Utah had been fortunate enough to stay clear of the injury bug this season. That was before the Utes' 30-14 win over Louisville at Rice Eccles Stadium on Saturday.

The parade of problems started with star running back Matt Asiata, who left in the first quarter after scoring the team's first touchdown on a 24-yard rush. Asiata tore an ACL and is done for the season, dealing a stunning blow to an offense that has struggled at times this season.

The injury trend continued throughout all four quarters. Five players suffered some kind of injury and four of those players weren't able to return to the game.

"We've had good luck [with injures] and then it jumped on us all at once," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.

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"We got banged up pretty good."

Senior offensive lineman Zane Beadles left the game with a lower leg laceration and Lei Talamaivao, who missed the last 11 games last season due to a broken leg, was in a familiar situation when he came down with an ankle injury. Mychal Robinson also had an ankle injury.

The Utes had a scare when running back Eddie Wide, who was filling in for Asiata, went down in the fourth quarter. But Wide was only out for an offensive series or two.

Even though some of the injured players weren't in the game, they still made their presence known.

"They were our cheerleaders on the sidelines," said offensive lineman Tony Bergstrom. "They're still a part of the team. They're down but they're

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not out."

It would help if they were still in.

mthach@sltrib.com