Injured Ute does diary duty for ESPN.com

Utah junior running back Darryl Poston got on the field for only three plays this season before an injury in practice resulted in season-ending knee surgery.

But even Poston, a May transfer from Southern California (where team doctors wouldn't clear him due to back problems) was a gridiron star in the national spotlight Saturday.

When ESPN.com was looking for a player to do an on-line diary (updated several times game day) and answer readers' questions at sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1927561, Utah officials suggested Poston "because he's so articulate and a good story," said assistant athletic director Liz Abel.

Poston's diary (written and updated by an ESPN.com staffer who followed him around all day) touched on a number of subjects.

In the pre-game locker room, he talked about players dancing around listening to Snoop Dogg. "It's not like USC where Snoop actually shows up. That kind of stuff goes down all the time in L.A.," Poston said.

He talked about the morning snow, saying the Ute attitude was that it could be much worse. He talked about Friday's meetings and tests. And the long time between wakeup call Saturday and the 5 p.m. game.

Poston spoke about playing against the Utes in the Las Vegas Bowl, when the Trojans "thought we were going to run all over them" and instead got dominated.

He also made a confession about his introduction to drill-sergeant coach Urban Meyer's meticulous way and how the coach notices every little error and jumps on those who make them hard. "But then you realize that those small things really count during a game. Practices are harder than games here. It's ridiculous," Poston said.

He told of how he got yelled at for being 1 yard off in his lane during a practice kickoff. "Coach Meyer came up to me and screamed at me." Meyer then made an example of him following practice in front of the team. "It made me realize how important it is. And I didn't want to get called out any more."

SUCCESSFUL GAMEDAY: Thousands of fans braved a windchill factor of 22 degrees to view the live national broadcast of ESPN's "College GameDay" Saturday morning in the west parking lot of Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Meyer made an appearance late in the show and responded to a question by host Chris Fowler, who asked if Internet reports that the Utah coach had reached a gentleman's agreement to take the Florida job were true.

"First of all, there's been no agreement made and I plan on being the coach here," replied Meyer. "It's as untrue as there's ever been. There's been no conversation made. Our focus is on that stadium at 5 o'clock."