OCR Text |
Show 8 - SPORTS THE VOICE OF DIXIE STATE COLLEGE OF UTAH DIXIE SUN WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 200; Utes enjoy breakthrough day TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICE Alex Smith had his back to the big screen TV, so he didn't get to see history officially recorded. The noise that followed told him all he needed to know. luge cheers drowned out the TV as Utah's name flashed next to the Fiesta Bowl logo - Sunday In a way, it also was the sound of the Bowl Championship Series glass ceiling being shattered. The ) Utes thus became the first ouLsider to land a coveted (11-0- BCS bowl invitation. It's a big honor to be able to make history," said Smith, Utah's record setting quarterback. I'm proud to be a part of this team because this is something special. Everyone on this team deserves this." The Utes will play Jan. in Tempe, Ariz., against Big East 1 PitLsburgh They were guaranteed an berth by finishing among the top six in Sunday's final BCS standings. They're busting the BCS," said Brad Nilsen, a Fiesta Bowl committeeman on hand to congratulate the Utes. It's exciting. They're coming in from the (8-3- e Rapids Community College Raiders on Saturday. Dixie takes out 4th ranked Raiders starter Danny Southwick BY KYLE WAITE Dixie Sun Staff Writer The Dixie State College Rebels upset the team in the nation with a win at the Rotary Bowl on Saturday. The Rebels beat the Grand Rapids Community College Raiders out of Grand Rapids, Mich., to capture their 13th Rotary Bowl victory. JT Diederichs added another superb game to his brilliant season running behind one of the biggest and best lines at a junior college. Diederichs gained 187 yards and two touchdowns and MVP honors for the rebels. The Rebels' special teams played well, giving the Rebels good field position most of the game. On one of Diederichs s touchdown runs, quarterback Derek McAllister flattened one of the Raiders' defenders, paving the way for Diederichs to score. McAllister replaced fourth-ranke- 27-2- 27-2- 0 d about halfway through the game The change at quarterback obviously got the ball rolling for DSC's offense. The defense played well most of the game and stopped the Raiders on a drive that could have sent the game into overtime. This was the 19th annual Rotary Bowl, a game that DSC lost last year to Butler Community College, a team that won the national championship for the second straight year this season. The WSFL had four teams in bowl games this year and had a record of after the dust settled. The only WSFL team to lose its bowl game was this year's WSFL champion, Scottsdale Community College. DSC finishes the season with 10 wins, two losses and a bowl victory. 3-- 1 Mountain West Conference, and it's really a unique thing" Unique enough that the Utes decided to throw a fiesta of their own at their indoor practice facility. Plates of ribs moved quickly, red balloons decorated the tables and players and coaches were hounded for autographs. Hey, when you're celebrating a milestone, you invite your family and friends. It's a year that people here and-white in Salt Lake City w'lll remem- ber for a long time," said coach Urban Meyer, who will make the bowl his swan song before taking over at Florida It s a historic day for college foot- ball." The Mountain West is one of five Division leagues which do not have automatic access to one of the Big Four bowls, a point of contention through the years. Unbeaten seasons by Tulane and Marshall weren't enough to qualify for a BCS invite in past years. That led to charges the top-siguarantee set an impossible standard. The Utes, though, turned heads with a wide-opeoffense averaging 46.3 points per game and wins against such BCS foes as North Carolina, x n which later beat Miami, and Texas A&M. been associated I've with college football for 19 years,' Meyer said, and I have no doubt in saying Utah's first string is as good as any team in the country." At the same time, safety Morgan Scalley under stood the magnitude of the assignment. The Utes' performance on New Year's Day could open the door for other or reinforce previous notion It's humbling," Scalley said We recognize the responsibi ty we carry into the game " It's a bit of a chaotic time around the program these days. In addition to Meyer's impending departure for UF, Sunday brought news that offensive coordinator Mike Sanford had accepted the UNLV coaching job. The Fiesta Bowl has a history of rolling the dice. The youngest of the BCS bowls, it announced its arrival into the big time with the classic Miami-PenState nahonal-titl- i battle in 1986. The game should have no problem filling seats. We're excited," Scalley said n Notre Dame's errors lead to uncertainty TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICE Notre Dame began last week as a football program in the middle of the pack, hoping a victory in a midlevel bowl game would be a start toward recapturing the glow it had squandered. The school ended the week as the butt of jokes, its dignity diminished, its ideals apparently compromised. And now it is left floundering, trying to hire a football coach for the third time in three years. How did one of the most storied programs in college football suddenly create the perception that it doesn't know what it's doing? Why is the job that every coach in America used to covet suddenly a job no top-tie- r coach wants to take? How were the Irish outmaneu-verein their bid to land Utah coach Urban Meyer, who was very open about his love for Notre Dame, as Tyrone Willingham's successor? Why was Willingham fired in the first place? Notre Dame always has maintained that it's special, and backs the claim with national championships, seven Heisman Trophy winners, an - once-golde- n d 1 1 admirable graduation rate and a legion of highly literate current and former football players. But when the school dis- missed Willingham on Tuesday, three years into his contract and with a record of some believed it forfeited its claims of uniqueness at the altar of For the first time in at least 40 years, Notre Dame failed to allow a coach to finish out the length of his first contract Willingham's record Was hardly stellar. More troubling was the way his teams lost suffering three straight 31 point pastings by Southern California and falling to Michigan and Florida State. Moreover, while the offense and defense have played well at times, they have been maddeningly inconsistent On offense, players seemed to at stagnate and the times was highly questionable. Sources say, athletic director Kevin White spoke to Willingham and told him he would have to fire at least offensive coordinator Bill Diedrick Notre Dame had every right to ask Willingham to make six-ye- 21-1- play-callin- g some changes on his staff. When Willingham refused the school had the right to dismiss him. But Willingham's refusal to fire Diedrick triggered a meet ing Monday night of seven mem Current university President Edward A. Malloy. Incoming president Rev. John I. Jenkins, who will replace Malloy in June. Provost Nathan Hatch Executive vice president John Affleck-GraveThe chairman of the board of trustees, Patrick McCartan The chairman of the trustees' athletics committee, Philip Purcell Notre Dame's errors lead to much uncertainty Ftev. White. But the engine driving the move to fire Willingham was not White or Malloy, but a small group of influential trustees and alums represented by McCartan. Their action left the impression the chain of command The group was convinced Notre Dame needed to hire Meyer,. If the Irish didn't grab see NOTRE DAME page 9 |