Upcoming Event: Football at Wyoming on September 13, 2025 at 6 p.m.
6 p.m.
Football
at Wyoming
Football Prepares to Take on UTEP
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Football
November 3, 1998
Utah vs. UTEP, Nov. 7, 1:00 p.m.
Salt Lake City
Rice-Eccles Stadium - 45,634
TELEVISION: None local.
RADIO: All Ute football games are broadcast live on the Utah Sports Network: K-news AM (570), KOAL (Price), KSGI/KZEZ FM (St. George/Cedar City), KVEL (Vernal), and KUTA AM (Blanding). Pre-game begins at 10:00 a.m. Talent: Play-by-play Bill Marcroft; commentary Frank Dolce; sidelines Bryan Rowley. Brad Stone is host of the pre-game and post-game shows on K-news.
TV SHOW: The Coach's Show with Head Coach Ron McBride is each Saturday at 10 a.m. on KJZZ.
RADIO SHOWS: "U" Talk can be heard on KALL AM, Fridays from 4-6 p.m. The KALL radio Coach's Show is Tuesdays from 6-7 p.m.
QUICKLY - The Utes (5-3, 3-2 WAC) kept their WAC Pacific Division title hopes alive with their 49-17 thrashing of San Jose State last Saturday ... Utah entertains UTEP (3-5, 3-2 WAC) this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Rice-Eccles Stadium... The two schools are in a three-way tie for second (with Fresno State), and one game out of first, in the WAC Pacific Division ... Utah has averaged 37,728 fans in its first three games in its new stadiuma record pace. The school record for single-season attendance average is 32,310, set in 1994 ... Utah's move to the Mountain West Conference next year marks the end of its series with UTEP; a series that been continuous since 1964 ... Ute Head Coach Ron McBride claimed career victory No. 60 with his win over SJSU. He is 60-42 in nine years at Utah ... The Ute-Miner game will not be televised locally. It can be heard on K-news radio (570 AM).
TICKET TALK - A crowd of 35,000 is expected for Saturday's game. Good seats remain in all price ranges. Tickets are available at the Utah ticket office and all SmithTix locations. Call 581-UTIX for more information.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE - Practice times are subject to change. Practice is scheduled for Monday through Thursday, 3:30-6:00 p.m. at McCarthey Practice Field. Call sports information director Liz Abel (581-3511) for daily updates and interview requests.
LAST WEEK - Junior running back Mike Anderson ran his way into history against SJSU, when he posted his fifth consecutive 100-yard game. Anderson, who had 163 yards and two touchdowns to lead Utah to a 49-17 win over the Spartans, also became the first Ute since Keith Williams in 1991 to gain 1,000 yards in a season. Other big efforts came from receiver Daniel Jones (3 catches for 98 yards and 1 TD) and kick returner Patrick Dyson (3 returns for 165 yards and a 90-yard touchdown). The defense was again spectacularholding SJSU to three first half points and just 87 rushing yards (322 total yards).
HEAD COACH RON MCBRIDE - Head Coach Ron McBride, in his ninth year at the helm of the Ute program, is its second winningest coach. McBride, 60-42, is one of just two coaches in school history to win 60 games. His last five teams have posted winning seasons and he has had just one losing season (1990, his first year). McBride's teams have averaged seven wins per year. He has taken the Utes to four bowl games and is the only head coach at Utah to go to more than one bowl. He is 1-3 in bowl games. McBride led Utah to the 1995 WAC Championship (tie)Utah's first title in 31 years. Before accepting Utah's head coaching position in 1990, McBride served two previous stints on the Hill. He was Utah's offensive line coach from 1985-86 and its offensive coordinator from 1977-82. He is 7-1 against UTEP (his only loss was in 1992) and 5-0 against Miner Head Coach Charlie Bailey.
SERIES SHORTS - Utah leads 24-8 ... Utah and UTEP are playing in Salt Lake City for the second straight year. They played in El Paso in three of the four preceding years ... Utah owns a 13-4 lead in Salt Lake City ... UTEP's last win in Salt Lake was in 1992 ... The Utes have won four straight and eight of the last 10 ... The 82 points Utah scored against UTEP in 1973 is the most points scored by a Ute team since the Modern Era began (1946).
Overall Series: 24-8 (Utah)
First Game: 1964 (Utah 41-0)
Series Streak: Utah 5
In Salt Lake City: Utah 13-4
Last Ute Win: 1997 (56-3)
Last UTEP Win: 1992 (20-13)
Last Ute Win in Salt Lake: 1997 (56-3)
Last UTEP Win in Salt Lake: 1992 (20-13)
GRIDBITS - Utah has three native Texans on its roster, although just onejunior defensive tackle Richard Seals (Houston)will play. Tight end C.J. Johnson (Houston) is lost for the season with a broken leg and juco transfer Ed Johnson (Dallas) is redshirting this season ... Utah is 12-11 in November games during McBride's tenure (1990-present) ... Utah's three losses have been by a total of seven points. The Utes led late in the fourth quarter in two of those (Boise State and Wyoming), and were tied going into the fourth quarter at San Diego State.
MIKE CHECK - Running back Mike Anderson (6-2, 220), a 24-year-old junior college transfer, leads the WAC and ranks 10th in the nation in rushing, averaging 125.1 ypg. He had a career-best 163 yards against San Jose State, which pushed him past 1,000 yards (1,001) for the season. Anderson becomes just the fourth runner in school history to gain 1,000 yards in a single season and the first since Keith Williams rushed for 1,076 yards back in 1991. He needs 127 yards to pass Del Rodgers (1,127 in 1981) for second. Anderson tied the school record for consecutive 100-yard games of five (first set by Carl Monroe in 1982) with his 163-yard effort against SJSU.
Anderson is one of just two players in school historyand the first in 16 yearsto rush for 100 yards seven times in a season. With three games left, the school record of nine 100-yard games in a single seasonset by Monroe in 1982is within Anderson's reach. Anderson and Monroe both reached 1,000 yards in eight gamesthe fastest by a Ute. Utah's rushing leader in seven of eight games, Anderson leads Utah in every rushing category: carries (190), yards (1,001), yards per carry (5.3) and touchdowns (8). His 40-yard touchdown run against San Jose State was his longest yet. He is Utah's leading scorer with 48 points. He has started in every game except Boise State.
Opponent Rush Yards Avg. TD Long Utah State 32 150 4.7 1 20 Louisville 30 122 4.1 1 13 Hawai'i 15 75 5.0 0 10 Boise State 19 110 5.8 1 21 Wyoming 19 150 8.0 2 24 Fresno State 26 121 4.7 1 21 San Diego State 20 110 5.5 0 25 San Jose State 29 163 5.6 2 40
HOLY KAUTAI - Sophomore linebacker Kautai Olevao (6-2, 240) is having an all-WAC caliber season in his first year back from an LDS church mission. Olevao, who started as a freshman in 1995 and only returned to the team in August, is Utah's tackle leader with 55 (6.9 tpg). He started the first two games at middle linebacker and has started the last four games at rover, replacing the injured Phil Glover. He has a team-best three double-figure tackle games (14 vs. Utah State, 11 vs. San Diego State and 10 vs. Fresno State). He also has five tackles for loss (7 yards), 2.5 sacks (10 yards), five pass breakups and a caused fumble. In his first game since 95, Olevao had a career-tying 14 tackles against Utah State in the season opener and was named WAC Defensive Player of the Week.
Opponent UT AT TT TFL SKS PBU Utah State 6 8 14 0-0 0-0 0 Louisville 1 2 3 1-1 0-0 3 Hawai'i 1 3 4 0-0 0-0 0 Boise State 3 1 4 0-0 1.5-7 0 Wyoming 4 1 5 1-1 0-0 0 Fresno State 7 3 10 1-1 0-0 2 San Diego State 4 7 11 1-3 1-3 0 San Jose State 4 0 4 1-1 0-0 0
DARTING DARNELL - Sophomore quarterback Darnell Arceneaux (6-1, 187) raised his record as a starter to 5-0 after leading Utah to a 49-17 win over San Jose State. Arceneaux completed 5 of 10 passes for 140 yards and 1 touchdown, and also rushed for 47 yards and a score, before re-injuring the finger he broke on September 15. The injury is to the index finger on his throwing hand. His finger will be x-rayed on Monday, but he is listed as probable to play and is expected to start against UTEP. Arceneaux played three quarters against San Jose Statehis first start since leading Utah to a September 12 win over Louisvillebefore re-injuring his finger.
He initially returned >from the injured list in the second half of Utah's win over Fresno State on October 17, but was knocked from that game with a concussion. He played sparingly against San Diego State the next week and completed all three pass attempts for seven yards. Arceneaux started the first two games for the Utes, leading them to a 2-0 record. His 5-0 record as a starter dates back to last year. His 1998 season stats are 34 completions in 59 attempts (.576) for 566 yards (113.2 ypg). He has three touchdowns and three interceptions. Arceneaux has also rushed for four touchdowns. His career best passing game came in a win over Brigham Young last year, when he passed for 208 yards.
Opponent ATT COMP INT YDS TD LONG Utah State 22 13 0 146 0 23 Louisville 16 8 2 195 2 35 Hawai'i dnp (finger surgery) Boise State dnp (finger surgery) Wyoming dnp (finger surgery) Fresno State 8 5 0 78 0 30 San Diego State 3 3 0 7 0 12 San Jose State 10 5 1 140 1 45
COUNTING CROSSWHITE - Senior quarterback Jonathan Crosswhite (6-2, 210), who started the first nine games of last season, has started five games in 1998. He has played in seven of eight games. Crosswhite is 2-3 as a starter this year. He will back up Arceneaux this week unless Arceneaux's injured finger fails to improve. Crosswhite had his most impressive numbers of the year in Utah's win over Fresno State on October 17, completing 14 of 17 passes for 187 yards. His .824 passing percentage was the fourth best in school history. Crosswhite owns two of the top four single-game passing percentages in school history. He was 90% (9-10) against UTEP last year.
He completed two of his three passes against San Jose last Saturday for 65 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, when he replaced Arceneaux. He has completed 86 of 152 passes (.566) for 1,131 yards (161.6 ypg) and seven touchdowns (6 interceptions) this year. He has two 200-yard games ( 255 vs. Hawai'i and 209 vs. Wyoming) and five career 200-yard games. His best game was against TCU in 1997, when he threw for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Opponent ATT COMP INT YDS TD LONG Utah State dnp Louisville 6 3 1 35 0 24 Hawai'i 28 17 1 255 2 57 Boise State 30 16 0 195 3 40 Wyoming 38 17 2 209 1 22 Fresno State 17 14 0 187 0 49 San Diego State 30 17 2 185 0 29 San Jose State 3 2 0 65 1 34
BACON SIZZLES - Junior running back Omar Bacon (6-1, 208) is having the best season of his career. Bacon, who redshirted last year after playing sparingly as a freshman and sophomore, is averaging 69.1 yards per gamesecond on the team and 13th in the WAC. He is second on the team to WAC leader Mike Anderson in all rushing categories: carries (117), yards (556), yards per carry (4.7) and yards per game (69.1). Bacon's rushing average is particularly impressive in view of the fact that he was limited to special teams duty in the season-opener due to an ankle injury. In seven games as a running back, he is averaging 79.0 ypg. He rushed for a career-high 125 yards (his first 100-yard game) against Hawai'i. His 27-yard TD run against Hawai'i with 1:14 left in the game sealed Utah's win. He started against Boise State.
Opponent Rush Yards Avg. TD Long Utah State dnp RB (ankle injury, played STs) Louisville 8 75 9.4 2 38 Hawai'i 24 125 5.2 2 27 Boise State 15 88 5.9 0 34 Wyoming 17 57 3.4 0 16 Fresno State 19 83 4.4 1 19 San Diego State 17 56 3.3 2 11 San Jose State 17 69 4.1 0 24
RECEIVING LINE - Senior wide receivers Jerome Anderson and Daniel Jones, and junior slot back Donny Utu have given Utah one of its most balanced receiving acts ever. Jones has 38 catches, Anderson 30 and Utu 26. Jones leads or is tied for the lead in all but one receiving category. He has 583 receiving yards (72.9 ypg), three touchdowns, and averages 15.3 yards per catch (second on the team). He ranks fourth in the WAC in both yards per game (72.9) and receptions per game (4.8). He just missed out on his fifth career 100-yard game against San Jose, when he caught three passes for 98 yards and 1 score. He averaged 32.7 yards per catch.
Anderson, who led Utah in receptions and yards through five games, is also nearing 500-yard territory (472) and his 15.7 yards per catch is best on the team. He averages 59.0 ypg10th in the WAC. Utu is eyeing 400 yards; he currently has 337. He is tied with Jones for the team lead in TD catches, with three, and averages 42.1 ypg. All three have taken turns as the team leader this season. Utu has led the Utes three times (Boise State, Wyoming and SDSU), as has Jones (Louisville , Fresno State and San Jose State). Leading Utah in two games was Anderson (Utah State and Hawai'i). All three have had career games this year: Jones' 197-yard game against Fresno was the most yards by a Ute receiver since 1991 (when Bryan Rowley had 200 against Hawai'i); Anderson's 107 yards vs. Hawai'i was his first 100-yard game ever, and Utu racked up a personal best 95 yards against SDSU.
LOTS OF LOVE - Senior strong safety Robert Love (5-9, 203), a two-time second-team all-WAC pick and Utah's tackle leader for the last two years, was leading again through the first four games of 1998. He is now third (two tackles out of second), despite missing the Wyoming game with a knee injury. In seven games, he has 46 tackles. His 6.6 tackle average is second on the team and he is second in solo tackles with 28. Love has had a season-best nine tackles twice. His best season was in 1996, when he led Utah with 108 tackles. He was tops again last year with 92.
Opponent UT AT TT TFL SKS PBU Utah State 1 2 3 0-0 0 1 Louisville 7 2 9 0-0 0 0 Hawai'i 4 3 7 1-4 0 1 Boise State 3 4 7 1-1 0 0 Wyoming dnp (knee injury) Fresno State 5 1 6 0-0 0 0 San Diego State 6 3 9 1-2 0 1 San Jose State 2 3 5 0-0 0 2
OFFENSIVE INFO - Juniors Mike Anderson (6-2, 220) and Omar Bacon (6-1, 208) have made Utah's ground game its best in years. The Utes are averaging 209.5 yards per gamethe most since 1984 (when they averaged 271.9 ypg)with 93-percent coming from Anderson and Bacon. The 1998 Utes are bidding to become the first Utah team since 1984 to average 200 yards rushing ... Utah's 280 rushing yards against San Jose State was its most of the season ... Utah's offense is split down the middle, with 1,697 passing yards and 1,676 rushing yards ... Daniel Jones leads Utah (3rd in the WAC, 19th in the nation) in all-purpose yardage (145.5 ypg) ... Slot back Boo Bendinger is required to sit out the UTEP game after being ejected from last week's game with San Jose State. Chris Christensen and Clifford Russell will fill in at slot back and wide receiver ...Utah's best quarter is the first (90 points). The third quarter is its worst (23 points) ... Utah is converting on 42% of its third downs (52-125).
UTAH ON OFFENSE
Category A vg. WAC NCAA Rushing Offense 209.5 4 19 Passing Offense 212.1 7 50 Total Offense 421.6 2 26 Scoring Offense 30.0 2 31
DEFENSIVE DATA - Redshirt freshman Patrick Dyson moved to defensive back from wide receiver last week. He will be used as Utah's fourth cornerback when the Utes are in their dime package. Dyson, whose younger brother Andre is a sophomore corner for the Utes, is being groomed to play free safety ... 1997 all-WAC linebacker Phil Glover has been cleared to run on Monday and will gradually work into practice. He is doubtful to return to action this week, but should be back by Utah's Nov. 14 game at New Mexico.
Glover injured his ankle in the fourth game of the season and underwent surgery on Sept. 29. He has missed the last four games ... Sophomore free safety Kimball Christianson, Utah's second leading tackler with 48, had his first 2 career sacks last week at San Jose State (17 yards) ... junior end John Frank leads Utah in sacks (6-36 yards) and is tied for first in tackles for loss (5-13) ... Frank also has a team-best 2 caused fumbles, a fumble recovery and 3 pass breakups ... corners Teneil Ethridge and Andre Dyson are tied with 9 pass breakups ... Dyson has a team-best 3 interceptions ... best quarters are the first (31 points) and fourth (36 points) ... opponents are converting on 36% of their third down attempts (48-135).
UTAH ON DEFENSE
Category Avg. WAC NCAA Rushing Defense 92.3 2 11 Passing Defense 246.8 2 18 Total Defense 339.0 4 40 Scoring Defense 20.9 4 30
SPECIAL TEAMS - Walk-on freshman kicker Ryan Kaneshiro is 30-31 on extra point attempts, with his only miss in overtime at San Diego State. He has made 5 of 9 field goal attempts, with a long of 47 vs. Wyoming. Kaneshiro is Utah's second leading scorer with 45 points ... Junior all-WAC candidate Chris Hunter has 42 punts for 1,745 yards (41.6 average) with a long of 61 yards. He placed a punt on the 1-yard line against both Boise State and Wyoming ... In his first year on the return teams, Daniel Jones is making a bid to become the WAC Special Teams Player of the Year.
Jones returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown against SDSU and leads Utah with 16 kick returns for 375 yardsan average of 23.4 yards per return. He also has 20 of 21 punt returns this season by a Ute for 197 yards (9.9 ypr) ... Patrick Dyson has also made an impact of late on the return teams. Dyson returned a San Jose kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown last week. Dyson was named WAC Pacific Divison Special Teams Player of the Week. It marked the second week in a row that a Ute returned a kick for a touchdown (Jones did against SDSU). Dyson, who has 5 kick returns for 210 yards, averages a whopping 42.0 yards per return. Against the Spartans, he had all three Utah kick returns for 165 yards (55 yard average) ... Utah's leader in special teams tackles is Colby Knight with 10. Andy Bowers and Wes Tufaga are second with 8.
DOUBLE TROUBLE - Utah's roster lists seven pairs of double numbers. The main problem is No. 22, where running back Mike Anderson and kicker Cletus Truhe are both regulars. The following players are the most likely to see action among the other shared numbers: No. 8 Brad Burnett, No. 10 Kimball Christianson and No. 13 Colby Knight.
INJURY REPORT - Out for the season: Courtney Richins (ACL), tight end C.J. Johnson (broken left leg), defensive back Brandon Dart (foot), offensive tackle Nathan Sybrowsky (knee), wide receiver Roy Allen (knee). Key players expected to miss the UTEP game: rover Phil Glover (ankle). Questionable is linebacker Wes Tufaga (knee).
RED ZONE REPORT
Utah Offense
Times at or inside 20: 31
Touchdowns: 19
Field Goals: 2
TD percentage: 61%
Utah Defense
Times opponent at or inside 20: 31
Touchdowns: 14
Field Goals: 5
TD percentage: 45%
ON THE SCALES - Utah's offensive front five averages 300 pounds [UTEP's offensive line averages 294.0 pounds]. Utah's defensive down linemen average 292 pounds per man [UTEP's defensive line averages 268.0 pounds].
LAST TIME THEY MET - Utah put on its best offensive show of the year in a 56-3 rout of UTEP on September 20 in Salt Lake City. The Utes scored on their first six possessions. Daniel Jones had eight catches for 187 yards and 3 TDs. Three Ute quarterbacks combined to set a school pass percentage mark of 94% (17 of 18). Jonathan Crosswhite had the second best mark in school history with his 9 of 10 night (90%). For the defense, Mike Thomas had eight tackles (two for a loss) and UTEP gained just 248 total yards to Utah's 583.
MINER QUICK LOOK
Category Avg. WAC NCAA Rushing Offense 200.0 5 25 Passing Offense 174.3 9 78 Total Offense 374.3 7 50 Scoring Offense 19.5 12 86 Rushing Defense 231.5 15 105 Passing Defense 206.1 14 79 Total Defense 437.6 14 99 Scoring Defense 25.8 10 62
UTEP REVIEW - 3-5 (3-2 WAC) ... Head Coach Charlie Bailey is 14-42-1 in his sixth year at UTEP and 26-62-2 in his career as a head coach (9 years) ... team is averaging 374.3 yards of total offense, but is scoring just 19.5 ppg ... only bad losses were to Texas Tech (35-3) and Fresno State (32-6) ... have won 3 of last 4 games.
RICE-ECCLES STADIUM IN ITS DEBUT SEASON - Utah's new 45,634-seat Rice-Eccles Stadium opened its gates on September 5 for a game between Utah and Louisville. A crowd of 44,112 broke the old record of 36,250 set against Brigham Young back in 1982 in old Rice Stadium. Although Rice-Eccles stands on the same ground as Rice Stadium (built in 1927 as Ute Stadium), only the south end zone and the field surface (SportGrass) remain.
The expansion and rebuilding of the stadium began in June 1997. Work was done throughout the 1997 football season, stopping only on home game days. The actual demolition of Rice Stadium occurred on November 17, 1997. Stadium attractions include the three-level Stadium Box, which has the scholarship box as its first level, luxury suites on the second level and the press area on top. In 2002, temporary bleachers will be brought in to expand the stadium's capacity to 50,000 for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympic Games.
MAC-QUOTES - The (Pacific Division) race is open now. Fresno is playing well and should have a good shot at beating San Diego State. All we have to do is continue to improve, especially our red zone offense and our ball security on offense. What pleased me the most about our win last week was our 21 points in the fourth quarter. Jonathan (Crosswhite) came in and was very smooth. UTEP will remember what happened to them last year up here. They have a much, much better team and I expect a very tough game. If we to continue to play hungry, we'll be all right. Our schedule is to our advantage right now with two of our final three games at home."
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Keith Kelley, voice of the Wyoming Cowboys
Tuesday, September 09
Ute greats Ron McBride and Roy Jefferson Ring of Honor Induction
Monday, September 08
Utah: 63, Cal Poly: 9 | POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Saturday, September 06
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Ron McBride
Wednesday, September 03