The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Ten Friday. October 18. 1991 Spokts Utah meets Colorado State in key WAC contest ' I j y) v y? ,"Av Which U. defense will show? ' WytS , : 'U ! I Matthew Coles Chronicle Sports Editor By After shutting down offenses from Oregon to Air Force, the Utes fell apart at the seams and gave Wyoming 480 yards on the plains of Laramie. . .and won convincingly. "Our defense did not play very well, not very well at all," Ron ' McBride said. Though the defense responded when it counted in the second half, defensive coordinator Greg McMacking said, "We were making mental errors. We weren't overmatched physically, we just made crucial thinking mistakes." Colorado Against State, Saturday, if in Rice Stadium, the Utes make mental errors and the Rams will light up the scoreboard. The Utes definitely don't want relive the to Homecoming horror show of two years ago when CSU won Quarterback Kevin Verdugo is 50-1- 0. the highest rated passer in the y conference and split end Greg Primus has more yardage big-pla- receiving (665 yards) than anybody else in the WAC and has played one less game than most ? .... receivers. "Colorado State is playing as well as they have this season right now and their bye week gave them time to heal, adjust , some things and prepare to meet us," McBride said. The Rams relied on a blocked punt and touchdown return to beat an improved UTEP team two weeks ago and beat Hawaii the week before that. Colorado State, which is 1 in the WAC and still in the title hunt, is 3 overall. 2-- 3-- Like the Utes until last week, the Rams rely on their defense CHRONICLE PHOTOJudd d Hillman Utah slot back Sean Hutson slips by a defender in action earlier this year. The Utes hope to find Hutson across the middle to open up the long ball against Colorado State Saturday at noon at Rice Stadium. U. spikers back By Clifton Schmidt Chronicle Assistant Sports Editor Practice this week for the Utah women's volleyball team has been very disciplined and very serious, according to head coach Beth Launiere. And she wouldn't expect it to be any other way. After the Lady Utes' disappointing performances in San Diego last weekend, the spikers were looking to refocus on their goals and getting back to business in practice this week. They hope that will help them in their continuous quest for their first WAC victory in over two years. They have a chance to gain that momentous victory this Weekend. Friday night the Lady Utes will be taking on Wyoming, followed by a Saturday evening matchup against Colorado State. Both matches will begin at 7:30 p.m. and be played in "The Lady Ute Pit", more commonly known as HPERE-101- . While the Lady Utes are concentrating on this weekends matches, what happened last week will hopefully be a motivator. "They are pretty mad at themselves," said Launiere. "They have let a lot of little things just slip by them." Little things were what killed them last week. Receiving errors hurt them while serving against San Diego State in them did errors against San Diego. "It was really disappointing to because we played good enough win...but we just shot ourselves in and they have the best pass efficiency in the WAC. But what Utah did to Wyoming scares CSU coach Earl Bruce. in The Pit for 2 "Utah was very impressive against Wyoming. They have been impressive Arizona State, they beat Oregon and were impressive versus Air Force but still lost when they couldn't get it in the end zone or kick the tying field goal," Bruce said. More and more impressive is the play of Ute quarterback Frank Dolce. Dolce threw for a career-hig- h 283 yards last week and four touchdowns. Criticized earlier in the year for tunnel vision focusing exclusively on his primary receiver, Dolce had time to consider his secondary targets against the Cowboys, especially in the second half when he had 154 yards passing. Again, the Utes will be looking to present a balanced attack. With o punch of tailbacks Keith Williams and Charlie the one-tw- Brown in full swing, the pressure will be off of Dolce and he may have time to throw some long balls to wideouts Bryan Rowley, Vernon Shaver and Sean Williams. g More and more offensive coach Rick Rasnick has run underneath patterns for the play-callin- running back, tight end Mike Murry and slotback Sean Hutson. Look for the Utes to throw the ball away from CSU's cornerback Selwyn Jones (2), who is highly regarded as a pro prospect. On the other corner is diminutive 160 Sylvester Mabry who has been overworked all year long by pounds), opponents looking to throw over him and away from Jones. But Utah players assert that it doesn't matter who is on the other side facing them and what they do. Utah defensive tackle Dave Chaytors said, "If we just execute , our package, on offense and defense, and take care of our responsibilities, we'll win." weekend matches the foot," added Launiere. The Lady Utes wasted an outstanding performance by senior Linda Wilcox against San Diego. The outside hitter, who leads the WAC in hitting percentage (.384), and blocks per game (1.6), had 21 kills in 30 attempts with only two errors for an incredible .633 hitting percentage. But now it's time for the matters at hand and Wyoming and Colorado State are no pushovers. Last week, Wyoming took 10th ranked New Mexico to five games while Colorado State jumped into the national rankings for the first time since 1988, moving into the No. 19 spot in the Volleyball Monthly poll. The Cowgirls, 6 overall and 1 8-- 1-- in conference action, are playing their best volleyball of the season, according to Launiere. Wyoming got off to a slow start but has won four of its last five matches. Leading the way is senior Judy Peck. The middle blocker is tops on the team in hitting percentage (.287), kills per game (3.39), and blocks per game (1.3). Colorado State has a very well rounded team, leading the WAC in three categories: hitting efficiency, kills and aces per game. With that kind of team play, it's no wonder the Lady Rams are off to a 15-- 4 record and 1 in WAC play. While these two teams swept the Lady Utes last season, Launiere feels that her team is evenly matched against them and has the big advantage of playing at home. If Utah is too make any noise in the WAC this season, these upcoming matches are the ones they need to do it in. 1-- t- - . V. . 4.f . CHIONiaintOTOJwULHImM Lady Ute Julie Kirby (2) has given Utah some needed help off the bench this season. The Lady Utes meet Wyoming and Colorado State this weekend, hoping to break into the win column in conference play.