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Show Page Twenty-ihr- e SPORTS J frJ r '-- . . ; --" ' ''"''-"'"- ' .- s ' i I- 4", ' vi . ' 'X- -''' running back Eddie Lewis breaks a tackle or two while cutting in action against UTEP Saturday night. Lewis ran for 134 line the through ( s - - '"' Hmmph!! Ute ...-'- . " j.'. a,', awwy i'nnn.im.ii.i ,imi4 mm .. f lgw-ii- .annul. " ' TS' ., . , liilMlliwWlTO "s.:- - mr'-'MKmW- .iisfifl life's -- r g-t ' A ..illiiliil , 7-- Two months ago, if you'd taken bets on which team in the WAC would have had an undefeated record after four games you probably would have had a few takers. Unfortunately, no one in their right mind would have said the team that would be undefeated would be the one in Salt Lake City. In fact, it'd probably be the team to the South you know, those national champion guys who would keep getting named. But all that's changed now, because BYU is 3-- 1 and it's the Utes who are undefeated, after a sound 55-1- 9 thrashing of a hapless UTEP team before 30,745 chilled fans in Rice Stadium Saturday night. The undefeated start through four games is the best any Utah head man has ever done in his first year of coaching. "I was proud of our kids," said Coach Jim Fassel, the first one to do it. "We got a little sloppy toward the end, but we played a pretty good football game considering everything." The 0 start is also the best Utah has run off since 1953, when the Utes went 0 before a loss. The 55 points on the board was the most Utah has scored since in 1983. thumping Wyoming, It's Wyoming, by the way, who Utah will host next Friday night. The Cowboys lost to Wisconsin, and will J be Saturday as they enter the game with Utah. But let's take those 0 Utes first. To say Utah blew out to a quick start would be a little bit of an overstatement, considering the Utes stalled on their first two drives, the first one ending up with a 6-- . Ik 41-1- 7, 1- -3 4-- Hank Mondaca punt and the second one coming to an end when 33-ya- Ute kicker Andre Guardi bangs another through the posts as Hank Mondaca holds. Guardi hit a field goal and seven PATs against the Miners to extend his streak to 62. rd Therman Beard failed on a fourth down conversion. 2-y- ard run for a Running back Eddie Lewis broke through for a 19-ya- rd seconds left in the first quarter to give Utah a 0 lead. As the second quarter began, the Utes kicked in: Gerald Johnson broke loose for a run with 12:44 gone by to give 21 4-- v "NT - '" 4-- 0. 69-1- 4, -- ' 55-1- Sports Editor ' ' - yards on 18 carries and a touchdown as the Utes romped to a 9 win over the The Utes host Wyoming Friday nl?ht. hapless Miners. Utah is now by John Youngren ""W ' - Ml nows; irecora sto perfect in the contest stars Everyone y as Utes dump UTEP 55-- 1 9 Utes inmauD : t) ( f - K touchdown run with 43-ya- rd Utah a 14-- 0 lead; kicker Andre Guardi field goal through to punched a 17-0 lead; quarterback give the Utes a receiver Loren Richey on a hit Larry Egger 48-ya- rd strike to give Utah a 24-- 0 lead; and pass to Egger hit James Hardy on a 31-- 0 with a lead under two Utah just give minutes left in the half. Phew. "We hung together all week long, even though we knew (UTEP) wasn't the best 7-y- 34-ya- rd team. We couldn't get lackadaisical," Egger said. So it was an unlackadaisical Utah that barely let up in third quarter, this time with the defense chipping in. Defensive end Kevin Polston picked off UTEP quarterback Sammy Garza's screen pass to Nicky Combs and ran it back for a touchdown. "The interception came as a surprise," Polston said in an elated Ute locker room after the game. "I saw the screen coming and the pressure made (Garza) make a bad throw and I was in the right place." Letting up a little, the Utes did allow UTEP a score with eleven minutes left in the third, as the Miners sacked Egger in the south end zone for a safety, "cutting" the 49-ya- lead to rd 38-- 2. Things became positively hairy five minutes later, when UTEP's Vic Stagliano run to make it 38-- 8. burst in for a UTEP missed their shot at a two-poi- nt conversion. But the Utes bounced right back as Egger hit Richey on a pass late in the third to make it 45-- 8 and Raymond Bennett ran through for a run to make it 52-- 8. UTEP added a field goal and a touchdown, but throw in another Utah field goal and you get the final 55-1- 9. 5-y- ard 2-y- ard 34-ya- rd continued on page twenty-si- x |