His Muslim name means Keeper of the Law, and on Saturday afternoon that's precisely what he did. Sharrieff Shah, the University of Utah's strong safety, roving hitman and aspiring lawyer, ruled the Parker Stadium field Saturday afternoon in Corvallis, leading the Utes to a 22-10 victory over Oregon State. By the end of the day, after Shah had collected a season's worth of sacks and dumped a dozen ball carriers to the turf, a frustrated OSU lineman finally suggested, "Why don't you just play quarterback for us."
Heaven knows, Shah spent the entire day in the Beaver backfield anyway.Shah and the defense carried the day, just when they needed to. The Utes were so ineffective on offense that Head Coach Ron McBride threw a fit in the locker room after the game. The Utes held a precarious 12-7 lead at halftime, but the defense repeatedly held the Beavers at bay in the second half. With seven minutes left in the game, the Utes scored the decisive touchdown on a 2-yard run by tailback Keith Williams. On the next series, Shah ended any thoughts of a comeback when he crashed into halfback Chad Paulson at about the same time the pitch arrived, and Utah recovered the resulting fumble.
Thus, the Utes are 2-0, and the hapless Beavers - annually one of the nation's poorest teams - are 0-1.
"He's the hitman!" said defensive coordinator Greg McMackin of Shah.
For the record, Shah finished with 5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss (worth 31 yards), 9 solo tackles and caused 2 fumbles. But while you're at it, credit McMackin for re-designing the Ute defense that shut down OSU's new wishbone offense. All told, the Utes caused a school-record 11 fumbles (they recovered 5 of them), recorded 9 sacks and held OSU to a mere 208 yards. The Beavers did manage one touchdown, but it was a gift from the Ute offense.
It was precisely the kind of day McMackin has worked for since watching Air Force - next week's opponent - and its wishbone rush for 403 yards against the Utes last season. "We've been working on the option ever since that game, because I didn't ever want to let that happen again," said McMackin.
Even as far back as last spring, McMackin had the Utes work daily on stopping the wishbone offense. During two-a-day practices in fall camp, they worked on their option package regularly again. Two days before last week's season-opener against Utah State, the Utes were still working on stopping the option, which is now utilized by three conference rivals (Air Force, UTEP and Hawaii).
After spending so much time on their new option defense, McMackin and the Utes weren't about to tell anyone any secrets. When they showed up at Parker Stadium on Friday for the usual on-site warmup, they were surprised to see OSU players and coaches watching them from atop the end zone seats.
"Some of them were hiding behind trees," said wide receiver Bryan Rowley.
"It was bush," said one Ute assistant coach. "It's not an NCAA rule, but it's etiquette. You just don't do that."
Ute coaches sized up the situation and, rather than reveal anything to their opponents, decided to save part of their practice for the parking lot of their hotel, where there would be no witnesses.
"We just stretched and ran (at the stadium), then we came back to the hotel and walked through our offense," said tackle Mike DeHoog.
"We showed them what we wanted them to see," said McMackin. "We ran things we wouldn't use in the game. I never like to show anything in the stadium the day before a game anyway, because you never know who's watching."
The one thing McMackin didn't show the Beavers on Friday was the new alignment he would use against them. To defend the OSU option, the Utes now abandon their normal 5-2 alignment in favor of three linebackers. McMackin moved inside linebacker Anthony Davis outside, alternately to nickelback and outside linebacker. Davis collected 20 tackles, including 16 solos and 3 tackles for losses. McMackin brought Kelvin Lambert - a 250-pound junior college transfer - off the bench to play the inside linebacker spot. He collected 11 tackles - 9 solo - and 2 fumble recoveries. "That's why I brought him in here - to take the dive (fullback) in the option," said McMackin. He also moved Shah up to the line of scrimmage to take the quarterback or pitchman.
There was another change, as well: "In our base defense, we wait and string out the option play," says McMackin. "Today we applied pressure. We got people to the pitch and caused problems. Then when a play action pass comes along, you don't have to wait to see if it's a pass or run."
The Utes set the tone for the day early. In the first quarter, Shah and Davis ran down Paulson for an 8yard loss. On the next play Shah, blitzing from the right side, drove his helmet into the chest of quarterback Ed Browning as he was setting up to pass and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Blaine Berger at midfield. On the next series, Shah hit Paulson just a split second after he caught a pitch and dropped him for a 7-yard loss. On the next series, the Beavers had reached the Ute 24-yard line when Shah again hit halfback Razshawn Miller just after he took a pitch and dropped him for another 7-yard loss. Later in the half, it was Davis' turn to sack Browning on fourth- and third-down plays. And so it went.
"Everyone on the defense executed so well that it opened lanes for me," said Shah. "(End Keith) Embray took on both the tackle and the halfback on several occasions."
"Utah's defense is the strength of their team," said OSU coach Pettibone.
Utah's domination of the OSU offense was partly attributable to the Beavers themselves. Saturday marked the debut of Pettibone and the wishbone - a drastic change for a team that had spent years operating a pass attack. Several fumbles were unforced, and those mistakes, combined with penalties, ended several scoring threats deep in Utah territory.
Then again, the Utes' offense was nothing to brag about, either. They managed just 293 yards and were oh-for-11 in third-down conversions. With Chris Yergensen on the sidelines, however, close was good enough. He made three field goals, of 43, 40 and 47 yards, in as many tries. Otherwise, with the running game shut down (108 yards), the Utes' best weapon was slotback Sean Hutson, who was able to get open underneath the zone coverage much of the day. He caught 5 passes for 104 yards, and set up both of the Ute touchdowns. He caught passes of 17 and 16 yards on back-to-back plays late in the second quarter to set up a 1-yard touchdown pass from Frank Dolce to tight end Scott Murry (the conversion pass failed).
The Utes were set to take a 12-0 lead into the halftime locker room when they made one grave mistake. With 43 seconds left in the half, Dolce, passing from deep in his own territory, was intercepted by safety Dennis Edwards, who ran 14 yards to the 17-yard line. Two plays later Browning scored from the one.
The Utes' lead was cut to 15-10 late in the third period on a 47-yard field goal by Jamie Burke, and that's the way the score remained until Dolce and Hutson connected on a 29-yard pass at the 5-yard line late in the fourth quarter. Two plays later Williams scored.
Blunders cost the Utes several other opportunities. For instance: Bryan Rowley's rash attempt to lateral a pass reception at the OSU 18-yard line resulted in a fumble, and an errant pass by Dolce was intercepted in the end zone.
"It's the same old story," said Dolce, who completed 17 of 27 passes for 209 yards. "If we can eliminate mistakes, we'll be all right." In the meantime, there's always the defense.
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Key Stats
Sharrieff Shah, Utah - Finished with 5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss (worth 31 yards), 9 solo tackles and caused 2 fumbles.
Frank Dolce, Utah - Completed 17 of 27 passes for 209 yards, 1 TD and 2 interceptions.
Chris Yergensen, Utah - Kicked three field goals.
Ute defense - Held the Beavers to 208 yards total offense.