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USF goes to great lengths to play Utah

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 6, 2001

It's about 1,887 miles by air from Tampa to Salt Lake City.

Nonetheless, South Florida will make the nearly cross-continent trek to play at 8 tonight at Utah. (By the way, if you're looking to drive to the game, it's 2,331 miles.)

Why would the Bulls do such a thing? Aren't most of the 115 other Division I-A teams a little closer?

By South Florida coach Jim Leavitt's reasoning, why wouldn't USF do such a thing? After all, it's a home-and-home, with Utah coming to Tampa next season.

"Why wouldn't you want a Mountain West team to come into Raymond James?" Leavitt said. "How many I-A teams that are part of a major conference are willing to come into your home?

"You want to play major conference programs in your home. People identify with conferences."

Leavitt said games such as this can help both Conference USA, which USF will join in 2003, and the Mountain West in their shared quest to become part of the Bowl Championship Series.

"If you play (interconference) matchups and get it out there, then it's just going to help both conferences," Leavitt said.

Regardless, it's an exhausting venture for the Bulls, who are on the road for the fourth time in five games.

"It's aggravating," USF cornerback Bernard Brown said of long road trips. "Being in the air so long, it just makes the day a lot longer. It makes you a little tired. But we will be ready."

Altitude could be a minor impairment as Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium, near the 11,500-foot peaks of the Wasatch Mountains, is 4,500 feet above sea level. (Rice-Eccles will get its 15 minutes of fame in February when it hosts the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics).

Leavitt said his team is in optimum condition, so all USF can do to combat the thin air is use its depth.

"I talked to (the team) about it. I spent about 30 seconds on it," Leavitt said. "I said, 'You're going to play up high. If you get tired, come off the field.' "

The distance traveled and altitude figure to be smaller factors than the quality of opponent.

Utah is off to a 3-1 start and is rated No. 47 by USA Today's Jeff Sagarin. USF is No. 93. The Utes' loss was at then-No. 7 Oregon 24-10.

In 11-plus seasons under coach Ron McBride, Utah has played the best in school history. McBride, who succeeded New York Giants coach Jim Fassel in 1990 (Fassel was 25-33 in five seasons), is 78-54 and has led the Utes to five of the school's eight bowl appearances.

Utah was Running Back U in the 1990s, producing NFL stars Jamal Anderson (Falcons) and Mike Anderson (Broncos) as well as Utes folk hero Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala (Steelers). This season, a worthy heir to the distinguished legacy has emerged in senior Dameon Hunter.

The 5-foot-11, 236-pounder has eclipsed his career-high rushing total in each of the past three games, including 177 yards on 25 carries last week against New Mexico. He averages 126 yards, 5.2 per carry.

USF will make a few cosmetic changes. Redshirt freshman running back Clenton Crossley, who leads the team in rushing, will get his first start. Senior Ken "Shaq" Dawson will make his second straight start at right guard. Wide receiver Huey Whittaker likely will start again for DeAndrew Rubin (turf toe).

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