Ute Football Team Opens Spring Drills On Friday

March 25, 2002

SALT LAKE CITY -

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UTES SET TO OPEN SPRING CAMP

The Utah football team opens its 2002 spring camp this Friday starting at 3:30 p.m. at the Thomas Kearns McCarthey Practice Fields. The camp will conclude with a Red-White game on April 27. The Utes will hold 15 total practices, including two scrimmages and the Red-White game. Weather dependent, practices are scheduled for Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays for the rest of March and April, with two exceptions (March 29 and April 26). Practices are open to the public.

UPGRADED SPRING GAME

Rather than a situational scrimmage held at the practice facility on the final day of camp, this year's spring finale will be a full blown Red-White game. It will be held on Saturday, April 27 at the East High School Stadium starting at 1:00 p.m. The public is invited. Under the new game-like format, Utah's offense and defense will run real plays in full uniform. The special teams will be limited to kickoffs, punts and field goals (no returns), but everything else will be "live."

TIMES, DATES, DETAILS

The 2002 spring session will open with two days of no-pads practice (March 29-30). The March 29 practice is one of just two Friday practices scheduled. The Utes will be in pads from April 2 on, with the exception of April 26. Weekday practices will run from approximately 3:30-5:30 p.m., while Saturday workouts will usually go from 10:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. There will be situational scrimmages on April 13 and 20 at 10:45 and 11:00 a.m., respectively. Weather permitting, practices will be held at the Thomas Kearns McCarthey Practice Fields (see Watch the Weather). The Spring Game will be held at East HS..

WATCH THE WEATHER

The Utes will practice outside under most weather conditions. In the case of heavy rain or snow, practice will either be moved to another day or held inside the Bubble. The Bubble is located just south of the Smith Center, adjacent to the McCarthey Practice Fields.

STAFF CHANGES

There were a few changes to the Ute coaching staff in the off-season. When defensive ends coach Steve Kaufusi left for the defensive line job at Brigham Young, Utah head coach Ron McBride gave Gary Andersen sole responsibility for the 'D' line. Andersen was already coaching the tackles and strong side ends. McBride then filled the coaching vacancy with a wide receivers coach, Derek Mason. The hiring of Mason, who spent the last three years at Bucknell, frees up second-year assistant Vincent White to concentrate on the running backs. Last fall, White coached both the running backs and receivers. Mason has coached in the state of Utah before. He was the wide receivers coach at Weber State from 1995-96.

BY THE NUMBERS

Utah returns 44 lettermen and 13 starters from last year's 8-4, Las Vegas Bowl champion team. The Utes lost 21 lettermen and nine starters off their 2001 team. Of the returners, three made the 2001 all-Mountain West Conference first team: defensive linemen Garrett Smith and Jason Kaufusi and linebacker Sheldon Deckart. Second-team all-league defenders returning are free safety Antwoine Sanders and defensive tackle Lauvale Sape. Key losses on the offense include tackle Doug Kaufusi, guard Ed Ta'amu, running backs Dameon Hunter and Adam Tate and wide receiver Cliff Russell. Kaufusi was a two-time first-team all-conference lineman. Hunter and Tate were both second team all-league selections (Hunter in 2001 and Tate in 2000), as was Russell. Defensively, Utah lost nose guard Ma'ake Kemoeatu, linebacker CR Dwinell and cornerback Yohance Scott, all starters.

BIG COMEBACKS

Utah returns five starters on offense and eight on defense. Utah's lines will again be its strength. The offensive line, which tied for first in the nation with Miami in fewest sacks allowed last fall (5), did lose two starters. However, All-America candidate Jordan Gross, who will play left tackle this year, as well as all-league candidates Dustin McQuivey at center and Sean Souza at right tackle, form a solid front. The league's best defensive line returns virtually intact. All-conference players Jason Kaufusi and Garrett Smith will both vie for All-America status, while Lauvale Sape and Josh Savage will figure in the all-conference balloting. At quarterback, Lance Rice returns for his junior season after starting all of last year and part of his freshman year. He'll have a number of proven wide receivers to throw to, including returning starter Josh Lyman at the 'X'. Utah's safeties, Antwoine Sanders and Arnold Parker, are the best safety tandem in the league and one of the best in the nation. The Utes are also strong at linebacker, especially at rover, where first-team all-leaguer Sheldon Deckart returns.

SPRING ACHES

First-team all-conference defenders Sheldon Deckart and Jason Kaufusi will miss spring ball while recovering from off-season surgeries. Deckart had surgery on his right shoulder on Jan. 5 and again on Feb. 21. He had surgery on his left ankle on Jan. 22. Kaufusi had surgery on his right shoulder on Jan. 3 and may have it scoped on April 4. Other injuries include one to backup junior quarterback Ryan Breska, who broke the tip of his right (non throwing) elbow after falling on ice. Breska had surgery on Jan. 22. He is cleared to practice this spring by wearing protective padding on his elbow. Backup linebacker Joey Bolinger will miss spring ball after having shoulder surgery on Feb. 7. Players who will be limited to running drills (no contact) are defensive back/returner Desmond Davis and fullback Brandon Bliss, who both had ACL surgery in the fall.

HEAD COACH RON MCBRIDE

Utah Head Coach Ron McBride, gearing up for his 13th year at the helm of Ute program, is one of the longest tenured coaches in the country. Just eight other Division I head football coaches have been at the same school as long as McBride. He and Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez are the only Division I coaches hired in 1990 who are still at the same school. In 12 years, McBride has compiled an 83-57 record and taken the Utes to six bowl games. He is the second-winningest coach in Utah football history and has more wins than any Ute coach in the last 52 years. His six bowl games is the most by one coach in school history and his teams are 3-3 in bowl games. Utah has shared in two conference titles under McBride: the 1995 Western Athletic Conference and 1999 Mountain West Conference titles.

PERSONNEL PICTURE

Offensive Starters Returning (5)

Jordan Gross, OL (6-5, 310, Sr.), Josh Lyman, WR (6-0, 197, Sr.), Dustin McQuivey, OL (6-3, 294, Jr.), Lance Rice, QB (6-2, 200, Jr.), Sean Souza, OL (6-5, 291, Jr.).

Defensive Starters Returning (8)

Brooks Bahr, LB (6-3, 227, Sr.), D'Shaun Crockett, DB (5-8, 186, Sr.), Sheldon Deckart, LB (6-2, 240, Sr.), Jason Kaufusi, DL (6-3, 250, Jr.), Arnold Parker, DB (6-2, 210, Jr.), Antwoine Sanders, DB (6-2, 196, Jr.), Josh Savage, DL (6-4, 269, Jr.), Garrett Smith, DL (6-3, 303, Sr.).

Starting Kickers/Punters Returning (1)

Brian Lewis, P/KO (6-2, 224, Sr.).

REDSHIRTS RETURN

The following is a list of Utes in spring camp who redshirted last season or sat out as transfers from four-year colleges: Mike Austin, FB, Jesse Boone, OL, Bryan Borreson, K, Seth Buxton, OL, Marvin Caruthers, DB, Zac Christensen, WR, Braden Cooper, DB, Steve Fifita, DL, Tom Jackman, TE, Kurt Jackson, TE, Chad Jacobsen, WR, Andrew Johnson, OL, Elia Laeli, DL, Travis Latendresse, WR, Jaun McNutt, WR, Patrick Porter, WR, Tama Si'ilata, LB, Steven Smith, DB, Soane Taliauli, DB, Steven Thompson, LB, Antonio Young, DB.

NEW TO U.

Six newcomers are already registered for classes and will participate in spring drills. Freshman receiver Kylee Brown and freshman linebacker Tony Hendricks are both returned Mormon missionaries. Freshman receiver Rob Gueck and freshman offensive lineman Eric Pettit are both 2000 letter of intent signees who delayed the start of their college football careers a year. Junior linebacker Ray Holdcraft and freshman receiver Steven Savoy are early arrivals from the latest signing class.

MCBRIDE ON THE OFFENSE

"Spring ball is a time for teaching. It is about establishing the fundamental base of how you play. It all goes back to fundamentals. We will do a lot of crossover drills (offense vs. defense) and we will hit. However, we'll control the hitting. There are certain ways you can run drills where you can be aggressive but still have a safety factor.

"Defensively, we're looking to develop our younger players, particularly at linebacker and cornerback. We will work to develop our depth. We know what the veterans can do, especially on the line. We will give the younger guys as many reps as we can."

[About all-conference defenders Sheldon Deckart and Jason Kaufusi, who will miss spring ball after off-season surgeries]. "Sheldon and Jason don't need spring ball. They are proven commodities. Their absence will force us to play their backups and see what they can do.

"Offensively, we're in a different place this spring than a year ago because everyone knows the system now and we can work on perfecting it. At quarterback, Lance Rice is the starter, but we'll give almost equal reps to Brett Elliott and Ryan Breska. We are very interested in looking at all of the running backs. We have a ton of competition at wide receiver and the majority of the guys are here. The only guys missing are (juco transfer) Larry Miles and (academic non-qualifier) Lynzell Jackson. The addition of Derek Mason to our staff will lead to a better teaching situation at wide receiver."

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