COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Dennis Franchione of Texas A&M and
Urban Meyer of Utah are trying to get their offenses up and running
-- with the emphasis on running.
Aggies running back Courtney Lewis and Ute running back Brandon
Warfield are the keys as the two teams prepare for Saturday's game,
the schools' first meeting since 1936 when the Aggies won 20-7.
Franchione, trying to install a balanced offensive attack in his
first year at A&M, was encouraged by Lewis' first college
performance, 74 yards on 13 carries and two touchdowns in last
week's 26-11 victory over Arkansas State.
The Aggies haven't had a 1,000-yard rusher in four years, and
Franchione would like that streak to end.
"You always are looking for a back that makes you a better
coach," Franchione said. "He took the power play off tackle and
stuck it in there pretty good. Courtney is a good runner. There's
no question of his running skills."
The Aggies defense might have its hands full with Warfield.
"They've got a running back who is a quality back that will be
drafted in the NFL later on," A&M defensive coordinator Carl
Torbush said. "He's obviously a hardworking young man. He will be
a guy that we've got to stop.
"There's no question we're getting ready to play a very quality
opponent. They're big and really nasty. They play with great
intensity so we'll have to do a good job up front."
Meyer sees two schools implementing first-year systems. Both
teams struggled on offense in their openers.
"I think offensive football takes time to develop," said
Meyer, whose Utes beat Utah State 40-20.
"Everybody talks about us. We struggled against Utah State, and
A&M maybe struggled against Arkansas State," Meyer said. "What
about saying Arkansas State played pretty good defense?"
With the game still close in the fourth quarter, Lewis made an
effective leg fake at the line and bolted 42 yards for a touchdown
to ice a 26-11 victory over Arkansas State.
Lewis, a redshirt freshman, matched two former Aggie freshmen,
George Woodard and Greg Hill, in scoring two touchdowns in his
Aggie debut.
"I've tried to get back to the old me from high school, trying
to be the breakaway back that they needed," Lewis said. "That
touchdown helped my confidence level a little. The first game was
good but I want to see if I can top that game."
Warfield, who played high school football at Crockett, Texas,
was the Mountain West Conference offensive player of the week for
his 173 yards on 33 carries and one touchdown last week. He
averaged 5.2 yards per carry.
The offense wasn't smooth in Franchione's dual quarterbacking
system featuring Reggie McNeal and Dustin Long. Franchione said he
expects all of the offense to get better after one game.
"In the second half, we got more into our running game,"
Franchione said. "We're going to get better in the running game.
That takes so much pressure off the quarterbacks."
Utah defensive back Morgan Scalley said the Utes are excited
about the challenge.
"It's something we always look forward to. Being a school from
a lesser-known conference -- the Mountain West -- going out to prove
that we can compete with those bigger schools."