Utah's ground game may have gotten a whole lot better Sunday.
Snow College running back Matt Asiata, a second-team All-American who rushed for 1,494 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, plans to sign a national letter of intent with the Utes.
"They're a good program," Asiata said. "There's a lot of people coming back and they're going to be good next year."
Asiata was widely recruited, but his decision ultimately came down to Utah and UNLV. The former Hunter High School all-stater said the decision to stay home felt good and also makes his family happy.
He'll join a Ute program that ranked fourth in the Mountain West Conference in rushing offense last season with 138.4 yards per game and 13 touchdowns. Darryl Poston led a tailback-by-committee approach with 546 yards and five scores, ranking 10th in the conference.
As a sophomore at Snow, Asiata averaged 135.8 yards per game to lead the Western States Football League in rushing. In the recent Top of the Mountains Bowl at Rice-Eccles Stadium, he ran for 126 yards as the Badgers edged Coffeyville Community College 26-21.
The Utes also picked up a commitment from defensive lineman Koa Misi. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder will have three years to play three seasons after spending his freshman campaign at Santa Rosa, where he made 10.5 tackles for loss in seven games.
Utah has 15 other early commitments: DE James Aiono (Murray HS), WR Jereme Brooks (Clear Creek HS, Texas), DB Josh Broughton (Citrus CC, Calif.), DB Brandon Burton (Clear Creek HS, Texas), WR James Carter (Moreno Valley HS, Calif.), OL Louis Finner (Plano East HS, Texas), RB/LB Nai Fotu (Kahuku HS, Hawaii), DB Mike Honeycutt (Lone Peak HS), LB Jamel King (Vista Murrieta HS, Calif.), S Walner Leandre (Blinn CC, Texas), CB Ryan Mouton (Blinn CC, Texas), DB Deshawn Richard (Victor Valley College, Calif.), QB Griffin Robles (Spanish Fork HS), TE Dallin Rogers (Union Mine HS, Calif.) and DB Justin Taplin-Ross (Vista Murrieta HS, Calif.).
E-mail: dirk@desnews.com