12th game forces change

When Utah meets Northern Arizona Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium, it will mark the first time in a dozen years that the Utes will face off against a Division I-AA opponent.

And it's not like the Utes won't have company. Thirteen other I-A schools are stepping down to play non-Div. I-A schools this week. Last week 29 Div. I-A teams faced lower-division schools.

It's the latest trend in college football, thanks in large part to the NCAA policy change last year allowing schools to schedule 12 games instead of 11.

Before the season is over, nearly three-fourths (86) of the 119 Div. I-A teams will play at least one lower-division opponent.

The reason for the glut of I-A vs. I-AA games comes down to one factor: money.

Everybody wants another home game to fill their stadiums no matter who the opponent is, and Div. I-AA teams are happy to grab a payday of several hundred thousand dollars to play lackey to a big-name team.

"The reality is when they moved to 12 games, we needed a home game, and we had to find a team," Utah athletic director Chris Hill said. "(Northern Arizona) was available, and we chose to fill our schedule with them."

Among the other teams hosting non-Div. I-A opponents this week are Miami (Florida A&M), Wisconsin (Western Illinois) and Nebraska (Nicholls State). The Utes could have perhaps gone on the road to play one of those schools but preferred the revenue of a home game as well as a likely win.

Hill points out that big-name schools are in the same boat, preferring sure wins over matchups against dangerous opponents like the Utes.

Since college football was divided into Division I-A and I-AA in 1978, the Utes have played various I-AA opponents, compiling a 9-2 record.

The two losses came in 1980 when Boise State shocked the Utes 28-7 at Rice Stadium and in 1993 when John L. Smith's Idaho team rolled the Utes 28-17.

Otherwise, most of the games were cakewalks, such as the 66-0 drubbing of Idaho State in 1994 and 52-16 waltz over Weber State in 1984.

BYU has only played a handful of non-Division I opponents over the past 28 years, beating Murray State in 1999 and Weber State in 1979 in addition to last year's victory over Eastern Illinois. When the Cougars played Northeast Louisiana in 1994, the school was in its first year of Division I-A football.