Rams to host banged-up Utes

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1999 | 10:24 a.m.

University of Utah coach Ron McBride doesn't sound particularly fond about his team playing on Thursday night this week when the Utes travel to Colorado State to face the Rams on ESPN.

One look at his team's medical report may give a clue as to why.

Utah (6-1, 3-0), which is tied with BYU (6-1, 3-0) for first place in the Mountain West Conference, suffered a number of key injuries in its 38-16 win over San Diego State on Saturday. And now the Utes have a short week to recover before playing Sonny Lubick's Rams (4-3, 1-2) in Fort Collins.

"We got beat up as bad in this game as we have in any game," Utah trainer Bill Bean said after the victory over the Aztecs.

The Utes lost starting defensive end Chuck Pine to a particularly gruesome broken leg. Pine was carted off by an ambulance from the field and had surgery on Saturday night to have a rod inserted to help repair his broken left tibia.

Meanwhile, strong safety Kimball Christenson sustained a sprained posterior collateral ligament in his right knee that will sideline him from two to four weeks. Another safety, Brandon Dart, suffered a career-ending injury a week earlier. And offensive tackle Josh Cochran and linebacker Howard Christenson both were sidelined with mild concussions.

If that was not bad enough, the Utes could be without a third safety, Patrick Dyson, because of legal problems.

Dyson had third-degree felony assault charges filed against him on Friday afternoon for his part in an Aug. 8 traffic accident. He allegedly threw a magnet from a moving car, broke a window and injured the driver. He had told his coaches that the occupants of the other car had thrown things at his car and that no charges would likely be filed.

McBride said that Tyson would not play until the matter was cleared up. That means a redshirt freshman, Airabin Justin, son of former NFL player Sidney Justin, could see substantial action on Thursday night. Justin has just three tackles in his career.

"The nice part of playing on a Thursday night game is what comes after it," McBride said. "You get a couple of extra days to rest and heal up before your next game."

But considering the beating the Utes took in the San Diego State victory, a couple of extra days to prepare this week for the Utes might have been even more valuable.

* SINKING SAN DIEGO ST.: Ted Tollner's San Diego State Aztecs (3-5, 1-3), who have a bye this week, have to win their final three games (BYU, at UNLV, Wyoming) to finish with a winning season.

Bowl game? Forget it. The 1998 Las Vegas Bowl participants had a season-opening win over a Division I-AA school, South Florida, and can't finish with the NCAA required six wins against Division I competition needed for bowl consideration.

"I told the players we have three games left and we have a choice," Tollner said. "We can either appreciate what we have left and go about our business to make the most of it or we can feel sorry for ourselves and want the thing over with."

Whatever direction San Diego State chooses, it will be without star wide receiver/kick returner Damon Gourdine. Gourdine suffered torn foot ligaments against Utah and his college career is over.

* REBEL FAN: BYU coach LaVell Edwards said UNLV's secondary was a key reason Cougar quarterback Kevin Feterik did not put up particularly impressive numbers Saturday.

"I think UNLV has one of the better secondaries we've gone against," Edwards said. "I was quite impressed with their corners (Kevin Thomas and Andre Hilliard) especially."