Utah 17, San Diego St. 3

SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Adam Tate rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown Saturday as Utah defeated San Diego State, 17-3, in a Mountain West Conference contest that set up next week's showdown against Brigham Young.

Behind Tate, the Utes (7-2, 4-1 MWC) outrushed the Aztecs, 225 yards to 64, en route to their sixth win in the last seven games.

Utah visits BYU next week and can gain a share of the conference title by winning its final two contests.

The Aztecs (2-8, 1-5) suffered their fifth straight loss. Their only win over a Division I-A opponent has been a 14-7 victory at Colorado State on Sept. 22.

Utah held San Diego State to Tommy Kirovski's 26-yard field goal with 10:34 remaining in the first half.

The Utes grabbed a 7-3 halftime lead on Lance Rice's 11-yard touchdown pass to Josh Lyman with 6:37 left in the second quarter before scoring the only 10 points in the second half.

Ryan Kaneshiro kicked a 37-yard field goal with 6:22 remaining in the third period and Tate clinched the victory with a 73-yard TD run with 10:08 to play in the fourth period.

Rice completed just 10 of 20 passes for 138 yards. San Diego State had 258 total yards. Lon Sheriff completed 14 of 28 passes for 182 yards and an interception while Larry Ned rushed for 79 yards on 22 carries.