THE FIRST TIME Utah State got an up-close-and-personal look at Utah fullback Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, he hit the line, spun and landed with a thud seven yards downfield. It was like a bowling ball dropping off the return. The Behavioral Science building across the street shuddered.
The man was huge.Though at that stage there was still no score in Saturday's 40-20 Utah win over Utah State, the message had been sent: The big guy was coming.
"I don't know," said Ute coach Ron McBride after the game. "This kid might be in a league of his own."
Indeed, whatever league Fuamatu-Ma'afala plays in, he doesn't have a lot of company. At 6 feet, 274 pounds, he looks like the wide side of a mausoleum. If you've ever seen a runaway truck barreling down I-80 from Parley's Summit, you've seen Fuamatu-Ma'afala coming through the line.
"People are always saying, `What's that lineman doing in the backfield?' " said FuamatuMa'afala.
In terms of running backs, he's nothing short of impressive. When he hits the line, it moves. It isn't your ordinary shifting and twisting that lines always do, it's a tearing and splitting at the seams. It's a dam bursting apart or a wall collapsing.
"I just try to get as much yardage as I can," he said.
If gaining yardage is Fuamatu-Ma'afala's goal, he more than met it this week. In just three quarters against the Aggies, he racked up 180 yards on 19 carries. After that they backed him into a warehouse for storage.
Included in his day's work was a 42-yard run at the end of the first quarter to set up a field goal, a 30-yard run early in the third quarter and a 39-yard touchdown run with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.
Whenever he got the ball, the Aggies' did the only thing possible: they tackled him by committee.
"I mean, that guy just kept running over us all day," said Utah State coach John L. Smith. "We couldn't tackle him. One time, we had five, six guys hit him and he just kept going."
Growing up in Honolulu, Fuamatu-Ma'afala was the youngest of 10 children. Of the six brothers, five played high school football and four went on to college ball. "I'm the smallest of all the brothers," he said.
Which is a frightening thought.
When he finished his prep career, after rushing for 893 yards last year, his plan was to play at Hawaii. There he could perform before friends and family. By staying home, he wouldn't have to scrape the windshield on cold January nights and he'd never have to price Gore-tex parkas. Best of all, he'd never have to play a home game in the snow.
It was the kind of career he could live with.
But as the signing date neared, he started thinking about leaving home and growing up. And about carrying people on his back into the end zone, which was his favorite job in the world. Though that may have happened somewhere else, he knew if he came to Utah it would happen.
"I knew (Utah coach) Ron McBride is an honest man and I believed him," he said.
On signing day, Fuamatu-Ma'afala got off by himself and "for about 25 minutes, I thought hard to myself about what I wanted to do." If he went to Hawaii he'd be safe inside his comfort zone. If he went to Utah he would grow up and learn about being away from home and, no doubt about it, spend his prime time carrying the football.
He started looking up the number of the nearest ski outfitter.
So far, coming to Utah is a decision neither he nor Utah regrets. Against UTEP, the Utes muddled through a listless performance, except for Fuamatu-Ma'afala, who turned in a 130-yard night day that saved the game. After barely being used in the first two games of the season - he carried a total of five times combined against Oregon and Stanford - he carried eight times against New Mexico, 13 against Fresno, 16 against UTEP, six against San Diego State, 14 against Colorado State and 10 against Air Force.
All that was only a prelude to Saturday at Rice Stadium. When he wasn't running over people, he was bulldozing them to the side like a pile of gravel. By the time the third quarter was through, all he had to do was snarl and people were moving out of the way. When McBride finally retired him to the sidelines, he stood there as low and solid as a Wal-Mart.
It was all over but clearing the stadium with the leaf blowers.
"He's just a horse," said Smith. "He couldn't be tackled."
Thus ended the biggest game in Fuamatu-Ma'afala's brief college career. His decision to come to Utah was looking better all the time. Not only had the Utes won and he'd gained 180 yards, but he'd gone through the entire home season without playing in so much as a flake of snow.