Monday, Aug. 30, 2004 | 10 a.m.
(Sixth in a series previewing the Mountain West Conference)
Head coach: Urban Meyer, 2nd year, 10-2.
2003 record: 10-2 (6-1, 1st in the Mountain West).
Returning starters: 17.
Top player: QB Alex Smith.
Key game: Oct. 1 at New Mexico.
2004 MWC media poll projection: 1st.
Monday -- Air Force
Tuesday -- BYU
Wednesday -- Colo. State
Thursday -- New Mexico
Friday -- San Diego State
Today -- Utah
Tuesday -- Wyoming
Last year it was Colorado State and coach Sonny Lubick who had to deal with it. This year it's Utah and second-year head coach Urban Meyer's turn.
"It" would be the predictions of a team going undefeated and notching a first-ever BCS bowl berth for the Mountain West Conference.
With 17 starters back from a 10-2 squad that squashed Southern Miss, 17-0, in the Liberty Bowl, the Utes have been picked by nearly every preseason magazine as a preseason Top 25 team and enter Meyer's second year in Salt Lake City as a heavy favorite to make it back-to-back Mountain West Conference championships.
And why not? The Utes have a player of the year candidate at quarterback in junior Alex Smith, one of the league's most feared defenses and will be bolstered on offense with the return of talented running back Marty Johnson, who missed most of the past two seasons with injuries and legal woes.
Toss in the fact the Utes also have perhaps the most favorable (that is, easiest) schedule in the MWC and its easy to see why the expectations for Utah are high entering Thursday night's nationally televised season-opener at home against rebuilding Texas A&M at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
In fact, the team's multimedia ad campaign for this season proclaimed, "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet!"
The Deseret News reported in July that Smith and center Jesse Boone said that going undefeated and forcing the BCS to take notice was the team's goal.
Meyer, whose name has already been linked to the head coaching job at Notre Dame if/when Ty Willingham is fired, has wisely tried to downplay such talk.
"What's happening at Utah right now -- and I take responsibility for it -- is that people are worrying more about the BCS than winning the first game or the Mountain West Conference," Meyer said.
He need not look further than what happened to last year's supposed juggernaut, Colorado State, as an example of how quickly things can go south.
The Rams a year ago were predicted in some publications to go 12-0 and sneak into the BCS. Instead, they stumbled to a 7-6 record.
As impressive as Utah's 10-2 record was a year ago, it could have been a lot worse. The Utes needed a gift fumble by CSU running back Marcus Houston in the final 90 seconds to pull out a 28-21 upset of the Rams in Fort Collins. And an injury-plagued 4-8 BYU squad that was the school's worst in more than 30 years took the Utes to the wire before losing, 3-0.
Then there were the New Mexico Lobos, who rolled up 633 yards in total offense, including 407 yards rushing, in a 47-35 win at Utah a year ago. That was the Utes' only conference loss, and Utah must travel to Albuquerque this year.
The biggest plus for Meyer is that Smith returns to run the team's complex spread offensive attack after producing 2,247 yards, 15 touchdowns and just three interceptions a year ago. However, depth is a problem here with true freshman Brian Johnson the backup.
Johnson, a seventh-year player who was kicked off the team for a season following two DUIs, and junior college transfer Quinton Ganther give the Utes two excellent replacements at running back for second-team all-MWC performer Brandon Warfield. And the wide receiving corps led by senior Paris Warren (76 receptions) and sophomore Steve Savoy (40 catches, 7 touchdowns) ranks among the best in the MWC.
The defense is led by junior nose guard Steve Fafita (6-0, 311), arguably the best defensive lineman in the conference, and free safety Morgan Scalley.
The schedule also works out for the Utes. After hosting A&M on Thursday night, Utah has nine days to prepare for a road trip to another rebuilding team, Arizona. There also is a well placed bye after the key Oct. 1 game at New Mexico before the Utes host North Carolina. The Utes play just three MWC road games (New Mexico, San Diego State and Wyoming).
So on paper the Utes look like they have a real shot at going undefeated this fall.
"We have a chance to do something real special this year, coming off the year that we had last year," senior cornerback Shaun Harper told the Salt Lake Tribune on Sunday. "If we just stay focused for the next four or five months, just stay focused and take it game-by-game, then I believe -- and I think everybody on our team believes -- that we can go undefeated. ... I believe that in my heart."'
Can and will are two different things, however.
Just ask Sonny Lubick.
archive
