SALT LAKE CITY - Alex Smith sparked a sluggish Utah offense with three second-half touchdown passes and Brandon Warfield ran for 133 yards as the Utes defeated San Diego State 27-6 Saturday night.
Smith, a sophomore, completed 17 of 22 passes and directed Utah (5-1, 2-0) to score on each of the first five drives of the second half. The Utes kept pace with Air Force (6-1, 3-0), which beat UNLV 24-7, as the only unbeaten teams in the conference.
In the first half, Utah managed only 84 yards and never penetrated the SDSU 38 yard-line. But Ben Moa caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Smith to cap the opening drive of the second half - and the Utes never looked back.
After a pair of third-quarter field goals by Bryan Borreson, Smith passed for two more TD strikes in the fourth quarter.
Paris Warren caught seven passes for 104 yards and a touchdown, while Steve Savoy followed his 176-yard performance in the Utes' win against Oregon last week with back-to-back receptions - including a one-handed touchdown grab with 8:06 remaining. It clinched the win at 27-6.
Adam Hall completed 19 of 36 passes for 203 yards for San Diego. But he was intercepted in the end zone on San Diego State's only drive deep into Utah territory during the second half. Hall had missed the first five games of the season, before returning with a 352-yard passing game in a 44-36 loss to Brigham Young last week.
San Diego State got two J.C. Mejia field goals in three trips inside Utah's 30 during the first half.
Utah's defense held the Aztecs (3-4, 0-2) to 49 yards rushing.
The Utes have now outscored their opponents 70-29 in the fourth quarter in coach Urban Meyer's first year on the job.
Utah has won four of its last five games against San Diego State. The teams' are now 11-11-1 against one another, though the Aztecs haven't won at Rice-Eccles Stadium since Mountain West Conference play began.