HE HELD BACK for nearly four hours, keeping his cool, playing it safe, staying as low key and unassuming as a Chevy Nova. No need to attract attention. But now the game was over and the Utes had won 34-17 over BYU Saturday at Cougar Stadium, and Utah fans were clamoring for coach Ron McBride to get a little crazy.

So he obliged. Hair sticking up like a wire brush, he ran to the north end zone, stood on the rostrum and led the Utah pep band in a rousing rendition of "A Utah Man." Soon to follow was a session of hugging, kissing, autograph-signing, and high-fiving and a jubilant post-game speech to his team."This," said McBride, shaking his head, "is a trip."

Indeed, McBride and the Utes are on a trip they haven't enjoyed in over two decades. The last time they won at least three straight games over the Cougars ended in 1972.

"As far back as I can remember," said Ute cornerback Calbert Beck, who grew up in Salt Lake, "BYU dominated Utah. Or Utah beat themselves. But now I feel, well - it's not pity - but I feel bad for (BYU)."

Saturday's win marked what seems to be another benchmark in the 103-year-old history of the football rivalry. For the first 79 years, the Utes simply showed up, punched the clock and went home. Another day at the plant. The next 21 years the rivalry was as one-sided as a Right to Life rally. There was only one side to the debate. The question wasn't whether the Cougars would win, but whether they'd have it wrapped up in time to catch the afternoon matinee at the Varsity.

But by Saturday evening it was apparent things had changed again. Big Mo had taken up with the Utes. The win gave the Utes at least a tie for their first WAC title in 31 years. And though 3-point wins the last two years could be considered lucky, this time luck never even made an appearance. Utah was as regular and methodical as a metronome. From the moment Utah's Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala barged up the middle for a 32-yard touchdown in the first quarter to the final tick of the clock, the Utes were driving the bus.

"I guess now they have to say, `Hey, Utah's a real team that we can beat on a certain day,"' said McBride.

If Saturday's game lacked the last-second thrills of the previous two years, it wasn't as though the teams didn't prepare for such an occurrence. They prepared like they were readying for a foreign invasion. While previous years usually included flip quotes from BYU players about the Utah game being just another game on the schedule, this year there were no such pretenses. The Cougars were talking the talk and walking the walk of a team with a badly bruised ego. There was no pretending they had nothing to prove, no condescending references to this being "Utah's bowl game."

As the week wore on, the coaches began working on their players' heads. BYU coach LaVell Edwards cut off media interviews on Wednesday, hoping to keep his players focused on the task ahead. At a Friday night preseason basketball game at the Marriott Center, the Cougar football players were introduced to a wildly cheering crowd. Edwards publicly declared his team "ready to play."

Meanwhile, McBride didn't waste any time squeezing all the emotion he could out of the situation. He recounted to players how in his first year as a Ute assistant (1977) the Cougars won 38-8. That year BYU inserted Marc Wilson into the game long after the outcome had been decided, in order to reach a passing record. If he wasn't hurt and offended back then, McBride certainly didn't mind being hurt and offended now.

"Coach got all teary-eyed and told us of how he dreamed of one day being the head coach at Utah and winning the WAC by beating BYU," said Beck.

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Soon enough, though, the pregame psychology was over. It was time to play. The Utes went ahead 7-0 and never trailed, building their lead to 27-3 and coasting in from there.

"I'm not one to brag, but believe me, I've got another year here and I don't plan on losing to BYU again," said Ute safety Harold Lusk. He paused as a smile spread slowly across his face. "It's starting to be a habit."

Other than McBride's stint as a band leader, it was a relatively subdued celebration after the game. The Utes left the field with the bearing of a team that feels it has arrived. Nobody taunted the Cougars as they walked off the field. Nobody screamed obscenities. The Ute players and fans, after three straight wins over the Cougars, even avoided storming goal posts.

It seemed as though the Utes had grown into something to take seriously. Storming the goal posts is for when you're not supposed to win. Nowadays they don't even stick around to argue.

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