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Show The Salt Lake Tribune SPORTS Wednesday, September 24, 1997 Is It Timefor the Falcons to Book Vegas Trip? TRIBUNE STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS BIG 5 FOOTBALL STATISTICS andAir Forceis close to seizing control TODAY: SUU FOOTBALL By Laurence Miedema SUU Ponders ]-AA Playoffs (No Kidding) It has been a long time since Southern Utah fans even joked about the Thunderbirds reaching the college football playoffs. First-year Coach Ray Gregory isn't kidding. ‘I don't think there's ever been anytalk of the playoffs until this year, and I think it was started by our team.” said Gregory. “Everybody thinks they can beat us... . “We've got a plan every week and believe we can win. The independentT-Birds quiet- ly added another plank to their IAA at-large playoff platform af- ter improving to 3-1 by beating Division I-A Arkansas State last weekend. Make-or-break games against top-10 ranked Western Illinois and perennial I-AA power North- ern Iowa remain, butit is becoming increasingly difficult to overlook SUU “If we continue winning, I don’t see how they can keep us out,” said Gregory, whose team plays host to Montana Tech on Saturday. ‘I’m not worried about a let- down. They're focused on what they have to do.” This week, the Thunderbirds received votes in both I-AA polls. They are ranked 28th in. the Sports Ticker poll, and moved to 33rd from 36th in the Sports Net- work poll The victory against Arkansas State was impressive because it cameon the heels of a frustrating one-point loss to Weber State. Gregory said the loss, which extended SUU'’s losing streak to the Wildcats to 10, will remain with him for the rest of his coaching career. A week later, the T-Birds pulled off what manybelieve is biggest win in school history. Losing to Weber “Keeps us more intent on the mission at hand,” said Gregory. “I guessit's going to stay with me forever be- causeit wasthefirst loss,” of his lah — Chns Mo‘ataia 4 ‘BYU — Brion McKenzie 2 33 SU — Demano Brown 2 & WSU — Derok Poole 3% SUV — Brook Madsen 4 83 WAc's Top 40 { Donte Womack, SMU 3 2. Michoe! Pitty SU 68 3. Doron Washington, CSU 4 4 Benj Wood Rice 3 2 5 Chad Ne\son Rice 361 @. Lennox Gordon NM 3 4 7 Michaei Pery, Rice 32 8.Chns Ma afala, Vian 4 65 9 Regina Johnson, NM 3 7 3o Yds 40. Marques Bngham, Wyo 320) 7 At 4 57 WSU — Tours McGhee SUU — Brook Madsen 4 Az Hakim, SOSU 2. Ben Cahoon, BYU 3. Kevin Dyson, Utah 4 Daniel Jones, Utah 5, Damon Savage, Tulsa Todd Fiovd, UNLV W. Montgomery, Wyo 8, Jorold Smith, ulas 9. Damon Williams, UNLV 40. Geoff Tumer, CSU a 44 5 WAC's Top 10 3° 2B 2 14 4% 4 24 3 16 3 16 4 2% 3 18 3 18 4 18 Utah — J. Crosswhite @Cmp 4 63 WSU — Steve Buck $UU — Joe Dupaix 3 4 BYU Kevin Fotenk USU — Matt Souk Att 99 sionII playoff berths in 1986 and 1991, but had lost 30 of its past 44 games cominginto this season. a EMPTY NEST With just eight seniors among the 66 players in his program, Gregoryhas relied heavily on underclassmen as the team tries for its first 4-1 start in 11 years. But freshmen Matt Cannon, Jacob Colton andClint Brown have become huge contributors quick- er than SUU ever imagined they would Brownand Colton combined to. intercept three passes against Arkansas State. Colton is a walk-on 1. Kevin Feterik, BYU 2.K. McKechnie, SDSU 3. J. Crosswhite, Utah 4-MosesMorono,CSU Graham Lee, NM 6. Bly Volek FSU 7 Tim Corey, How 8 Jon Denton, UNV 2 3 4 6 3 5 2 1262 149.7 2 5 8 0 4 2 164.6 164.2 1603 4.NM 2.Utah 3.Rice 4.Wyo SFSU 6.UNLV T.AFA BBYU 9.CSU 40.SDSU 14.818 AZSMU 43.Tulsa 14.How 45.UEP 461CU 265 261 204 287 284 222 297 129 250 174 222 195 181 280 244 148 TOY/P 20 6.7 17 65 11.64 17 55 15 5.4 85.4 43: 5.0 Y/O 4468 4458 4077 3950 3793 3740 3698 1.Utoh 2AFA 3SMU 4.Wyo S.How 6NM 7.CSU 735 4.57 3675 UNIV 1450 13 58 3625 9.TCU 1004 7 58 3347 10.Rico 966 4 44 3222 14.SDSU 946 8.49 3153 12FSU 927 8 5.4 3090 13.8YU 1429 8 40 28623 14.S)5 773 3.3.7 257.7 45.UTEP 722 5 49 2407 46 Tulsa payits bills Bycontrast, the Fiesta paid a record $27.2 million to Nebraska and Florida to playin its Jan. 2, 1996, national championship game Control of the Copper Bowl will remain in Tucson, said Charles Thompson, president of the Ari- title sponsor after 1995, leaving it without major backinglast year. After four games, Cannonis is second to Dupaix in scoring with 32 points “He's just a natural, gifted athlete,” Gregory said. “He is our future.” 1073 1082 1480 1205 1642 822 1449 1521 1645 TD 88 6 9 5 11 10 «14 9 11 12 12 17 7 15 20 18 Y/P Y/G 44 3020 54 307.5 50 3260 433343 47 343, 48 344, 5.4. 347.0 48 56 67 63 5.5 64 6.4 78 68 3577 3607 3033 404.7 4105 4140 4730 5070 5383 and bumpedPennState (3-0)out of the State Saturday night and, with a win, the SWC REUNITED Falcons will be extremely difficult to keep out cf the WAC championship Next up for Rice: Texas. And the Longhorns are angry after their now-infamous 66-3 loss to UCLA two weeks ago. The Owls, coming off a 40-34 victory game Dec. 6 in Las Vegas. Suppose Air Force beats San Diego State. The Falcons would improveto 4-0 in over Northwestern, beat Texas thelast the conference. They would already have three of their toughest gamesout time the two met in Houston in 1994. The 19-17 victory was the Owls’ first San Diego State and crossover opponent Rice. They would haveonly four league contests remaining, including road games against the division's weakest going to write us off for the rest of the season,” said offensive tackle Jay Humphrey. “We have something to prove. emergeas Air Force's chief rival, considering Colorado State and San Diego State would be one full game behind the Falcons and without benefit of the head- good football team.” Texas Coach John Mackovie said Rice will be brimming with confidence after its win over Northwestern and probably will be looking to send a message to Tex- teams — Hawaii and SanJose State Wyoming, 2-0 in the league, would to-headtie-breaker. At this point, however, Wyoming's recordis a bit misleading. The Cowboys’ conference wins have been over those two weaklings, Hawaii and SanJose State. They haven't played Colorado State, San Diego State or crossover opponent SMU, and they must visit Air Force on Nov. 15. It could be for a spot in the league title game — probably against BYU, Utah or Rice. a PATERNO FINE WITH NO.2 Right now, Penn State Coach Joe Paterno doesn’t give a hoot about his Nittany Lions being bounced from the No. 1 ranking by Florida Too soon to worry, he says. “This earlyin the year, you just don’t know. When they picked us No. 1, I didn't know whether we werethe No. 1 team or not,” Paterno said in his first comments since the Gators took over the top spot in the AP Top 25 even poueh Penn State beat Louisville 57“Florida jumpsto No. 1 because they beat Tennessee. How good is Tennessee? I don’t know. How goodis Florida? I don't know. Somebody's got to pick somebody andif they wantto pick Florida as No. 1 right now, that’s fine.” over Texas in 29 years. If weloseto Rice. a lot of people are Wehave to show that westill have a as, which bolted the Southwest Conference for the Big 12. Rice, Texas Christian and Southern Methodist were forced to find a new home, landingin the WAC while Houston joined Conference USA. “This is Rice’s chanceto shock the na- tion,” Mackovie said. “We are talking about WAC power. I think the WAC teams have something to prove. They were disappointed about not getting into the Big 12. “We are not going against Rice. We are going against the entire WAC.” Asked if the Longhorns would come out hungry and desperate, the way UCLAdid against Texas, Mackovic said, “T hope we're hungry. Webetter be. We don’t have a choice.” Mackovic said James Brownis recoyering from his ankle injury and expect- edto start at quarterback Saturday. QO SPITTING MAD Neither Syracuse senior linebacker AntwaunePonds noruniversity officials will comment about a spitting incident involving Ponds and a Tulane coach. The incident occurred after Syra- cuse’s 30-19 victory Saturday night at the Carrier Dome and was captured on videotape by a television news crew. ‘We could not or would not make a the play, Syracuse defensive back Rod Gadson was cut down from behind by Tulane’s John Wilson. The play drew a penalty flag for clipping and resulted in a knee injury to Gadson. A shouting match broke out between the two teams andsoon threatening ges- tures followed before the sides were separated. Pondsis shownonthe videotape spitting on Tulane strength and conditioning coach Mike Iosia. o IRISH EYES Notre Dame Coach Bob Davie wants his team to be tougher in the face of adversity. The Irish’s wimpy, have-abad-series-and-wilt attitude has got to 0. “The thing we've talked about is not being so fragile,"’ Davie says, “not letting our enthusiasm and our emotion hinge on what happensduringthe game. We've got to go in and set the tempo, and we've got to be enthusiastic and be excited, regardlessof the situation. But that’s easier said than done.” Especially when theIrish are 1-2 and 14-point underdogs for Saturday's game at No. 6 Michigan. While this might make Notre Damefans shudder, Davie isn't even talking about winning anymore. With the problems his team has, he'll settle for everyone playing well and no newinjuries. “Right now, there’s one target and that’s getting us to play better,” he said. “T haven't even thought about that. It’s been a week-to-week thing and a day-today thing with us right now.” As nutty as it sounds, playing Michi- gan mighthelp, Davie said, Notre Dame has always played well at-Michigan Stadium, winning three of the last four games there. The Irish are alsostill irked about Michigan'svictory at Notre Dame Stadium three years ago — the last time the two teams met — when Remy Hamilton kicked the winning field goal with two secondsleft. “Anytimeyouplayin front of 106,000 peopleit gives you a tremendous opportunity,” Davie said. “It is a big rivalry. I knowthe last football game weplayed was one of the greatest football games I've coached in.” WORLD'S RCEST SKI & SNOWBOARD SALE SAVE 408 ‘de % OFF ‘96-'97 MFG. LIST TTA OFF MFG.LIST ASSORTED ee m-VE2eN% oui hd te CeaT Bowl never was robust. Weiser Lock pulled out as its Adams Gets Winat Women’s Senior Am MIDWAY — Gwen Adams claimed a two-stroke win at the 1997 Utah State Women’s Senior Amateur Tuesday, firing a twoday total of 154 at Homestead Golf Course Adams followed Monday's 81 with a 73 on Tuesdayat the resort course in the event for women my LIQUID S-SERIES GUA sles Only 9597, ey 724.00 Gta SKIWEAR, GLOVES este WAL golfers 50 and over. Adamsalso Oo TRAVEL TALES Being on tight budget, SUU’s won the event last year at the Homestead, by three shots travel arrangements are usually Merlene Nixon was low net But getting to Jonesboro, Ark., champion in the championship flight. of the economy-class parties involved,” Coach Paul Pasqualoni said in a statementreleased by the athletic department. The incident took place after the gameended with a 98-yard interception return by Syracuse's Tebucky Jones. On help for the struggling junior The Highland High gradis expected to take over at quarterback after record-breaking Joe second behind Brook Madsen with 340 rushing yards, leads the team with 159receiving yards and No. 1 ranking it held since the preseason poll. The Gators, ranked No. 3 entering Saturday's game, also benefited by Nebraska's 27-14 win over then-No. 2 Washington. vertisers and teams and some bowl. The Copper Bow! offered Utah and Wisconsin a total of just $2 million to play last Dec. 27, and still needed a $73,683 infusion from the Tucson City Council to of the Bowl Alliance, the Copper team’s punter, averaging 40 yards on 17 kicks. Int Rating 2 160.3 2 0 1646 232853 Plays Yds 278 1208 2261230 194 978 306 1325 295 1372 290 1379 274 1388 225 194 175 194 297 128 234 196 238 see 33-20 at Florida Field on Saturday It was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Falcons, who returned only nine starters, including four on offense. But Air Force is 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference after a stunning 24-0 victory at Colorado State last week. Air Force plays host to San Diego Fiesta Merger Puts Life Back In Copper Bowl held their own.” Cannon has been a multi-pur- ing at slot-back. He is also the St B61 4 «49-86 «570749731500 4 3 68 559 558 7 3 1500 4 72 122 590 7% «8 «2 1922 4 68 112 607 «70-2 «5 1124 «369 192-523 BMt SHOR [Arkansas] papers they were go- Dupaix graduates. But because of depth problems, Cannonisstart- ¥ 54a 788 872 started the Fiesta Bowl in 1971 While the Fiesta Bowl grew stronger this decade, going with Tostitos as a title sponsor in 1995 and becoming a charter member poseterror. 259 8547 53 06 12 73 16877 3254 23270 34 «2 «124 65 470 5 196 60 268 0016853 9049383 39 1 147 53 174d 50 181412947 36 317045 WACTotal Offense WAC Total Defense Yds 1787 1383 1223 1580 1547 1422 4479 statement until we have talked to all Athletic Conference. of the way — against ColoradoState, RIG 662 326 zona Sports Foundation that ing to pick on them. Well, I'm glad they did.” said Gregory. “They Avera, YRec Yds 44 83 494 47 42 405 WAC Leaders: W 50 600 55 79 896 63 9 636 from Olympus High who is filling in for injured senior Ron Talbot. “There was lot of talk in the 800 1D 8 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TEMPE, Ariz. — In a move un- in 56 Yds 872 precedented amongcollege football’s competitive bowl organizers, the foundation behind the Fiesta Bowl acquired Tucson's Copper Bowl on Tuesday. Two games under one banner should mean greater appeal to ad- That belief includes the playoffs, which would be first for the 3 Pet 636 2 30 50 600 4 73 42 54 They have a belief that they can school. The team just missed Divi- YAH ¥/@m Leading Passers head coaching career. ‘They are the most resilient bunch I’ve ever been around TD 4256S 124 4 37) 605 7 3 45 1385 28 06393 430455 1193 S249 at (347 3 54 1457 43 3 46 1133 30 65) (79 100 9447 983 «22 «0-264 940 7 3 66 m3 3 256 948 Mi 3 100 903 Leading Receivers Rec Florida (3-0) beat then-No. 4 Tennes- in the Pacific Division of the Western Leading Rushers_ COLLEGE FOOTBALL NOTES Don't look now, but it’s only one month into the college football season variety to defeat Arkansas State last weekend was an adventure, It took more than 14 hours on planes and buses, and included stops in Las Vegas, Dallas and Memphis. The Thunderbirds’ all night trip didn't depart Cedar City until 10 p.m “They found a place to sleep in most of the airports and on the bus, and not onekid complained,” said Gregory. “They could have quit a million timeson the trip be- cause of the travel and in the game, but they didn’t."” 997 Woes Senor Amateur At Homesend Goll Course Medalist — Gwen Adams, 194 Camelesiy Lav Grom — Aor 186-6 gn16: Ravin16 Lew Ne Mane 198M Rab10,3 ruta 1 Lov Groat Meuin 78 NPM TTS. Span 177 Law M. Fentoo, 140; N. Valle 143 J. Stanley, 144 Serond Might Lar Gireat—N_Doyal 171,C Nelms, 182: Le Weleb, 106 Law Net-—=$ Carter, 130; V Simon 141, Coley 143° L. Olen 144 ‘Third rd Fight Law Gime = C Metler1921. Taylor. 106k. Nace 12 ‘Mone, 204 Law Net P MePaand, 136, Sumaverays, 138 L Cand, 144 arth Pgh oe Grom Porter Narn23 Ort me etea N= 6. Ma. Marg, “GIVE FOR THE GOLD" Show your support for the USSki Team and “Give For The Gold” by making a donation at any Gart Sports location. 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