Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003 | 9:23 a.m.
He may not be the workhorse he was a few weeks ago. But if you hitched 20 mules to Brandon Warfield's wagon and pointed him in the right direction, chances are he could still find the borax field.
Warfield is the latest in a long line of go-to running backs at Utah. Like Jamal Anderson, Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala and Mike Anderson before him, he's the guy the Utes turn to when there are tough yards to be made.
It started in a 30-26 loss to Air Force last year, when Warfield carried 30 times for 193 yards. In a 23-18 win at Wyoming, he carried 34 times for 164 yards. Then he made Ron McBride's last game as Utah coach one to remember by carrying 40 times for 194 yards in a 13-6 victory against Brigham Young.
While the Utah quarterbacks still were trying to master new coach Urban Meyer's sophisticated spread offense, Warfield helped to shorten the learning curve by carrying 33, 36 and 30 times (for 173, 181 and 94 yards) in the Utes' first three games of this season against Utah State, Texas A&M and California.
Now that sophomore quarterback Alex Smith is completing passes left and right and down the middle, too, Warfield has seen his work load reduced. But he's the still the man the UNLV football team will have to shut down on Saturday when the 5-1 Utes come to town.
"I've been doing it all my life. I've always been a workhorse and I like doing it," said Warfield, who at 5-foot-10 and 210 pounds, is a tad smaller than most of the running backs Utah has featured.
But he's every bit as tough, which is probably why he's complaining about not having his number called as frequently.
In the Utes' past three games, wins against Colorado State, Oregon and San Diego State, Warfield carried 20 times for 78 yards, 22 for 74 and 23 for 133. The season is just half over, and already Warfield has accumulated 733 rushing yards, putting him on pace for a 1,500-yard campaign.
That is, if Utah continues to hand him the ball.
"I like carrying 40 times a game but I guess this makes it a little easier," said Warfield, who became the Utes' bread-and-butter back when Marty Johnson tore up his knee early last year while leading the NCAA in rushing with a 202 yards-per-game average.
"With more passing plays, I can give 100 percent on every play. Plus, we can pass now, so you can't key on the run anymore."
The Utes are averaging 166.8 rushing yards and 216.2 through the air, which is not that different from their totals last year. What is different is that Utah is now throwing the ball by choice, rather than out of necessity when it falls behind.
With their only loss coming at Texas A&M where they came up short on a 2-point conversion on the game's final play, the Utes haven't fallen behind very often for very long.
The Rebels are hoping they can force Utah back into catch-up mode, and they certainly have the speed and talent to do it. No one was blaming the UNLV defense for last week's 24-7 loss at Air Force, in which the Rebels limited Chance Harridge and his triple-option mates to 261 rushing yards.
While that may sound like a lot, it was well under the Falcons' 303.5 average coming in.
Warfield, for one, was impressed.
"They move around a lot and they seem to have more depth this year," said Warfield, who carried 14 times for 95 yards in the Utes' 28-17 victory against the Rebels last year while since departed J.J. Peroulis had 110 yards on 17 carries.
"It looks like they really want to win. You can tell by watching them. Everybody used to look at UNLV as a pushover, but they're not anymore. You've got to respect that and you've got to respect them."
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