Wearing his new game uniform for the first time for a team picture and gazing up at the Rice-Eccles Stadium seats on a cloudless Saturday, incoming Ute junior receiver Paris Jackson was just ready to go a week early.
He was envisioning a full stadium.
Hey, he's new.
But remember that name. Jackson and fellow junior-college newcomer Devin Houston are moving up the depth chart and should see considerable time this season, maybe starting time.
Houston is the speedster to help replace Steve Smith, now with the NFL Charlotte Panthers. He was clocked at 4.3 seconds in the 40-yard dash at West L.A. College and is the son of a former Cal-Fullerton baseball player. Jackson is the rangy (6-foot-3) all-around athlete from Butte College, a Canadian whose father played for the CFL B.C. Lions.
Jackson, Houston and the rest of the team had a dress rehearsal on the stadium floor Saturday, getting the right players and units on the field for all situations - punts, kickoffs, passing, short-yardage situations, etc., with first and second teams and replacements called onto the field as they might be in games. They even went over how to come out of the locker room onto the field.
CROWDS: About 20,000 season tickets have been sold so far, down about 15 percent from 2000, said ticket manager Dave Copier, who expects a good selling period this week. The downturn actually started last season, but Copier points out that this is the last of Utah's weak home schedules, so he expects things to pick up by next year, when Indiana and Memphis will be among the home games.
About 40,000 are expected to be in Rice-Eccles Saturday for the 6 p.m. Utah State game.
NEW LOOK: Utah has some subtle changes in its uniforms and helmets this year, says equipment operations director Robert Wiscomb. There's a slight difference in the helmet, with the "U" in bolder face than in the past in the drum-and-feather logo. Also, helmets are painted with a metallic red rather than plain red.
Jerseys are the same as last year, but the pants have no side stripes on them. They still have the Ute logo on the hip. Home uniforms are all red, though Utah could decided to wear last year's white pants. It's up to offensive-line coach Don Eck, Wiscomb says. Eck replaces Fred Graves, now an assistant with the NFL Buffalo Bills, as uniform fashion coordinator. The supplier for the uniforms is Nike.
FIELD POSITION: The new grass on the field looked thick and green Saturday, a week before the first game. It now covers the team areas, replacing the old, hard artificial turf on the sidelines. There's still a small strip of artificial turf on the west side of the field behind the visitors' team area, left there for TV trucks.
BROTHERS IN AWARDS: Senior offensive tackle Doug Kaufusi and sophomore linebacker end Jason Kaufusi are each up for national awards. Doug has been named a candidate for the Lombardi Award, one of 81 players on the watch list. And Jason is among 69 candidates named to the Butkus Award watch list.
WHO'S WHERE?: With so many new coaches on the Ute staff, here are their game-day position assignments — offensive coordinator Craig Ver Steeg will be up in the pressbox with Eck and graduate assistants Jay Hill and Kevin Clune, while running backs/receivers coach Vincent White and tight ends/offensive tackles coach Alex Gerke will be on the sidelines. Defensively, defensive ends coach Steve Kaufusi and safeties coach Bill Busch will be up in the box with defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham, defensive tackles/special teams coach Gary Andersen and cornerbacks coach Jugi Hogue on the sidelines.
HURTS: Receiver Cliff Russell is the fastest player ever at Utah, but he'll have to heal as quick as he runs to play against Utah State. He's listed as questionable with a knee sprain. He'll try running Monday but has a ways to go. Also questionable is fullback Thomas Fortune with a hamstring pull.
E-mail: lham@desnews.com