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Show FOOTBALL Sports Openings The Daily Utah Z jLuu Read I Brandon Winn You've heard the old life adage, "Curiosity killed the cat," but what about the football proverb, "Mediocrity killed the coach?" If you haven't heard it yet, get ready for the 1998 college football season.' Eight years ago, when Ron McBride took over the Utah football program, a record of 4 would have been cause for a ticker-tap- e parade down State Street. Win a bowl game, and you're given the key to the city. That was then, when McBride was rescuing the program from Jim Fassel's less than firm grasp. This is now. 1998 is what many are calling a revolution for Utah football. A new stadium, McBride's best recruiting class ever, a returning crop of exciting players and a new look on offense all make this season one of the most anticipated in Ute history. A WAC Championship is expected. So is a bowl invite. What will 4 get McBride this time around? It will get him a parade all right straight out of town. The program has reached a state where mediocrity could be McBride's kiss of death. A bad thing? Not necessarily. Under McBride, the program has grown so much it is now considered one of v the WAC's elite. Recruits outside the state no longer toss Ute letters into the trash 7-- ' 7-- AfAe Thomas celebrates a big defensive looking for consistency in 1998. stop last season. The Utes will be p like a jury summons. now even open the letand out what the procheck ters offer. has to gram And it's all thanks to McBride. "We'd like to think we're at a point now where 4 is unacceptable," said McBride. "I don't think we can afford to have another season like last year." Is this high praise a little rash considering that Utah finished 5 last season? Perhaps. But what people are looking at is that Utah beat all the top teams in the Mountain Division. The Utes whipped New Mexico, Rice and BYU, while losing to feeble foes like Tulsa and SMU. Utah could have been the WAC's best and gone to a bowl last season, but routinely shot itself in the foot. "That hurt," said Ute linebacker Phil Glover. "We beat the best but didn't play against people we should have killed. We overlooked too many people." Critics say Utah will again experience a roller coaster thrill ride of a season. It'll peak with big wins over the top teams but fizzle out because of an unwillingness to bring its 'A' game against weaker teams. All signs are pointing to the contrary, however. Glover, Pene Talamavaio, Robert Love and Mike Thomas all return on defense. The offense has both Darnell Arceneaux and Jonathan Cross-whit- e back, fighting for the No. QB spot; the entire offensive line; and Daniel Jones. Plug in a few monster JC recruits, standout high school phenoms and a few new Wrinkles on Blue-Chi- Chronicle Sports Editor Chronicle - S3 7-- 6-- 1 both sides of the ball, and the Utes should be considered a favorite to win the Pacific Division. "We've got a good group coming back, that's for sure," said McBride. "And we've added quality guys that should help us right away. I'm excited to see how things go." You and everybody in Utah, coach. The question everybody wants to know right away is who will be the starting quarterback. Under Arce- neaux Utah won its last two games of the season, but the offense still struggled. But not nearly as much as it did with Crosswhitc at the helm. Utah was 5 when Crosswhitc started, 0 with Arceneaux under ccn-tc4-- r. 2-- ' So coach, who's it going to be? "Right now Darnell is our No. i," said McBride. "He adds more diversity to the offense, but Jonathan is probably the better passer. If I had to say today, it would be Darnell, but Jonathan's not far behind." offensive New coordinator Tommy Lcc has shaken things up quite a bit in his few short months k on the job. Instead of a offense that Utah has employed the last couple of seasons, Lee is going k with a basic set. The new line of thinking is supposed to trigoffense, ger a more wide-ope- n meaning more points and a lot more chewed up chunks of yardage. Lee used to coach in the Canadian Football League, so you can understand where his way of thinking Ball control is for the weak! came from. g The offense will be of the sort. Deeper patterns looking for the quick scoring strike will be mixed in with Arceneaux running the option at times. A new look ' indeed. fans are concerned Ute Many with the losses of Juan Johnson and Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afalDon't be. Omar Bacon, Thomas Fortune and JC transfer Michael Anderson could form a more formidable backficld than Utah has had in the last 10 years. Bacon is the slasher of the group. In the open field he shakes more than a Hawaiian in a snow storm. Fortune is the bruiser. He'd rather stcamroll a tackier than go around. Then there is Anderson. He's a combo of the previous two. At 62" and weighing in at over 220, Anderson has the size to squish an opponent into the ground, but is fast enough (he runs a 4.4 40) to run away from defenders. According to McBride, Anderson is plain and simply, "a stud." "He's very elusive and a phenomenal athlete," said McBride. "He's one of the best I've ever recruited." And when the Utes aren't run ning, Jones, Jerome Anderson, Boo Bcndingcr, Donny Utu and C.J. Johnson will provide plenty of athletic d and targets Arceneaux can wing at. "Wc have the potential to be explosive on offense because of the great individual talent wc have," said McBride. "We should be more consistent than last year." two-bac- one-bac- risk-takin- L.P y ( litems I iV ,SfJ'J$Y - . '. Hp v !' ,' - : "J a. jOhJr Y sure-hande- Darnell Arceneaux and his high octane play will handle the quarterback duties In 1998. sec football, page S8 |
