Tennessee to Cut Back Use of Creatine by Its Players

Tennessee will decrease the use of Creatine by its players because of an unusually high number of cramping problems in the Volunteers’ season-opening victory at Syracuse.

Coach Phillip Fulmer said the heat and other factors contributed to the cramps, but he believes the Creatine was also a problem.

Creatine is an over-the-counter nutritional supplement used to enhance muscle mass.

“We’re going to cut it out with some of our leaner guys until the weather gets cooler,” Fulmer said.

The Tennessee medical staff said 14 players cramped up during or shortly after the Syracuse game, which the Vols won, 34-33. The majority was using Creatine.

*

When the University of Utah held an open house at its completely renovated Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Monday, about 25,000 people toured the facility. Utah Coach Ron McBride wasn’t among them.

“I just told our people I didn’t have time to go there,” McBride said. “I’m more concerned about Louisville than some open house.”

McBride has made no secret of the pressure he feels to field a winner during the Utes’ first year in their new stadium. More than $50 million was spent on the project, which involved essentially rebuilding the Western Athletic Conference’s oldest, smallest and dingiest stadium from the ground up.

But the construction work is done, and now McBride’s work begins in earnest. After a season-opening win over Utah State last Saturday, Utah plays its home opener today against Louisville (0-1).

Louisville is trying to end a nine-game losing streak. The Cardinals’ new coach, John L. Smith, is no stranger to Utah, having compiled a 3-1 record against the Utes as coach at Utah State.

In fact, there is some bad blood between Utah and Smith. In 1996, Smith’s team was accused of illegal tackling techniques on Utah running back Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala.

“That was a big deal when it happened because we thought they were trying stuff they shouldn’t,” Utah defensive end John Frank said.

“If something illegal happened--and I’m not saying it did--it’s wrong, and somebody needed to do something.”

Smith said he’s pleased that Louisville is the first opponent in the new Rice-Eccles Stadium. Louisville opened its own new stadium last Saturday with a 68-34 loss to Kentucky.

“[Utah] needed a new place,” Smith said. “Badly.”

*

Buoyed by its upset victory over Stanford last Saturday, San Jose State heads into today’s home game against Idaho (1-0) with a chance to start a season 2-0 for the first time since 1987.

“Now we know we can compete with other people,” San Jose State defensive tackle Abdul-Salem Noah said. “[The victory over] Stanford was great, but we have to forget about it. Each week is a new season.

“It’s all about business. We have to look ahead. We won’t be overconfident.”

San Jose State ended an eight-game losing streak to nonconference opponents with its 35-23 victory over Stanford. It was the Spartans’ third consecutive win dating to last season. San Jose State hasn’t had a four-game winning streak since 1992.

*

Stanford may not be too shaken by last Saturday’s loss, according to the Arizona Coach Dick Tomey--whose No. 21-ranked team plays the Cardinal at Palo Alto today.

“The team we will see will be highly motivated and their hair will be on fire. It will be a much different football team,” Tomey said earlier this week.

Stanford’s loss was followed by a players-only meeting.

“We decided something had to change,” defensive tackle Willie Howard said. “It comes to a point where we have to grab deep down inside and say ‘I’m not going to be beaten.’ ”