Oct. 30, 2004
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By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO - Alex Smith threw a career-high five touchdown passes and No. 9 Utah remained undefeated with a 51-28 win over San Diego State on Saturday night.
The Utes (8-0, 4-0 Mountain West) are attempting to become the first team from a non-BCS conference to participate in the Bowl Championship Series.
Utah moved up to No. 6 in the BCS standings last week, putting it in position for an automatic bid to one of the four marquee postseason games. Two of the Utes' remaining three games are at home. Miami and Florida State, ranked ahead of Utah in the BCS standings, lost Saturday.
Smith, who played at Helix High in nearby La Mesa, threw a 23-yard TD pass to Steve Savoy with 13:12 left to set his career high. Smith previously had thrown four touchdown passes twice, against North Carolina on Oct. 16 and New Mexico last year.
Smith threw his first four scoring passes in the first half. He hit Paris Warren on TD throws of 5 and 10 yards, had an 18-yarder to Savoy and a 3-yarder to Travis LaTendresse.
Running Utah's diverse offense, Smith was 22-of-33 for 298 yards, with no interceptions, and gained 45 yards on 15 carries. Warren had 10 catches for 113 yards. Utah had 548 total yards.
San Diego State (2-6, 0-4) lost its fifth straight game. The Aztecs remained winless in 14 games against top-10 opponents, and have lost 17 straight overall against ranked teams.
Redshirt freshman Kevin O'Connell, making his second start at quarterback for the Aztecs, threw touchdown passes of 29 and 21 yards to Jeff Webb, and ran 5 yards for another score. He was 21-of-43 for 252 yards, with two interceptions. Webb had nine catches for 138 yards.
Smith led the Utes to scores on their first four possessions, and seven of their first eight.
The streak was interrupted when San Diego State's Blake Lobel picked up a fumble by receiver John Madsen and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown to pull the Aztecs to 24-21 late in the second quarter.
With two quick scores before halftime and one right after, the Utes quickly pushed their lead to 41-21.
The teams combined for 43 points in the second quarter, with Utah scoring the last 10 to take a 34-21 halftime lead.
David Carroll kicked a 36-yard field goal with 1:14 left, and Smith threw a 3-yard TD pass to LaTendresse one play after Blake Burdette blocked a punt that was recovered by Tim Harris.
Utah didn't have to punt until midway through the third quarter, and it wasn't pretty. Matt Kovacevich's kick went only 16 yards after it glanced off the back of lineman Jason Voss.