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Show THE DAILY CHRONICLE UTAH Ugly Offense Aside, Aii MFL Season Gone Wtok U Men Still Get Win The Bears nosy have stumbled through the '90s, but, if the 2001 season is any indication, the dynasty will RORY BRUNNER Chronicle Asst. Sports Utah held Si Mary's to 7 (28 percent) from the field in the game, forcing 20 Gael turnovers. St. Mary's was (12 percent) from beyond the arc. As good as the Utes were on defense, the lowest offensive output in Majerus's 13 seasons kept the game close. "Offensively, we played without any rhythm or flow," he said. Without Spivey, the ball control sputtered. Spivcy's replacement, freshman Eric Osmundson, struggled in his first collegiate start. Osmundson, a shooting guard, committed 6 of Utah's 20 turnovers. Utah jumped out to an lead, but trailed 8 with 1.04 left in the first half after a layup by Anthony Woodards. A free throw by Lance Allrcd tied the score at 19 at the half. 1 St. Mary's built a advantage five minutes into the second half, but Utah responded. Utah went on a 0 run, capped by a Jeff Johnsen dunk, to ORUHHER 13-4- Ed. tor wrote, "It's too bad Brian Urlacher can't play every position on defense. Try and name another Bears starter." WeU, besides RW. McQuarters, (Lis name just has a catchy ring to it), I still can't wene another Dears defensive starlet But the squad held Its oppoI 2-- 17 Even without two starters injured center Chris Burgess and suspended point guard Travis Spivey the Utah did just men's basketball team (10-in Calif., Monday Moraga, enough night to squeak by the St. Mary's Gaels by the score of Spivey, a senior in his second year at the U, received a suspension for a violation of team conduct rules. Spivey did not make the trip because of a reported argument with coach Rick Majcrus during practice last week Spivcy's future is uncertain. "When and if he's going to return to the team is still to be determined," Majcrus said. On the hardwood, Utah won its seventh straight game with its best defensive effort of the Majcrus era. The 35 points by St. Mary's broke the 36 points scored by Wichita State in Utah's 6 win on Dec. 21, 1991. "If you like defense, tonight was a great game," Majcrus said. 3) (5-- 41-3- 5. 8) one-ga- 58-3- 11- -3 19-1- 26-2- 7-- see MEN'S HOOPS, page 15 I J AsiL Sports Editor m-nzx- nc Judging from my thought process prior to die 3001-0- 2 NFL season, I would have said the Monday KIghter between &t Vik.es md the Ra?eas would lu-x- carried di&rent implications, la evaluation of rny preseason picks in the Chrony, dated SepL 5 md 7, 1 right have seen the V2j:s jociryuvj for home field advantage in the HayoCfs at this point in tLtje. How wrong 1 was. I realized how humtling a few months of erratic, cindereSa-lade- n NIL play ctn be, That's how it is in the newspaper business, and I will be the first to poke fun at myself for cockamarrJe reasoning and unintelligible fodder. I reviewed the IvFCs Central and West divisions, as weU as the AFC West, but I was right regarding only one conclusion the Panthers were slop. Actually, I did pick the Rams to reclaim supremacy in the West (as if any human being could have done), but I was regarding nearly every other aspect of the league. Damn the of the NFL Maybe the chance of any team beating any other team on any given Sunday is more enjoyable to watch, Maybe it pulls in more greenbacks and more fans and is solely semi-intelligi- bass-ackwar- ds (dis-)pari- ry the reason for football replacing its cylinder-shape- d counterparts as America's Game, But hell, it's making me look like a genuine buffoon. I start my review in the most important division in the NFL the NFC Central to which by beloved Green Bay Packers belong. The Bears reigned the NFC Norse with a 3 record, when I picked them to go Chicago went from worst to first after a effort last year. I might have prognosticated the apocalypse or a third World War before picking the Bears to sit atop the division. Before the season began, I wrote "Chicago will still wish it was the 8os, with Walter Payton and Mike Single-tar- y doing the Super Bowl Shuffle. Ah, the good oY days." 13-- 3. ... Vf 5-- - V- . i ;v ) ft r . . Y V y&$5rr I fr:fYr. k '.y r Yi - - ., v I . ' "' hx j f "'V . Chronicle ' Sports w . Columnist U head football coach Ron McBride likes his job. He has said so. He has a state-of-the-- stadium art and a football team that downed powerhouse USC, against all odds, in the Las Vegas Bowl on Christmas Pac-1- .... V", . - V 0 day. ... ' iniiwiiimi. But it is no secret that this not the premiere place to coach in the i is coordinators were asked where their the SICHHG U's game vs. St. Mary's. vs Wyoming Montana Invite 19-1- 0 dream college coaching job would be. To the surprise of many people, the University of Utah was mentioned in e the survey, receiving two GYilHASTICS Utah All Day Bozeman, Mont. (6-(7-- 5) VS 5) 110 at 7 p.m. Huntsman Center Ohio State (0-0- ) Utah (0-0- ) 111 at 7 p.m. Huntsman Center CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR ERIC "WALLY" WALDEN ), 9-- (9-7- 7 (2-1- 4) 7-- 12-- - (5-1- 0). It is hard to swallow when I grossly underestimate the Pack production of my surrogate team. The Favre-le- d Favre their handed form, regained definitely although Strahan the sack title on a silver platter, no matter what he says. Just as 1 called, the Tampa offense underachieved, as Tony Dungy begins counting his days. As for the Vikes, instead of Korey Stringer's death uniting Minnesota, the team imploded. Michael Bennett was no Robert Smith, and Randy Moss proved to be an incurable ilL As for the West, the Rams came out on top after being upended for the conference crown last year (no stunner ), there). I had St Louie n-- 5 (actually ), N'awllns 9--7 ), San Fran 8 Atlanta 9 (7-and Carolina (7-9- 14-2- 8-- (12-4- 4-- 12 9) 7-- - (1-1- I correctly said the Panthers "won't amount to jack squat," but the Niner trio of GarciaOwensHearst progressed faster than anticipated in turning around a 0 6-1- - OUtput I've got to say I feel like a valid! donkey's derriere when I repeat what I wrote about the AFC East "Any team in the AFC East can walk away with the title. Well not New 'preVWUS see CRUKKER, page j Results of ESPN.com's survey of 26 head coaches and coordi- Division nators A in which voters were asked to list their top five dream jobs in college football (fiva points for first-plac- e votes, four for second, three for third, two for fourth, one for fifth): TstaSAst Votes Program 1. should have little trouble in finding his successor though in spite of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops turning the job down as the coaches polled cited locationweather, recruiting baserivalries, facilities and fan support as just a few of the reasons they made the Gainesville, Fla., school the runaway winner Other schools Finishing in the top 10 such as Texas, Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame, USC and Michi- top-not- 15 r Though those were Utah's only two votes of the' poll, their first-plavalue was enough to make the U the nth most desirable locale for coaching football among those polled. The survey came in response to Florida coach Steve Spurrier suddenly and unexpectedly announcing his resignation from the Gators. UF Florida 74 Z. Texas 56 3. Florida State 43 4. Miami 36 5. Notre Dame 34 6. Nebraska 32 Tennessee 13 7. te 8. Michigan 12 8. USC 12 10. Ceorgia n ch Others receiving votes: Utah 10 (2). Stanford 7, UCLA 7, North Car- LSU 8, olina 6 Stste Penn 5, Oklahoma 5, Wisconsin 4, MEN'S HOOPS SVIMfiiriQ t Utah vs Washington 111 All Day Federal Way, Wash. EWALDENCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU (1), West Virginia 5 (1). Washington 4, Alabama 4, Arizona 3, Ohio State 2, Auburn 1. see GAtQf page 13 first-plac- WOMEN'S HOOPS at Utah 12-4- 9-- in-sta- country, right? Not according to a surDivivey by ESPN.com. Twenty-si- x sion IA head football coaches and Travis Spivey did not play in 3-- votes. LANCE GAMERO brand new, r four-gam- ce - ? txT-poist- Utah Football Job Is One of Best in Nation I ', i 11 nents to a clip, the NFL's best. e Sill even with a ttingy defense and a strcik heading into the postseason, I szy an immediate departure from the rbyofTs is ahead for coach Dick Jauron's crew. Da Bear are but 3 tp-lmIlayoff teams, having benefitted from a frail schedule. Unless Chicago punishes the Pack (who beat them twice durir.g the season) and wins the Super Bowl, I still donl give them respect As far as the rest of the division goes, I picked Green ), the Bucs to finish Bay to finish 7 (actually 4 and the Lions to finish 9 the Vikes to end s UNLV (8-5- Utah (10-3- ) ) 112 at 1 p.m. Huntsman Center 581-704- 1 POOR COPYi |
