Asiata suffers season-ending injury

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Matt Asiata's fourth carry proved to be his last in Utah's game against Oregon State.

The highly touted tailback, who was an all-American at Snow College, broke his right leg on a 2-yard run with 4:46 left in the first quarter and will be lost for the season. He finished with 16 yards rushing.

The injury came on second down near midfield, one play after Asiata had run for 4 yards to open a drive. The Utes eventually punted the ball away.

Asiata lay on the field for several minutes before being assisted onto a cart. Shortly after being taken to the locker room, an ambulance arrived and transported Asiata to the hospital.

Asiata, who was competing with Ray Stowers and Darryl Poston for the starting tailback job, was the first of the three players to carry the ball. His first run for the Utes netted 9 yards.

The former Hunter High star was sidelined for much of training camp with a mild foot sprain.

NEW VOICE: Mike Lageschulte made his debut as the radio "Voice of the Utes." Lageschulte, who has worked for the Utah athletic department since 1995, was thrilled to open his career against a Pac-10 opponent.

"I hope we'll be looking back on this in about 30 years and say this was the first game," Lageschulte said. "It all started at Oregon State."

BIG BOARD: The largest scoreboard/video screen in the Pac-10 was unveiled as part of a continuing renovation and expansion of Reser Stadium, which now has a seating capacity of 45,674. The new end zone scoreboard is 150 feet wide, featuring a video unit that is 30x80 feet.

NOT A BIG DEAL: Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig downplayed his homecoming to the state where he worked for the Beavers' top rival (the Oregon Ducks) from 2002-04.

"It's a big game for the Utes," Ludwig said earlier in the week. "That's the significance of it."

SCOUTS APLENTY: Representatives from nine NFL teams — Chicago, Miami, San Diego, Seattle, Houston, Kansas City, New England, Pittsburgh and the New York Giants —requested credentials for the game.

MEMORIES: Thursday's game was the first meeting between Utah and Oregon State since back-to-back contests in 1991 and 1992.

Frank Dolce quarterbacked the Utes to victories both times — 22-10 in Corvallis and 42-9 the next year in Salt Lake City.

"It's fun to be back again and fun to be reliving that time," said Dolce, who is now part of Utah's radio broadcasting team.

So, too, is former Ute defensive back Sharrieff Shah.

Dolce considers a tackle Shah made on the Oregon State quarterback in 1991 as "the greatest hit" he's ever seen.

EXTRA POINTS: Redshirt freshman linebacker Matt Martinez suffered an MCL injury ... Senior linebacker Kyle Brady led the Utes with eight tackles ... Senior defensive end Martail Burnett topped the team with two tackles-for-losses ... The Utes are now 64-49-1 in season-openers ... Oregon State, who is scheduled to visit Rice-Eccles Stadium next season, now leads the all-time series with Utah by a 9-4-1 margin ... Louie Sakoda punted a career-high 11 times, placing five inside the 20.

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E-mail: dirk@desnews.com