE, Wyo. — It wasn't always pretty — 10 penalties will do that to a team — but Utah left the state of Wyoming doing what it needed to in the final game of the nonconference schedule.
The Utes produced 541 yards on offense and the defense limited Wyoming to just 229 yards — the third straight week under 230 yards — in a blowout win over a former Mountain West foe on their home field.
It was the closest winning margin of the season for Utah, but Wyoming may be the toughest opponent on the Utes' schedule so far this season — UCLA just fired its head coach Sunday.
The win helped the Utes move up to No. 16 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings that were released Sunday afternoon. That's a four-spot jump from its previous spot at No. 20 going into the Wyoming game.
Utah remains one of three teams ranked from the Big 12 this week, with Iowa State leading the conference at No. 12.
The Utes will welcome No. 17 Texas Tech to Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday (10 a.m. MDT, FOX) as part of the "Big Noon Saturday" time spot that will also feature the "Big Noon Kickoff" crew in Salt Lake City. It's a game that could have Big 12 title game implications.
BYU, which continues to be just on the outside looking in, moved up slightly to the top team receiving votes, or unofficially at No. 26 during the team's first bye week. The Cougars will return to action this week on the road against East Carolina.
TCU, Arizona State and Baylor are the only other teams from the Big 12 receiving votes this week.
The top of the rankings had a bit of a shakeup, though Ohio State stayed at the top of the poll with 55 first-place votes. Behind the Buckeyes this week remains Penn State (5 first-place votes) and LSU (2), but Miami moved up to No. 3 (3) and Georgia moved up to No. 5.
Oregon, which received one first-place vote, moved down two spots to No. 6 despite a win over the weekend.
For the full rankings see below or click here.
