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Show Turning things around THAT'S A WRAP BY RYAN M LLER POR D OR aelin Clay's college football career has been filled with some frustration. On Saturday night, all of it may have been worth it. With eight seconds remaining in the contest, Clay secured the game-winning touchdown in the Utes' 24-21 victory over No. 20 USC. Game winners are always special, but this will be one to remember for Clay. "I grew up a USC fan': Clay said. "I'm a SoCal kid, so to catch a game-winning touchdown against them — it's crazy" Things haven't gone as planned for Clay since signing with California out of high school in 2009. Injuries plagued his Golden Bears career before it ever got started, but after a stop at junior college, Clay is making a name for himself on one of college football's biggest stages. The speedy return man/receiver has electrified crowds with his return ability — which was on display against the Trojans on a 51-yard return to the USC 16 — but late in the game, his number was called to receive K the final pass. "I knew it was coming to me, right away' Clay said of the game-winning play. "We've been running in practice since fall, and the play design was set up for me to get the ball. And executed it perfect ... It's been a crazy season for me, and everything that's been happening is awesome!' Bowl bound With the victory over USC, the Utes became bowl eligible for the first time since 2011. Bowl eligibility was one of the goals Utah came into the season looking to accomplish, and they met it with five games to spare. Utah has a grueling schedule ahead that features games against No. 14 Arizona, No. 5 Oregon and No. 15 Arizona State in the next four weeks, but a 3-1 Pac-12 start has put Utah in contention for the Pac-12 South, a Pac-12 Championship and maybe even a College Football Playoff berth if they can win out. "I don't think any players on this team are just happy, just content with being bowl eligible': said quarterbackTravis Wilson. "I think this team has something special and we really just want to prove it." The Utes will have ample opportunity to prove it with their upcoming schedule. Drops turn to fumbles In the three contests leading up the games against the Trojans, the Utah receiving corps has been under scrutiny, as drops have been a key factor to the Utes' passing game troubles. Saturday night against USC, the drops seemed to be a thing of the past as Westlee Tonga, Dres Anderson, Kenneth Scott, Tim Patrick and Kaelin Clay were able to secure big passes to help move Utah down the field. "No one has been more frustrated than those guys," said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham of his receivers. "They worked hard every day in practice, before practice, after practice, working on catching the football. It showed up tonight. We've always believed in them. You saw we came out throwing tonight. It's because we have confidence in them, and they came up big." Tonga led the Utah receivers with six catches for a career-high 71 yards, while Anderson and Scott both made key catches on the Utes' final game-winning drive to help set up Clay's game-winning catch. The Utes seemed to have solved their drops problem against the Trojans, but a new trouble may be arising. The Utah offense fumbled the ball four times in the game and lost two of those. More troubling is where those lost fumbles occurred. Running back Devontae Booker and receiver Tim Patrick both fumbled on the USC one-yard line, halting potential Utah touchdown drives. "It could have been a whole different game': Whittingham said of the fumbles. "We could have had a bigger lead. You can't turn the ball over on the one-yard line twice and come away nothing" r.miller@chronicle.utah.edu @millerjryan Lightbringer series surpasses epic fantasy tropes A WITH STEVE STAFSHOLT /STAFF WRITER Ithough I was unimpressed with Brent Weeks' The Night Angel trilogy, an exceptional Goodreads rating convinced me to pick up his book The Black Prism. I was hooked after the first chapter, and thus began my passionate affair with the Lightbringer series. Despite some writing quirks and a few flat characters, The Black Prism is a page-turner. In fact, I read all 629 pages in eight days. I attribute this in large part to Weeks' micro-chapters. Unlike most epic fantasy books, this novel's chapters average roughly six pages. The concise writing, coupled with his unrelenting cliffhangers, make it a struggle to put down. This style remains constant throughout the rest of the series, and as the books progress, so do their pace and quality. One of the many things that sets this series apart in my mind is watching Weeks' writing skills develop from book to book. Most of the qualms I had with The Black Prism were resolved in The Blinding Knife, except for the fact I still didn't resonate with one of the characters, Kip, as much as I would have liked, and the female characters felt weak or cliché as a general rule. What really blew me away was that Weeks not only fixed these points in The Broken Eye, but actually made them the novel's greatest successes. Besides its unpredictable plot and witty dialogue, the strength of The Broken Eye comes from its characterization. Weeks plays with character development by having Kip, Gavin, Karris, Teia and Liv undergo a near complete reversal in identity. This gave Karris, Liv and Teia the complexity of character they deserved and finally made me appreciate Kip. Unlike many characters that fit Gavin's Superman-esque role, his self-doubt and secret antihero qualities lend him an unexpected depth, and his evolution in The Broken Eye make him an even more captivating character. In addition to the theme of identity, the series also explores the theme of leadership. Everyone in a position of power brings a unique leadership style to the book, whether it is Andross' overt manipulation and intimidation, Gavin's religious authority and his golden tongue, Ironfist's combat prestige and military rank or Gunner's scare tactics and glaring insanity. Although The Black Prism and The Blinding Knife are excellent in their own rights, The Broken Eye is Weeks' magnum opus. The humor in this book's inner dialogue, as well as the dialogue between characters, is rivaled only by that of Scott Lynch in his Gentleman Bastard series. This book will make you laugh out loud, and I'm not ashamed to admit that it also made me tear up on three separate occasions. My two biggest critiques with The Broken Eye are that Liv was essentially relegated to the role of a minor character, and the numerous allusions to The Odyssey felt out of place. What makes me love this series is the fact the universe grows with every book. The reader is constantly unraveling mysteries and discovering new intricacies that make the fictitious world feel as credible and organic as Brandon Sanderson's The StormlightArchive series, Patrick Rothfuss' The Kingkiller Chronicles and George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Be forewarned: If you are the type of person who gets so caught up in books that your productivity and your social life tend to suffer, this series might cause you to neglect serious responsibilities. s.stafsholt@chronicle.utah.edu Football Grades A thrilling performance B GR N ADAM 0 Devontae Booker — C+ The workhorse of the Utah offense cracked the 100-yard plateau for the fourth straight game against USC, but Booker dodged a bullet in this one. If it wasn't for some great play down the stretch and a few Trojan mistakes, the Utes may have lost this game, and some of the blame would have been put on the running back. Booker had two fumbles, including one on the opposing team's one-yard line that could have proved costly. In the end, his numbers look good, but Booker is counting his blessings after that one. Defense — B Early on in the game, it seemed as if it would be a long night for the Utah defense. USC quarterback Cody Kessler was finding his receivers at will, and it looked like the secondary was worried about getting beat deep. However, after some necessary adjustments, those windows for Kessler became smaller and the Utes started to get some pressure in the second half. Utah held the Trojans to just 153 second half offensive yardage. They didn't completely shut down USC by any means, but the Ute defense did just enough to hang on for the win. Travis Wilson — AFrom a numbers and quarterbacking standpoint, nothing T-Willy did was eye-popping. Throwing for under 200 yards and a touchdown typically doesn't warrant being carried off the field on the shoulders of fans, but what this quarterback did on Saturday night was deserving of a high grade. With just over two minutes remaining in the game, Wilson led his team down the field and, with the help from some of the officiating, was able to secure the victory for the Utes. He wasn't perfect, but Wilson provided, yet again, another magical moment in Utah history. Kaelin Clay — A+ Clay hasn't returned a kick back for a touchdown since Washington State, but boy, oh boy, what a game for the Long 10 { THECHRONY I NEWS I OPINION I ARTS I SPORTS I MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2014 } Beach native. Growing up as a USC fan, could you imagine a more suiting finish for the return man? Clay caught the gamewinning touchdown with eight seconds left in the game to put his Utes up for good. That alone is deserving of a high grade, but throw in a 51-yard punt return that would have led to a touchdown if it wasn't for a Tim Patrick fumble on the one-yard line, and Clay has a nice report card to put on the fridge. Kyle Whittingham — A++ Before this season, head coach Kyle Whittingham was in somewhat of a do-or-die situation. After two straight losing seasons and no postseason berths, Whittingham's job could have been at stake if the Utes repeated their performances of the last two years. After the win over USC, though, Whittingham's hot seat got a bit cooler, as the team is bowl eligible for the first time in three years. And, of course, Utah is now a ranked program with two wins over ranked opponents. Not too shabby for the old head honcho. g.adams@chronicle.utah.edu @GriffDoug BY ENOABASI ETOKIDEM /STAFF WRITER udience members were sitting still in their seats, anticipating the start of the show, when Michael Jackson's "Thriller" suddenly filled the room. As quickly as the song began, several dancers appeared on stage and started dancing in a choreography similar to that seen in the "Thriller" music video. At the end of this performance, the crowd erupted in cheers, and the stage was set for a night of memorable performances. The dances were shaped in accordance with the Halloween theme. From grooving mummies to prancing witches, there was enough variety to suit every audience members' tastes. The set design was elaborate and changed swiftly with each performance. In one memorable scene, Egyptians and mummies danced to funky tunes as a large, colorful pharaoh's head stood behind them. Despite the immensity of the stage, the dancers utilized every available space. At some points, they moved their performance off-stage and interacted with audience members. Even though I sat at the very back of the theater, I could still feel the performers' strong presence. Each dance performance had a story behind it, which the dancers portrayed using sounds, props and, most importantly, their bodies. Many of these performances were funny and silly while maintaining their distinct frightfulness. Laughs and cheers erupted from the audience as the dancers lightened the mood, using techniques that ranged from dancing terribly to acting A out of character. In one notable scene, called "Jason Jam," three dancers appeared on stage dressed as the horror movie character Jason. Their props were trunks full of items, such as swords and chainsaws, which they used to make catchy beats. During the performance, one dancer would act silly to defy the scary persona the other characters were trying to portray. His behavior would startle and surprise the other dancers and cause the audience members to burst out in laughter. In all, the dancers moved together to create elaborate shapes with their bodies and to tell captivating stories. Their coordination and cooperation were impeccable. Brandon Hansen, an aerial performer in the show, said, "The dancers in the company are really close, and they encourage each other to do their best. The result of that collaboration is what you've seen tonight:' It has taken a lot of practice for the dancers to become so proficient at their craft. "I've been training for over a year and a half;' Hansen said. "It takes a lot of endurance and repetition to be able to perform as we do." e.etokidem@chronicle.utah.edu @ChronyArts 11 |