The Utes played well in the first half at Michigan then faltered in the second. Utah's offense had a slow start in Saturday's 42-21 win over UNLV, but came to life in the second half when it scored four touchdowns.

"There isn't any panic at all," quarterback Brian Johnson said. "We just have to find ways to keep winning. At some point, every team is going to go through some adversity in a game, and football isn't an easy sport. You have to go out and keep battling and keep playing and things will turn around for you."

The game did turn around for Utah on Saturday in the second half. Johnson, who was only 6-for-14 for 74 yards and an interception in the first half, was 9-for-10 for 109 yards and two touchdowns in the second.

"You'd like to come out and say you want to pummel a team from end to end, but the chance of that happening, those guys aren't going to lay down and let that happen," Johnson said. "We have to wear them down."

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said the new clock rules also make errors more glaring because teams are getting fewer drives than the average 15 or 16 of the past. Utah had 17 drives against Michigan, but only 12 Saturday.

The Utes had one first-half drive end on a dropped pass; another stymied after a holding call and another ended with an interception.

"It is a concern, in a sense, that we'd like to execute cleaner throughout the football game, but UNLV came out and played well, give them credit," Whittingham said. "The positive is the end result of 42 points. You are not going to lose many football games scoring 42 points. We'd like to have a little more balance between the first and second halves, but the bottom line is when you put 42 on the board, you shouldn't lose football games."

Despite the inconsistencies, Utah is averaging 33.6 points, up from its average of 26.2 in 2007. Johnson is ranked second in the MWC and 38th nationally in pass efficiency (145.4) and third in the conference and 36th nationally in total offense (251.0 yards).

Johnson also ran the ball for 83 yards, showing that he is just as much of a threat on his feet as running backs Matt Asiata and Darrell Mack. In addition, eight receivers caught passes.

The Utes know they have the offensive versatility to score a lot of points; now it's just a matter of better execution in both halves to show what their full potential is.

Their hope is to do that Saturday against a Utah State team that gave up 688 yards to Oregon in a 66-24 Ducks win. A good start would squash any thoughts of an Aggies upset, Johnson acknowledged.

"We want to start fast and not let those guys hang around," Johnson said.