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Show Friday, December 11, 1992 The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Fifteen C 0 pirepaPDODg fei? Bledsoe not impressed by Utah team practicing in the cold and possible preparation. The team will miss being home for Christmas, but postseason life, there are those Copper Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 29, in Tucson, Ariz. the Utah season at naysayers that feel a 'We'd like to be playing a team that would earn us some respect. Whether we win or lose, it won 't get us a great deal of respect and won't affect the polls much," Drew Bledsoe, Washington State quarterback, said. This season was different though, and the Utes began their preparations for the 1992 Copper Bowl earlier this week by holding light practices. Utah had been off since finishing the regular season with a 2 loss at BYU. home against Hula d McBride said that getting ready to play in a bowl game is a bit different from a regular season game. 6-- 5 V ' J holidays, let alone be playing in one. One such person who isn't high on the Utes being in the Copper Bowl is Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe. "We have played a lot of teams of better caliber than the Utah team we are playing. You'd " CHRONICLE PHOTOScort Sine much." Of course, McBride and the Utes first team lineman Luther Ellis (83) must play a key role if the Utes are to do well in The Utah defense, led by the Copper Bowl against Washington State. The two teams have potent offenses and the game could come down to whose defense plays the best in the Dec 29 showdown. All-WA- didn't take kindly to Bledsoe's comments. "In football you can say anything you want. I don't say anything, I just listen," McBride added. "Words are cheap. Action is good." Bowl-boun- Despite the Utes' feelings about how good of a team they are, they should have their hands full with a . very good Washington State football team. .The Cougars beat a number of - play eight times over the past two years. When you look at the teams good football teams this season, including Arizona and Fresno Stf te available, Utah was the best team to take," McBride said. "They've done on the road. Of course, the Bulldogs Utah vs wsu Utes Cpogs Live on Television: The Weiser Lock Copper Bowl will be shown -- live by ESPN on Dec. 29, beginning at 6:05 p.m. MST. Ron y Franklin will do the while Mike Gottfried will add the color commentary. The game' will also be broadcast on KALL-A910 and FM 94.1 with Bill Marcroft and Neil Hancey. The e show will start at 11 a.m. Washington State season: The Cougars began the year with a 0 mark, putting them in the Top 25 rankings where they stayed, the rest of the season. During that time they won games at Arizona and Fresno State." They ended the season including a loss to 5 play-by-pla- " in a row to the two worst teams in the WAC and quarterback Frank Dolce in the process. They ended the season 2 with a big win at Air Force, but lost big at Fresno ' State. State series: . 2-- ; Utah-Washingt- M pre-gam- 6-- routed rival having won Utah leads series the last game in Rice Stadium in Alter 1985 by a score ot Utah won the first two meetings in 1966 and '68, teams have won four, straight games, alternated wins since. Injury report: Utes definitely including a big win over. WAC champ Hawaii; Utah then lost two .out are receiver Bryan Rowley Washington in their final game. They tied for third in the Pac-1- 0 at ; e Utah season: After a Utes the blowout at Nebraska, 42-2- 3. v- "?' - (broken ankle), defensive backs Jeff Kirkman (knee surgery) and Edwin Garrette (broken arm), arid slot back Greg Hoffman (broken foot). Defensive lineman Anthony Hall is doubtful with a fractured knee. The Cougars started practice Wednesday with starting offensive lineman Jim Eucker the only key . , injured player. WSU: for Junior Key Player quarterback Drew Bledsoe. After his locker room wall comments comments 4-- 3, 44-3- 7. . first-gam- , . game Washington State finished their rival season by crushing in a Washington at home 42-2- 3 in-sta- Of course, offensively the Utes will be relying on a balanced attack. Frank Dolce averaged 263 yards te through the air this season and, snowstorm. McBride felt the Cougars were definitely the better team that .cdiiioO; despite a rough first half, almost led the Utes to a comeback win against the Cougars. Utah's rushing attack must also do well to take some heat off of Dolce. The running game gained 154 yards of the weather "They beat therap out ofejilcBridsaid. ' T Washington .State averaged 27.8 points per game this season and 407 yards of total offense (271 passing, 135 rushing). The Cougars are led by the junior per game, comprised mostly of efforts by tailbacks Keith Williams and Pierre Jones, and fullback Jamal Anderson. The key offensively will be the would be the first pick in next year's NFL, draft if he decided to forgo his : offensive line, Senior Russ Daily will senior season,! Bledsoe is the second- -' " be back from an injury that kept him leading passer in WSU history, out of the last three games. This throwing for nearly 6,900 yards, group must give Dolce the time to almost 2,800 of that total coming this pass for the Utes to be successful. The Ute defense will be going season. against an offensive attack similar to Against Montana in the Cougars' opening game, Bledsoe threw for a Wyoming's, but one McBride said school record 413 yards. He also had was much better and faster. Utah will 300 yard-plu- s passing games against be led on defense by lineman Luther Fresno State and USC Ellis, who was picked to the defensive first team. Bledsoe's, favorite target is flanker One player that should be at full C.jf." Davis. The senioi1 made 55 catches this season for 890 yards, of ' strength is linebacker Pita Tonga. The senior led the team in tackles per 81 yards per game. . is the game this season 9.0) despite being Shaumbe Wright-Fai- r Cougars leading rusher, gaining a hampered with ankle problems and 194 yards against missing three games. career-hig- h While the Utes must be ready to Washington. He won the Pac-1- 0 face 110 a strong team, "For us to be title, yards averaging rushing per game. He gained 1,207 yards this consistent on offense and defense season and had seven games of 100 and play a full game the whole way or more yards rushing. through," was what McBride said his needed to do to win the game. team State is Defensively, Washington it should boil down to is What two seniors with just very young, defense whose and can stop the other's six possibly starting feel the Cougars will offense. their Many youth, sophomores. Despite McBride said the Cougars' defense be the ones that will do that. But no will be better than any the Utes have one can know for sure until 10 p.m.' ' ' faced this season. The Cougars on Dec 29. -- was about playing a lowly Utah team, he will need to back .up his w W 6-- 2-- 3, allowed 300 yards of offense per and 23 points per game. 41-1- 5. Bledsoe, who many experts feel about how broken up his team cf"HK easily handled the Utes at home choice." invitation. .,' "This particular bowl has seen us weekend." One thing the Utah team will have to get used to for the next 10 days is C their homework. It was a great McBride also felt that his team didn't back into the Copper Bowl's "We're building back up our fundamental base in preparing for Washington State," McBride said. "We did that the last two days before we start heavy practices this 3. V r 'J respect and won't affect the polls 31-2- 5-- 3 team that finished be. Oregon, ,j sixth Utah actually tied for fifth in the WAC," Bledsoe said on a local radio talk show. "We'd like to be playing a team that would earn us some respect. Whether we win or lose, it won't get us a great deal of were snubbed any invitation by bowl committees, including the Copper Bowl. McBride felt his team deserved to go to a bowl game but it wasn't to but y .;-- like to think a lot of teams in the Pac-1- 0 are better than a but 7-- 4, A team from the WAC shouldn't even be near a bowl site during the ' For Utah head program back on the winning track. In fact, he did it in two, as the Utes finished the 1991 - , 18th-ranke- get v- if weren't expecting." Being able to play in Tucson is also a great thrill for McBride, who spent the few years before coming to Utah as an assistant coach at Arizona. "I couldn't have asked for a better place to take a Utah football team," McBride added. While the Utes and McBride were ecstatic to have been given a d will meet the at State Washington Cougars in the When first hired on as the head coach in 1989, three years is how long McBride said it would take to ...-- . Howl present to our players that they In just a little over two weeks from now, the University of Utah football team will be playing in its first bowl game in 28 years. What a way to finish the celebration of 100 years of football at the U. The Utes, who finished the season Copper Bowl was the culmination of three years of hard work at the U. . McBride said being picked to play in the Copper Bowl is "like a Christmas Chronicle Sports Editor coach Ron McBride, being invited to the (Sppir snow. The Utes will work out at Rice Stadium, where if it does snow, it's possible to clean the field off. Utah will leave the cold for warm Tucson on Dec 22. for a final week of BY CLIFTON SCHMIDT 6-- 5, play ion with ' the - best performance of his career. Key player for Utah: All of them, but especially the offensive line. Every Ute player will need to play his best physical and mental game oi me season m uiuer iui me Utes to win. When they have put a good mental and physical game, the Utes have one. together When they aren't thinking though, the Utes have been blown out. All-WA- ' 1 C |