Just as Daniel Larusso owes all his martial arts know-how to Mr. Miyagi and Alexander the Great learned everything he knew from possibly the greatest mind in history, philosopher Aristotle, Kyle Whittingham is indebted to Ron McBride.
The two will be entrenched in a master-versus-pupil matchup this weekend.
It’s a bit far-fetched to say a prodigal son is returning to Rice-Eccles Stadium, but any way you look at it, Utah’s stadium during Homecoming 2008 will be friendly confines for McBride. As the No. 17 Utes prepare for just their second home game of the season against McBride’s Weber State Wildcats, Whittingham, who received his first job some 14 years ago through McBride, is looking forward to Saturday’s clash.
“I have a great deal of respect for (McBride),” Whittingham said. “Anytime you play in-state, there is a certain intensity and flavor to the game.”
Coming off an impressive yet spotty victory at Falcon Stadium against Air Force, the Utes are now 4-0, the first such occurrence since the 2004 season. And while many see this game as an important mark in Utah football history, many just look at it as another opportunity to run their record to 5-0 and potentially a higher national rank.
Safety Terrell Cole said that it’s just another game and it didn’t matter who was walking into their house.
Tailback Matt Asiata was much of the same, in that he narrowed down his focus to the game itself and not all the hoopla of Homecoming.
“We just gotta go out and face them,” Asiata said. “We gotta focus.”
Weber State is 3-1, with its lone loss coming at the hands of Hawaii in Honolulu 36-17. Looking past the record, the offense8212;which is not of your archetypal offensive set that Ron McBride had during his days in crimson red8212;is currently the hip spread-offense formation. During his years with the U, it was the oversized, burly and, most notably, load-carrying running backs that McBride used as his offense’s centerpieces.
“Everything has evolved in that way,” Whittingham said of the evolution of offensive schemes in college football today. “Everything is going in that direction. The spread, the shotgun spread.”
The Utes will be up against quarterback Cameron Wiggins, who is currently the NCAA Division-1 FCS passing efficiency leader with a rating of 176.49 to go along with 12 touchdown passes and 1,232 yards passing.
“(McBride’s) got a nice quarterback,” Whittingham said. “Coach Mac is playing to their strengths.”
The rushing attack of Trevyn Smith, who has currently rushed for six touchdowns in four games, will be a focus of concern for the likes of Ute linebackers Stevenson Sylvester and Mike Wright.
The Utes haven’t played the Wildcats since September of 1984, when the Utes ran away with the victory 51-16.
What the Wildcats might lack in stature, they make up for in the ability to stand as a road block. The Wildcats stand in the way of the Utes and their undefeated record. Earlier in the week, Whittingham said there’s “no way” his team would overlook this football game on Saturday, and most effectively so, his offense, which has needed serious tuning, will be looking forward to feasting on the likes of the Weber State defense.
The offense managed to stack up 440 yards of total offense, which includes a boat-load carried by the tandem tailbacks in Asiata and Darrell Mack, who finished with three touchdown runs. The problem lies within the numbers for the Utes, more specifically the three crucial first-half turnovers, which resulted in 10 Air Force points.
“We’ve done some good things,” Johnson said of his offense. “But we’ve got some things we need to improve on. It feels good to be 4-0.”
Against Air Force, the Utah defense was historic, holding the ground attack of Air Force to a 28-year low, 53 yards rushing.
“You’re only as good as your last performance,” Whittingham said. “Our last performance on defense was pretty darn good. We gotta go out and do it again this week, so you can’t ever rest on your laurels.”
With a huge Thursday night matchup against Oregon State looming next week, the Utes would like to be able to score, stop and certainly rest ailing players for a critical stretch coming up over the next few weeks.
It’s Homecoming for the Utes and McBride, but this game is one that only the Utes want to leave wearing a crown and waving to its faithful crowd.
“We’ve got to get ready and be prepared just like we always do,” Whittingham said.
