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Show Lineman-of-the-Week Buckman, Jefferson, Keeler, Reid All Rate as Outstanding Linemen .j.j tha Utah speed ; V: I ' . V..W-:i...v .' ': A By REESE STEIN Chronicle Assoc. Sports Editor Picking a lineman-of-the-week at Utah seems, at first, to be a fairly simple job. Someone usually puts in a stand-out performance, so we write about him. Looking deep into the Utah squad to see some of the strength that has elevated Utah to one of the WAC powers from celler-dweller celler-dweller we find star defensive linebacker Bob Buckman. A linebacker on defense is technically tech-nically a back, but Buckman has done more than play lineback nd Coach Bob Watson has Buckman pegged for some offensive duties at end. Buckman put in a fine performance perfor-mance in Saturday's near upset of the Arizona State Sun Devils. He was a leader in tackles with three unassisted stops and four assisted grabs. The Devil's blinding speed kept the Utes in a hole the entire night. With three ASU backs able to run wide, turn on a dime and lose the less nimble Ute lineman, a lot of the defensive responsibility fell on the shoulders of the Redskin secondary. sec-ondary. ASU has three top passers, two of which are always on the field at the same time. A defensive line backer must watch for runs around his end and also cover the : short pass, a play used extensiv- ely. i John Jacobs and John Totok racked up 160 yards and Tony Lorick added 19 more. The average Devil pass went for under ten yards! and the short pass was a deadly wepon in picking up vital first downs. Buckman and the rest of the Utah line backer put on a fine show in slowing down that ground gaining gain-ing option play. Buckman who is six feet and weight 190 pounds is strong and ROBERT BUCKMAN . . . heralded against ASU and the showing the Ute defense put up agaist the WAC's fastest club was an undenyable factor which held the Devil's to a one point lead with seconds left in the game. f hp added to the Utah speed Charley Taylor grabbed a pass late in the game.an ; oke w ay everyone except Ute bacK Groth. Taylor's speed and constant shifting put him out of Groth 1 .each. It was Buckman who came up from behind to nab the speedy ground gainer. It was plays such as this that promoted the ' Chronicle sports staff to single out Buckman. Buckman was among several players hurt in the heated ASU, fracus, but Coach Watson reports he will see action Saturday against West Point. Incidentally: Allen Jacobs and Pokey Allen are doubtful contenders with Army. Buckman is one of many junior transfers. He is from San Diego where he was both an offensive and defensive star at San Diega J.C. He was heralded before the season started as a promising receiver, excellent at San Diego, and a stand out on defense. He has played some offense this year, but the key to Buckman's success has been his fine defensive defen-sive ability. Picking a lineman-of-the-week for the ASU game was a difficult choice in that the small Utah line on the whole played an excellant game and nearly held the WAC's number one team. Coach Watson also singled out John Reid at left tackle. Reid has been consistant the entire season, and is one of Utah's offense and defense stars. Reid was in on six assisted tackles and the big middle lineman pulled off one unassisted stop. An ASU favorite seems to be running run-ning wide and making the defensive tackles commit themselves and then cut up the hole for big yardage. Reid Mel Carpenter, and Bruce Day were kept busy all night trying to account for the ASU ball carriers. carr-iers. All three of Utah's big tackles made fine showings and were able to contain the nation's number four ground gainer, Tony Lorick to far below his average. Third string left guard Gene led the interior of the line in a fine showing by clamping on five tackles. Always consistant Ken Schmidt and Mike Roshek were keeping the ASU passers busy and giving Lorick fits as he tried to batter the center of the line. A line seems to get little credit compared to the glory bestowed on the backs. The ASU team is the finest team Utah has played so far |