Kragthorpe: Oregon State’s Gary Andersen keeps surfacing in Utahns’ lives

Gary Andersen likes to punctuate statements with his trademark phrase "… and away we go."

He's never gone.

The latest episodes that intertwine the Salt Lake City native with his home state came this week when he accepted the transfer of former Utah State quarterback Darell Garretson into his Oregon State program and the Pac-12 Networks selected the Beavers and the Utah Utes as this season's featured teams on "The Drive," the weekly all-access show.

Those items add to Andersen's hiring two Ute coaches, signing five Utah players in his first recruiting class and arranging a satellite camp in the Salt Lake Valley, all in the five months since he moved from Wisconsin to OSU. This is good stuff. Even with as much interest as Utah's Pac-12 membership has stirred, the Utes have lacked much recent history with their opponents, the kind of context that makes football games even more meaningful.

Anything resembling a conference rivalry is a healthy development, and Andersen's aura is creating one between the Beavers and Utes. They won't always meet, thanks to the Pac-12's scheduling rotation, but they're booked for 2015 in Salt Lake City and 2016 in Corvallis. Those games will be fun.

So will "The Drive." The show is wonderfully produced, and Ute fans will love having their players and coaches spotlighted. Just the same, when Pac-12 Networks administrators said they were returning to the two-team format, you had to know this was coming. In the announcement, president Lydia Murphy-Stephans cited "a unique story arc" between Utah and OSU.

Nothing gets past these people. And for Ute followers, there will be no getting away from Andersen.

Every week, the Utes and Beavers will be mixed with one another during the TV program. It undoubtedly helped in the selections that each team will face Jim Harbaugh's Michigan club in the first two weeks of the season. The buildup to the Oct. 31 meeting between Utah and OSU at Rice-Eccles Stadium will spice the middle of the schedule.

The Utes hope OSU's visit becomes only about their fourth-biggest home game, behind some combination of Michigan, Arizona State and UCLA. But the anticipation level of Halloween will be tough to top, just because of Andersen's ubiquitous presence.

Weber State also will be publicized via "The Drive," with former Ute co-worker Jay Hill's Wildcats challenging Andersen's team in the season opener. Utah State's trip to Utah will be featured, although that's the same weekend as OSU-Michigan.

In any case, the show has become a great recruiting vehicle. During the debut season of 2013, when California and Arizona State were chronicled, I was surprised that Ute coach Kyle Whittingham was unaware of "The Drive." He'll take full promotional advantage of it this year — as will Andersen, who's already too much of a media figure in Utah, in the minds of some Ute fans.

In my universe, Andersen is celebrated. As an assistant coach, he helped Utah go unbeaten twice in this century. And then he revived USU's program to a stunning degree, with a legacy that includes hiring Matt Wells, his eventual successor. He's already the most successful Utahn ever to coach college football beyond the state's borders, with his 18-9 record and a division championship at Wisconsin.

So he deserves appreciation around here. Yet I do understand the angst that Andersen inspires. His current job description involves making life difficult for all three FBS schools in Utah with his recruiting in-roads, including the one-day camp the Beavers will stage next month at Alta High School. That makes him everybody's rival. So does Andersen's taking away coaches Kalani Sitake and Ilaisa Tuiaki from Utah and Kevin McGiven from USU — although the Aggies upgraded by hiring Josh Heupel as McGiven's replacement.

Garretson's move represents less of a raid, because he's initially coming as a walk-on and it took him six weeks to choose OSU. In any case, he'll extend the state's influence in Corvallis. Andersen presumably will come out of this season with an established quarterback. If not, Garretson could end up facing the Utes in 2016, as one of many Beavers with Utah ties.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribkurt