Now that the University of Utah has put in two straight weeks of preparation, including several contact practices; now that the head coach himself has personally scouted the opposition and overseen the scout team; now that the Utes have saved their senior co-captain from the clutches of the NCAA; now that Henry Lusk has done his best impersonation of a 'bone quarterback . . . the Utes are finally ready to play surprising Oregon State tonight in their 1992 home season opener.
The Utes had little trouble dispatching the Beavers early last season (22-10), but Oregon State is a better team than it was a year ago. The Beavers are off to a 1-1-1 start, with a victory over a good Fresno State team and a tie with powerhouse Arizona. Utah is not likely to produce seven turnovers again in the rematch with OSU. The Beavers have had a year to polish their wishbone offense inthe past year, and now the Utes are blowing the dust off their option defense again in anticipation of tonight's game, which will begin at 7 p.m. in Rice Stadium.The Utes, 1-1, are coming off a bye week, and that is precisely what has Oregon State coach Jerry Pettibone worried. The bye means his team has lost an element of surprise heading into tonight's game. As one of a dying breed, the wishbone usually leaves opponents scrambling to prepare for an offensive style that is vastly different from what they saw the previous week. But the Utes, with a bye, have had 14 days since their last game to prepare for the OSU 'bone, and they've made the most of their time.
Utah has devoted considerable energy to designing a defensive package for option teams. This year alone the Utes will have faced five option offenses (Air Force, Hawaii, Nebraska, UTEP and OSU). But only Air Force and OSU play the wishbone. Head coach Ron McBride flew to Corvallis last weekend to watch OSU play Arizona. He also gave the Utes a good, live look at the 'bone. He took charge of the scout team and for two weeks re-converted freshman Henry Lusk to a wishbone quarterback, which is what he was in high school a year ago.
"He can run the option and run it well," said McBride. "He gives you a real good look at the wishbone in practice."
The Utes defended the option well against Air Force and UTEP last season, but it gave them fits against Hawaii and again against Nebraska in the season opener three weeks ago.
"The problem is temptation," says safety Mark Swanson. "Someone is tempted into trying to make the play instead of playing his responsibility."
If the Utes are concerned about defending OSU's offense, at least they are not alone. "One thing that is very unusual about Utah is that they run multiple formations," says OSU coach Jerry Pettibone. "Our defensive coaches said that in 70 snaps in their game against Utah State, they showed 40 different variations of motion with different formations. Their multiple formations will give us a lot of problems to prepare for."
The Utes are hoping for a repeat of their second-half performance against Utah State tonight. In that game, they were forced to abandon their running game, and quarterback Frank Dolce produced the best performance of his career. The Utes might well be forced to play the same hand tonight, because OSU operates a defense that is similar to USU's.
"They are a pressure team," says McBride. "They blitz a lot. They bring eight and hold three, or they bring seven and hold four. Their linebackers are extremely aggressive to the line of scrimmage."
Those are precisely the reasons Utah went to the passing game in the second half against USU.
Utah's pass attack will be aided by the return of two players: offensive tackle Mike DeHoog, who was declared ineligible by the NCAA two weeks ago until the NCAA reversed itself Thursday upon appeal by the Utes; and wide receiver Vernon Shaver, who will see his first action since injuring a hamstring muscle in training camp.