Utes hope to milk clock vs. Cougars

Utah's offense will be watching the clock Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium. After dominating time-of-possession in victories over Wyoming, UNLV, San Diego State, Oregon, California and Utah State, the Utes are hoping to do the same against BYU.

"Time of possession is going to be the key to the whole game," offensive lineman Thomas Herrion said. "You've got to start fast and finish strong. That's the motto of the year and what we're going to do."

Coming out and playing hard, he added, is critical against BYU.

"They throw a bunch of looks. They're not a bad defense," Herrion said. "They don't struggle on defense. I think it'll come down to the team that is most invested."

Utah coach Urban Meyer considers the Cougars one of the top two defenses in the league. Their personnel and scheme present a variety of challenges.

"I wish we had a bye week to prepare," Meyer said. "Anytime you play a unique style of offense or defense you wish you had an extra week to prepare."

Facing a 3-3-5 scheme is nothing new, however. New Mexico and Air Force use the alignment and Utah has played both teams in the past month.

"It'll help us," Meyer said. "But, to what degree, we'll find out."

Utah's keys to success, he noted, is possession time and ball security. Turnovers haven't really been a problem. Quarterback Alex Smith has been intercepted just once in 228 attempts this season. The Utes have lost 12 fumbles this season, but haven't lost two in a game since facing California on Sept. 11.

"I think they're going to try to get in our heads, especially my head," Smith said. "I think there will be a lot of different looks, a lot of different pressures and I think they'll do a lot of things that New Mexico did."

The Lobos derailed the Utes with a lot of different linebacker combinations, safeties movements and a high-energy, flying-around approach.

Though the Cougars are similar in some aspects, Smith expects some differences because of personnel and style of play.

With the return of tailback Brandon Warfield and the emergence of receivers Paris Warren and Steve Savoy, the Utes give the Cougars plenty to think about as well. Aside from their 17-13 win over Oregon, they've scored 26 or more points in every other game.

BOWL-MANIA: Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart plans to be in Provo Saturday. Should the Utes win, he's expected to issue a formal invitation to the New Year's Eve bowl right after the game.

Ehrhart is also expected to attend tonight's Conference USA title tilt between Texas Christian and Southern Mississippi, which will determine the Mountain West's opponent in the game.

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