In 2004, when he was Utah's offensive coordinator, Sanford made a push for the Utah job when Urban Meyer became the coach at Florida.

That scenario obviously didn't happen, as Sanford took the UNLV job instead and Kyle Whittingham was named the Utes' coach.

Because of the chain of events in their hirings and past positions at Utah, Sanford and Whittingham probably will always be linked and compared.

Whittingham is 16-12 as Utah's coach and has led the Utes to two bowl wins, yet has faced his share of criticism for disappointing performances against teams perceived to be less talented than the Utes.

Sanford, meanwhile, has struggled more in his attempt to revive a UNLV program that last had a winning record in 2000, going 2-9 in 2005 and 2-10 in 2006.

Both coaches prefer the attention be on the game itself, not their relationships.

"There is nothing special," Whittingham said. "It's a conference game, and we need to get our first conference win, that is first and foremost. We had a good relationship when he worked here, from an athletic and personal standpoint, but we have to go in there and get a win."

Sanford feels the same way, especially since the Utes have won the last 11 meetings, the longest winning streak the Utes have against a Bowl Subdivision team.

"UNLV hasn't beaten Utah in a long time and that is huge for us," he said. "That is way more important for us."

More recognition

Utah safety Robert Johnson earned more recognition Tuesday for his play against UCLA, being named the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week.

He also has been added to the 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List.

Johnson was named the MWC Defensive Player of the Week and was one of six players recognized by ESPN for their play in games last week.

Johnson celebrated Utah's 44-6 win over the Bruins by staying up late, watching ESPN.

"I wanted to see myself on TV; I'd never seen myself on ESPN before," he said. "That was cool."

Numbers game

Running back Darrell Mack was immensely improved from the Air Force game to Saturday's contest against the Bruins, rushing seven times for 25 yards against the Falcons and then rushing 19 times for 107 yards against the Bruins.

The difference, he said, was assurance from the coaches he was going to get a lot of carries, even if he messed up.

"The way we switched out a couple times before, there was none of that, and I could just keep getting better," he said. "I could get a sense of what the defense is doing. The game slowed down for me and I was making better reads. That's how it was in high school for me too, it was just, 'Go!' "

lwodraska@sltrib.com