Navy's Pehrson playing a familiar foe

SAN DIEGO — A former Ute will be on the other side of the field on the sidelines trying to beat the Utes when Utah and Navy face each other Thursday night in the Poinsettia Bowl.

Dale Pehrson is the longest-tenured coach at the Naval Academy, currently in his 12th year on the staff. He coaches the defensive line and is also the recruiting coordinator.

"I'm excited, I've been waiting for this day," Pehrson said. "It will be fun. A lot of guys that I played with are coming, and I know coach (Kyle) Whittingham and coach (Gary) Andersen. I'm hoping to see some old friends."

While Pehrson was excited when Utah was announced as a bowl opponent, he said, "I'd rather not play them personnel-wise."

Pehrson said the Ute offense presents a lot of problems for his defense. He calls quarterback Brian Johnson "pretty special" and says he is probably the key to the Ute offense.

The 54-year-old Pehrson is a native of Utah, where he was an all-state football player at Murray High School before coaching there as an assistant and a head coach (1984-87). He played for Utah in the early 1970s under Bill Meek and Tom Lovat as a defensive back.

While he was coaching at Murray, he got his M.A. at Brigham Young and went to Missouri Western State in 1987 and then to Southern Utah, where he coached from 1991 to 1995. He came to Navy in 1995 with former Utah State coach Charlie Weatherbie.

"It's been a tremendous experience," he said. "Obviously we don't have the biggest or the fastest guys, but they play with a lot of heart."

Pehrson says he only gets back to Utah occasionally and was amazed at all the changes the last time he came.

"I made some great friends there and still stay in touch with a lot of guys," he said. "It's always nice to get back. That's still home and always will be."

NO CHANGES: Navy's new coach Ken Niumatalolo had nothing but praise for Utah as he talked about the Utes following practice Tuesday morning at UC San Diego, near La Jolla.

"We're going to have our hands full," he said. "They are very sound in what they do and have great players to execute their plan."

Niumatalolo, who was named head coach earlier this month after Paul Johnson left to coach at Georgia Tech, said the Midshipmen aren't going to make changes for Thursday's game.

"We do the same things over and over and hopefully our kids get better through repetition," he said. "Our philosophy is, hey, if they're better playing defense against what we do, that's what we're going to do anyway. Hopefully it's good enough for us to win."