Chronicle SportReport The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Twelve University of Utah Monday, October 21, 1991 plays 'help Utes edge Colorado State Then, wham! Another big play : . A '.A FT rZ v" "The more good things happen to you, the more you believe." Those were the words of Utah coach Ron McBride after his players did a lot of bad things (12 penalties for 131 yards) but did the right things at the right time (forcing five turnovers) to beat Colorado State, 6 Coming into the game Saturday at Rice Stadium, it was clear that the Colorado State Rams would do anything to beat the Believin' 21-1- Utes. Because of a bye week, Colorado State installed a completely new defense and added a special wrinkle in the offense. The Rams even tried a double pass. For all their trying, the Rams must have decided it wasn't S -- worth it in the end because they V4 tried giving it to Utah with a bundle of mistakes (see story on page 13). I But the Utes, for much of the game, didn't seem to want it either. They just wanted to dance, as evidenced by their five holding penalties. Seeing the indecision between the two teams, the referees made sure somebody took control. The officials marred the game with 23 penalties for 229 yards. Finally, the Utes, who McBride says believe in themselves more than anyone else does, made the big plays on offense and defense and won. The victory kept the Utes in the thick of the WAC race with a 1 conference record and 2-- a 5-- 2 mark overall. what they're doing. And they believe in winning," McBride said. PHOTOJwM Hilltnon linebacker Anthony Davis tackles CSU quarterback Kevin Verdugo, forcing a fumble in Utah's 6 win Saturday at Rice Stadium. The Utes take on San Diego St. next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (new time) because it's televised on ABC. U. 21-1- around the right side for 17 yards and two plays later Steve Abrams dove over the pile to make it Utah 7-- 0. After that, Utah fell into its familiar offensive funk, facing a defense the Rams prepared especially for the Utes. bear-typ- e "They ran a double-eagldefense that we weren't expecting and that surprised us. It's not really a hard defense to play against if you're ready and we didn't adjust soon enough," e, McBride said. the Rams, Meanwhile, sometimes utilizing a new option set ala Nebraska, added a touchdown (the PAT was blocked by Dave Chaytors) and a field goal to lead Then the Utes decided it was time for some more big plays. With 2:49 left in the half and the Utes starting at their own 26, T-ty- pe 9-- 7. Frank Dolce completed seven passes and scrambled 14 yards for one first down in a little over two minutes. The capper was a seven-yar- d TD toss to Sean Williams and then a conversion pass play to Bryan Rowley. "We've worked on the drill a lot in practice and I called the stuff we thought just would work," said .Dolce, who had a great day, completing passes for 260 yards. The Utes could have put it away two-minu- The first big play happened on the second play from scrimmage. CSU running back Brian Copeland fumbled at the CSU 19. Utah's La Von Edwards picked it up and would have run it all the way for a TD had it not been for the NCAA's rule of disallowing advancements of rumbles. te 20-of-- in the third quarter. Chris Yergensen kicked the third-longe- st field goal (54 yards) in Ute history early in the period and then after an acrobatic reception by Rowley with 9:30 left at the to give Utah 35-ya- first-and-go- "This team just seems to find a way to get it done. They believe in CHRONICLE burst when Keith Williams Matthew Coles Chronicle Sports Editor By rd al one. Incredibly, the Utes didn't get in the end zone and settled for a FG to put Utah up 21-- 9 At the beginning of the fourth 24-ya- Davis Anthony quarter, rd blindsided CSU quarterback Kevin Verdugo and Jimmy Bellamy recovered the resulting fumble at the CSU 5. Again, the Utes forgot how to reach paydirt and actually went as far back as the CSU 32 before Yergensen missed a The Rams quickly responded, d thanks to a disciplined TD drive and the margin was cut 37-yard- 80-yar- to five. The next two Utah possession had the same two results: punts. The last two Ram drives penetrated Utah territory and garnered no points because of two monster plays by the Ute defense. When Verdugo was dinged on a pass with six minutes left, he left in favor of backup QB Anthony Hill. Hill promptly ran the option and kept the ball for a 45 yards. Verdugo came back but Thomas Romero fumbled with Errol Martin recovering for the Utes. "I expect to be part of a team that makes the big plays," said Martin, who led the Utes "D" with 14 tackles. But the biggest play of the day came when the driving Rams had the ball on Utah's 38 with 2:39 left and snuck third-strin- g QB Jerry Dunn pinto the wideout spot. Verdugo swung the ball to Dunn on the wing and he launched it downfield, where Ute Mark Swanson jumped up and intercepted the ball and saved the day. "We made a lot of big plays. The thing that counts is the final score. We had 21 and they had something less," said McBride, CHRONIOf PHOTOJudd HiRmon Utah tight end Mike Murry looks upfield during this reception from Frank Dolce Saturday. Utah gained 260 passing yards and 388 yards in WAC five Utes' the offense over Colorado State. of total point victory 13-yar- d who was relieved and worried at the same time. Relieved the Utes believed enough to make the plays and worried that they were forced to rely on so many good things.