U. owns rivalry with Ags

Rivalry? What rivalry?

Though Utah and Utah State have met every year since 1944 and 104 times dating back to 1892, the series has been quite lopsided. The Utes have won the past seven meetings and carry a 72-28-4 overall advantage into tonight's game (6 p.m., KJZZ, Ch. 14) at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

"This is a big rivalry game for us, but not a very competitive one. We need to win more of these games to make it more competitive," said Utah State coach Brent Guy. "To win this game we have to have a chance to win in the fourth quarter."

The Aggies are heavy underdogs in Guy's delayed debut.

USU was scheduled to play Nicholls State of Louisiana last week, but the game was canceled in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

As such, the Aggies open the season tonight on the road against a Utah team on a school-record 17-game winning streak. The Utes defeated Arizona 27-24 last week.

"They are going to be a tough team, with the record they had last year, they have a good winning streak going and they have a lot of momentum going right now," said USU safety Andre Bala.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham isn't sure what to expect. With little or no information on Guy's strategy, the Utes have prepared for a wide variety of possibilities. They'll focus their schemes as the game progresses.

"We have to adjust. When we come out we have to be able to adjust to whatever they're showing — particularly if there's things we haven't seen on tape," Whittingham said. "That'll be the most critical key to our success this week is being able to adjust both offensively and defensively."

The Utes, he added, hope to have a beat on what USU is doing within a series or two.

Utah captain Steve Fifita is confident things will get done. Like many of his teammates, he's taking a business-as-usual approach.

"I just treat every game the same. I want to beat everybody," Fifita said. "Every week we play, I want to win as bad as the other weeks. I don't get into all that rivalry stuff."

Last season in Logan, the Utes led 41-0 at halftime and 48-6 by game's end. Whittingham is expecting a tighter game this time around as Utah seeks to extend the nation's second-longest win streak to 18 games. He's expecting the Aggies to deliver their best shot at snapping it.