Columnist Steve Guiremand: McBride left at the altar

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 | 11:34 a.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. His Around Campus column appears Friday during the football season. Reach him at 259-2324 or steveg@lasvegassun.com

Call it the curse of the Las Vegas Bowl.

It was only about 10 months ago that Utah coach Ron McBride walked out of Sam Boyd Stadium with a big smile and a hard-earned 17-16 victory over Fresno State.

With 18 starters returning in 2000, the Utes were the consensus choice in both the media and coaches polls to win the Mountain West Conference this year. But following Saturday night's 23-14 loss to Air Force in Salt Lake City, the Utes (0-4, 0-1) find their season fast slipping away before even the end of September.

It's definitely been a week to forget for McBride and company.

First, in Sunday's edition of the (Salt Lake City) Deseret News, columnist Brad Rock tore Utah apart better than Air Force's option did the night before at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Wrote Rock: "This year the Utes sabotaged themselves early. They smashed their thumbs with a hammer before ever driving a nail.

"This time there was no long winning streak, followed by a sudden loss. No hanging around until mid-October before losing vital conference games. They simply took care of business of failing to live up to expectations right out of the gate.

"With an 0-4 record, 0-1 in the conference, they're starting to make everyone --- including themselves --- look stupid. They were picked by both the media and coaches to win the MWC title. In hindsight, it looks like some sort of trickery. Doesn't everyone already know about the Utes? About their penchant for wilting when expectations get high? Why does everyone keep falling for this?"

Monday things got even worse for the Utes.

A caller to a local sports radio station mentioned that Utah's best player, wide receiver Steve Smith (the conference leader in all-purpose yardage and arguably the best return man in the nation), would be suspended for one game for allegedly stealing a backpack from the campus bookstore last spring.

At first it was thought that the caller was a hoax. Neither the incident nor the suspension had been made public to the media. But a call to Utah's sports information office confirmed that Smith indeed would sit out one game for "violating team rules."

McBride said he has not determined which game Smith would sit out. Here's a clue: It won't be Nov. 25 when the Utes host BYU.

"It's my choice on which game, so I can (suspend Smith) whenever I want," McBride said. "Ideally, I guess if you look back on it, I should have just stayed firm and said, 'This is the game,' and then got it out of the way. But what happens is, when you have a little gray area there you can play with, you're looking for the ideal situation because you know at some point you're going to have to sit him."

Translation: If Smith turned an ankle or broke a finger that might have sidelined him anyway, make that the game he sits out.

Just when things looked like they couldn't get any worse for McBride, he said he accidentally left his wallet and glasses on the roof of his car as he left home for work at about 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. A man found and returned to McBride his wallet a few hours later, but his glasses were found smashed on the side of the road.

"I only had the one pair of glasses, so I ended up watching film with a magnifying glass," McBride said.

How can things get any worse for the Utes? Try a loss to lowly in-state rival Utah State on Saturday.

"We've just got to keep digging and believing," McBride said.

Once around the nation

* ACC: Wake Forest sophomore quarterback C.J. Leak, considered by some scouts as the nation's top prep quarterback prospect two years ago, is out for the season following knee surgery. Leak, who pulled a signing day stunner when he picked the Demon Deacons over Notre Dame, suffered the injury in last week's 55-7 mauling by Clemson.

* BIG EAST: Struggling Syracuse (1-2) is expected to once again split time between redshirt freshman R.J. Anderson and sophomore Troy Nunes at quarterback when Orangemen host BYU (2-3) at Carrier Dome Saturday night.

* BIG TEN: Matchup of the week: Wisconsin All-American cornerback Jamar Fletcher vs. Michigan All-American wide receiver David Terrell. Wisconsin (3-1, 0-1), which needs a win Saturday over Wolverines (3-1, 1-0) to keep hopes of a third straight Rose Bowl appearance alive, has won only once at the Big House since 1965. That was a 31-19 win in 1994.

* BIG 12: Kansas State (4-0), which will try to make it three straight wins over Colorado (0-3) on Saturday in Boulder, has beaten four nonconference opponents who are a combined 1-16 this year.

* BIG WEST: Utah State (1-2) hosts Utah (0-4) in the 100th meeting between the schools. Utes hold a 67-28-4 edge in the series, but teams have split their last four meetings.

* CONFERENCE USA: No. 21 Southern Mississippi (2-1, 0-0) will be playing its first home game of the season Saturday when it opens conference play against arch-rival Memphis (3-1, 1-0). Eagles have won 17 of their last 18 home games and have never lost a Conference USA game in Hattiesburg.

* MAC: In case you missed it, Buffalo (1-3, 1-0) ended its 18-game losing streak with a 20-17 victory over Bowling Green. It was the Bulls' first win over a Division I opponent since a Oct. 31, 1970 victory over Holy Cross. Not surprisingly, Bowling Green coach Gary Blackney resigned on Monday.

* PAC-10: UCLA will be without starting strong safety Marques Anderson, arguably the team's best defensive back this season, for Saturday's game against Arizona State at the Rose Bowl. Anderson is recovering from an undisclosed medical procedure. Anderson refused to reveal the ailment citing privacy concerns, but said it was neither life threatening nor football related.

* SEC: Ole Miss (2-1, 1-1) running back Deuce McAllister, who suffered a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder in a Sept. 16 win at Vanderbilt, said he expects to play in Saturday night's game against visiting Kentucky (2-2, 0-1).

Once around the MWC

* AIR FORCE: Saturday's game against UNLV at Sam Boyd Stadium will be Fisher DeBerry's 200th game as Falcons head coach. He brings in a 129-69-1 record.

* BYU: Cougar running back Luke Staley, who had a career-high 166 yards rushing in last week's 10-7 win over UNLV, broke his nose near the end of the game. Still, Staley says he'll play in Saturday night's game at Syracuse.

* COLORADO STATE: Rams (2-1), who travel to Nevada (1-2) on Saturday, are 7-0 after byes under Sonny Lubick.

* UNLV: Rebel quarterbacks have thrown just two interceptions in their last 30 quarters of action.

* NEW MEXICO: Soph quarterback Rudy Caamano tied the school single-game completion percentage record (80 percent) when he completed 12 of 15 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns in Lobos' 35-28 win over Northern Arizona last week.

* SAN DIEGO STATE: Aztecs (0-4), who have a bye this week before opening conference play at Wyoming, rank 99th in the nation in rushing (85.5 yards per game) and 110th in scoring (6.5 points per game).

* UTAH: Looking for a good reason for Utes' 0-4 start. Utah has made just 1 of 11 field goal attempts in 2000.

* WYOMING: Cowboys (1-3, 0-0), who travel to New Mexico on Saturday, are one of only three Division I teams without an interception this season. Opponents have attempted 110 passes for far, completing 62 for an even 1,000 yards.