When winning is too big

Brian Hilderbrand, Las Vegas Sun

Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007 | 7:25 a.m.

San Diego State blows out Portland State 52-17 Saturday and PSU head coach Jerry Glanville - yes, that Jerry Glanville - reportedly refuses to shake Aztecs coach Chuck Long's hand after the game because the former NFL head coach thinks Long was running up the score.

Two weeks ago at Sam Boyd Stadium, UNLV's Mike Sanford has a terse conversation with Hawaii head coach June Jones at midfield after the Warriors' 49-14 victory. Although he won't discuss what is said or even why he is upset, it is believed Sanford is miffed that Hawaii was blitzing late in the game with a comfortable lead.

So, when exactly is it considered proper to "call off the dogs?" And is it fair to ask second- and third-string players not to try to sack a quarterback or score a touchdown just to avoid the appearance of running up the score?

Sanford, who has been on both sides of the "running-it-up" issue but would not comment specifically on the Hawaii game, said the answer is a matter of common sense - and class.

"I've been some places, specifically at Utah, where we had a lot of chances to humiliate people," said Sanford, who spent two years as an assistant under Urban Meyer with the Utes when they were dominating the Mountain West Conference. "As great a competitor as Urban is, Urban's a classy guy , and we took a knee on several occasions and we did some things (to minimize our chances of scoring)."

Sanford said that can be tough when assistant coaches are screaming in your headphones to score again or to keep up the defensive pressure.

"You've got to keep your cool and do the classy thing," Sanford said. "In my opinion, it's all about being classy and treating people with class."

Sanford said it's possible to be on the losing side of a blowout, be scored on late in the game and still not think the other team is running it up - as in the case of UNLV's lopsided losses to BYU each of the past two seasons. If a team is running the ball into the middle of the line and the back breaks off a long run for a score, that is viewed differently from when a team is throwing long passes or running trick plays in an obvious attempt to score.

"People thought that I had a problem with (BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall) last year or two years ago, (but) I didn't have any problem with Bronco because I knew he was doing things with class," Sanford said.

"I think if it's within the framework of their offense, you can tell what (an opponent's) intent is. It's also different if a team is trying to get a first down on third down and they throw a pass and it breaks for a touchdown - that's different than throwing bombs on first down."

"You've got to keep your cool and do the classy thing."

Mike Sanford, UNLV head football coach,

on taking steps to avoid humiliating opponents by running up the score