Ute Football Team Will Host South Florida This Saturday

Oct. 1, 2001

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QUICKLY

Utah (3-1, 1-0 MWC) plays its final non-conference game of the season this Saturday, hosting the independent South Florida Bulls (2-2) at 6:00 p.m. in Rice-Eccles Stadium ... The game is the front end of a home-and-home series that has the Utes traveling to Tampa for a rematch next fall ... Utah is on a two-game win streak, with wins over Indiana (28-26) and New Mexico (37-16) in the last two weeks ... Utah's sole loss was to then No. 7 ranked Oregon, in Eugene, 24-10 ... Utah is 2-0 at home this year ... The Utah-USF game will be televised live on KJZZ ... The game will also be broadcast live on KALL 910 (AM) radio and on the Internet (www.kall910.com).

HUNTER IS MWC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Senior running back Dameon Hunter was named the Mountain West Conference offensive player of the week for his game against New Mexico. Hunter was also USA Today's pick as MWC player of the week. Hunter rushed 25 times for a career-high 177 yards and two touchdowns against the Lobos. He averaged 7.1 yards per carry and his long rush of 74 yards is the eighth longest (including ties) from the line of scrimmage in Utah history. It was his third straight career and 100-yard game.

LAST WEEK

Dameon Hunter (177 yards 2 TDs) and Adam Tate (76 yards, 2 TDs) tore apart the nation's second-best team against the rush and Utah won its conference opener against New Mexico 37-16. It was the third career-rushing day in a row for Hunter and his third straight 100-yard game. He spearheaded a Ute offense that scored on its first possession, but then stalled until backup quarterback Ryan Breska checked in midway through the second quarter and hit Cliff Russell for a 46-yard touchdown pass with just over a minute left. Starter Lance Rice finished the game and directed Utah to three more touchdown drives and a 33-yard Ryan Kaneshiro field goal. Utah walloped New Mexico on paper, dishing out 465 yards of total offense to UNM's 311. The U. defense was led by linebacker Sheldon Deckart, who had eight tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, a forced fumble and two pass breakups. Utah forced New Mexico to fumble twice in the red zone, recovering both fumbles, and shut out the Lobos in the first and fourth quarters.

HEAD COACH RON MCBRIDE

Ron McBride has a 78-54 record in his 12th year as head Ute coach. He has the second most wins of any coach in Utah football history. McBride has won a share of two conference titles (1995 and 1999) and his teams have finished at .500 or better nine times, with eight winning seasons. He has taken the Utes to five bowl games and has a 2-3 bowl record. Utah's most recent bowl appearance was in 1999, when the Utes beat Fresno State 17-16 in the Las Vegas Bowl. McBride is 0-0 vs. South Florida.

MAC IN LEAGUE PLAY

Utah's 12th-year head coach Ron McBride is 52-35 against conference teams. Since Utah joined the Mountain West Conference in 1999, McBride's conference mark is 14-10. He is .500 or better against every conference school except Brigham Young-and he's just a game under .500 in that series (5-6).

SERIES SHORTS

First meeting.

GRIDBITS

Utah's two home wins this year already tops last year when the Utes went 1-5 in Rice-Eccles Stadium ... Utah has started the season at 3-1 or better seven times in head coach Ron McBride's 12-year career, most recently in 1999 ... all-time Ute record is 525-392-31 ... Utes are 242-128-10 in home games, 11-8 in Rice-Eccles Stadium (1998-on) and 283-264-21 in road/neutral games.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

> Senior running back Dameon Hunter (5-11, 223) is the top rusher in the Mountain West Conference and is No. 12 in the nation, averaging 126.2 yards per game (5.2 yards per carry). He is tied for the team lead in touchdowns with four. Hunter has rushed 98 times for 505 yards.

> Dameon Hunter's 177 rushing yards against New Mexico, the nation's No. 2 ranked defense against the rush entering the game (allowing just 27.0 yards rushing per game), was a career high. It was the third-straight career game and 100-yard game for Hunter, who had 104 yards vs. Oregon and 164 yards vs. Indiana.

> Dameon Hunter is in the Utah record book in three different categories: He is tied for third for consecutive 100-yard rushing games with 3, his 74-yard run from the line of scrimmage against UNM was the eighth-best in school history (counting ties) and his 177 yards rushing against UNM is the 14th best all-time at Utah (counting ties). > Senior wide receiver Cliff Russell (6-0, 185), the fastest player ever at Utah (runs a 4.27 40), has a team-high 19 receptions for 293 yards and 2 touchdowns. He averages 15.4 yards per catch and 73.2 yards per game. His best game this year was against Oregon, when he caught 7 balls for 100 yards, his fourth career 100-yard game. Against New Mexico last week, Russell caught 3 passes for 86 yards, an average of 28.7 yards per catch, and scored 1 touchdown. The speedster simply blew past UNM's defenders on his 46-yard touchdown run.

> Sophomore quarterback Lance Rice (6-2, 200) has taken most of the snaps this year and is completing nearly 56 percent of his pass attempts. Rice is 70 of 126 (55.6%) for 742 yards and 2 touchdowns (2 interceptions). He averages 185.5 passing yards per game and has a pass efficiency rating of 107.09.

> Lance Rice is 5-2 as Utah's starter, having started all four games this year and three games as a freshman in 2000.

> Sophomore backup quarterback Ryan Breska impressed in his second appearance of the year. Breska played about half of the second quarter against New Mexico and completed 3-4 passes for 63 yards and his first college touchdown. The TD pass to Cliff Russell was for 46 yards and Breska showed great poise under heavy pressure, taking a huge hit shortly after unloading a strike to Russell. Breska, who also saw limited action against Oregon, is 7 of 16 for 145 yards and 1 touchdown (no interceptions).

DEFENSIVE NOTES

> Utah leads the league in scoring defense, allowing 21.25 points per game.

> Utah's tackle leader is linebacker Sheldon Deckart (6-2, 239, Jr.), who plays rover. Deckart has 34 total tackles, 15 which came in a career game against Utah State on September 1. He has 4 tackles for loss, 2 sacks (both against New Mexico) and a team high 4 pass breakups.

> It's safety first for the Utes, who have a pair of all-conference candidates roaming the backfield. Sophomore safeties Antwoine Sanders (6-3, 193) and Arnold Parker (6-2, 214) are second and third on Utah's tackle charts. Sanders, the free safety, has 30 total tackles and a team-best 3 interceptions (69 return yards). He leads the MWC and is second in the nation in interceptions per game (0.75). Parker, who plays both strong safety and nickel back, has 23 total tackles and 2 tackles for loss.

> Sophomore defensive end Jason Kaufusi (6-2, 249) leads Utah in tackles for loss (7) and sacks (3). He also has 16 tackles and a pass breakup. The all-conference candidate's best game this year was against Indiana, when he had 7 tackles and 3 tackles for a loss.

> Junior defensive lineman Garrett Smith (6-3, 285), a preseason all-MWC pick, is fourth on Utah's tackle charts with 17. Five of those were tackles for loss, second on the team. He also has a sack.

> Utah's top tackling cornerback is converted running back D'Shaun Crockett. Crockett, who is expected to get his first start at DB this week at left corner, has 16 tackles, fifth most on the team.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

> Senior Ryan Kaneshiro has taken all 9 of Utah's field goal attempts this year and is 5-9. He is 11-12 in PATs, missing his first of the year against UNM on September 29. He has made two 33-yard field goals, for a season long, and is 3-4 from 39 yards and in. Three of his misses were from 40-49 yards.

> Brian Lewis booted a 75-yard punt vs. Oregon, which is tied for the sixth-longest punt in school history. It was the second-longest punt in Mountain West Conference history. Lewis has punted 21 times this season for 808 yards, an average of 38.5 yards per punt. He has placed 3 punts inside the 20.

> Brian Lewis has handled all of the kickoffs this year. He has 21 kickoffs and 8 touchbacks.

> Freshman Morgan Scalley is Utah's No. 1 returner. He has all 12 of Utah's punt returns and averages 7.8 yards per return. He has returned a team-high 4 kickoffs and averages 19.2 yards per return. He returned his first collegiate kickoff 44 yards against Indiana.

INJURY REPORT

Player, Pos.                Injury/Status/Games MissedJeremy Lyman, LB     Knee/out/1Marty Johnson, RB    Ribs/out/3Ed Ta'amu, OL          Ankle/probable/0

RED ZONE REPORT

Utah OffenseTimes at or inside 20: 16 (USU 6, UO 2, IU 3, NM 5)Touchdowns: 9 (USU 2, UO 1, IU 3, NM 3)Field Goals: 5 (USU 3, UO 1, IU 0, NM 1)Scoring percentage: 88%TD percentage: 56%
Utah DefenseTimes opponent at or inside 20: 15 (USU 3, UO 3, IU 6, NM 3)Touchdowns: 8 (USU 1, UO 2, IU 4, NM 1)Field Goals: 3 (USU 2, UO 1, IU 0, NM 0)Scoring percentage: 73%TD percentage: 53%

USF PREVIEW

In first year of NCAA Division I-A ball ... independent is 2-2 ... will join Conference USA for football in 2003 ... upset Pitt on the road, 35-26, on Sept. 8 ... other win was last Saturday over North Texas, 28-10 ... play three Utah schools this season: Utah (Oct. 6), Southern Utah (Oct. 20) and Utah State (Nov. 24) ... Head Coach Jim Leavitt is 29-19 in his fifth season ... Leavitt is 0-0 against Utah.

MCBRIDE SAYS

"It's great to start the conference season off with a win. The kids should feel good about what they're doing. They're learning how to play better every week. The team finished well as a whole. Both the offense and defense did what they had to do in the fourth quarter. The defense kept us in the game until the offense could catch up.

"South Florida is doing well. They're building their program on good athletes. It will be a difficult game from watching them on film. That win over Pitt on the road proves that this is a good team. Since we rarely play schools from clear across the country, we'll rely a lot on film, but we also know some people in places they've played and we'll talk to them.

"We'll look at the things we didn't do well this week. We didn't miss too many assignments, but had two or three mistakes that really hurt us. We have confidence in both quarterbacks (Lance Rice and Ryan Breska) and won't be afraid to go with Ryan if Lance runs into trouble. They both did some nice things against New Mexico."

POSTPONED PAST

The Utah-Air Force game that was scheduled for September 15, only to be postponed after the tragic events in New York City and Washington, D.C., is the fifth postponed or canceled game in Utah football history. The others involved Utah State (once) and Hawaii (three times). Those scenarios follow: The Utes were to play Utah State on Thanksgiving Day in 1919, but the game was postponed for two days due to high winds in Salt Lake City. Newspapers reported that head Ute coach Thomas Fitzpatrick kicked a football toward the east end zone and the ball landed in the west end zone seats, at which point the decision to postpone the game was made. Utah beat the Aggies two days later, 10-0. Utah was scheduled to host Hawaii for Homecoming on Nov. 14, 1936, but the Rainbows could not depart the Islands due to a ship strike. Texas A&M filled in on one week's notice and beat Utah 20-7. In 1941-42, Utah was scheduled to play two games in Hawaii, the first on December 20, and the second (the Pineapple Bowl) on January 1. Both games were canceled due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

OH BROTHER

Utah's starting brother team of Doug and Jason Kaufusi are already in the picture for postseason recognition. Doug, a senior offensive lineman and Utah's only returning first-team all-conference player, is a candidate for the Lombardi Award. He made the preliminary cut of 52 candidates back in May and is now one of 81 players named to the watch list. The Lombardi Award recognizes the top lineman or linebacker in the country. Jason, a sophomore linebacker/defensive lineman and the 2000 MWC co-Freshman of the Year, is one of 69 candidates named to the Butkus Award watch list. The Butkus Award is presented to the nation's top linebacker.

COACHING LOCATIONS

Utah's offensive coaching staff will man these positions: On the field will be running backs/receivers coach Vincent White and tight ends/offensive tackles coach Alex Gerke. In the box will be offensive coordinator Craig Ver Steeg, offensive guards/centers coach Don Eck and graduate assistants Jay Hill and Kevin Clune. The defensive coaches can be found here: On the field will be defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham, defensive tackles/special teams coach Gary Andersen and cornerbacks coach Jugi Hogue. In the box will be defensive ends coach Steve Kaufusi and safeties coach Bill Busch.

KAUFUSI, SMITH WIN PRESEASON NOTICE

Senior offensive tackle Doug Kaufusi and junior defensive lineman Garrett Smith were named to the 2001 preseason all-Mountain West Conference team at the MWC Football Media Preview, held in Las Vegas in late July. Kaufusi (6-6, 300) is Utah's only returning first-team all-conference pick and is a four-year starter. Smith (6-3, 285) made the honorable mention all-conference team as a sophomore last year after recording 72 tackles, 10 sacks and 15 tackles for loss.

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