| Show The Salt Lake Tribune I Sunday Not ember 26 1989 Back Come Can't 21 Then Beach Points Aggies Spot Long Special to The Tribune LONG BEACH Calif — Normally Southern California is a nice place to visit in late November But for Utah State these Thanksgiving-tim- e stops in LA have been season-endinnightmares the last couple years Saturday afternoon the Aggies were up against a Long Beach State team with a coach They left town record and a lame-ducSaturday night 8 losers If this tune sounds familiar it should The Ags went to Cal State Fullerton to end their '88 season last November and came away on score — a game that the short end of a at the time USU Coach Chuck Shelton called one of his most bitter losses Shelton wasn't feeling much better about this one "This has to rank up with the worst defeats we've had in terms of my concerns" said the 4th-yeAggie coach mind-bendin- g g 3-- 8 k 31-1- 23-1- 3 both instances the Ags were playing for record in the Big a season and a West Conference As it stands they'll again totals — a have to settle for their '88 won-los- s overall mark and a league record of Playing in Larry Reisbig's final game as Long Beach State coach (he resigned a couple weeks ago) the 49ers finished 8 for the sea son and 5 in the conference It could have been worse With the Aggie call the 49ers defense missing its wake-ubolted to a 21-- lead just 1112 minutes into rout looked in the the contest A offing USU slowed the Long Beach attack and rallied to within early in the fourth quarter But a late 49er field goal and two interceptions — one of which was returned for a touchdown — sealed the Aggies' fate "My biggest concern was that they'd get on a roll" said Shelton "Long Beach has talent They always do But it's hard to convince people of that when a team is struggling like they have" 5-- 2 4-- 3 4-- 7 2-- 0 d 21-1- 8 Continued From D-Bryan Rowley inside the 10 There were arguments whether Rowley was in bounds when he just missed the catch Actually Utah's defense drew ap plause from the chilled fans many times during the day but often the cheers were hushed by that third-dowbreakdown It may be that the flexbone offense which causes so much trouble to other defenses was made to order for the Ute defense which obviously hasn't had much success stopping other offenses Air Force had 468 total yards at the end of three quarters but the Utes held this offense to only 66 total yards in the fourth quarter and that may have been the best performance since the Aggie game in September Utah added 108 yards to its offensive total in the fourth quarter again a favorable ending to a dismal season Utah started out stronger defensively holding the Falcons to no gain in their first possession forcing a punt and then in the second Air Force possession stopping the Falcons on first down after taking a lead with a field goal But after that it was the Falcons chopping away evenleads tually piling up 0 and 42-1Then in the fourth you had trouble telling one of the WAC's best from one of the conference's cellar dwellers Give the Utes credit for coming back time and again as is expected in an emotional game closing out a losing season with the team and coaching staff under fire Also Dowis was hurt midway in the third quarter and while he returned to direct the flexbone he only showed one flash of his running ability after the injury He rushed for 70 yards in the first quarter totaled 84 at the half 100 at three quarters and net 103 for the day This from the quarterback who has rushed for more yardage than any quarterback of a major team since records were kept Utah stopped Dowis as well as any team this year The season has taken its toll on Dowis who has paid the price of the running quarterback And the schedule has prolonged the season The team had a week off after the loss to BYU and two weeks to get ready fora club that had been the recipient of BYU mercy in giving up 70 points last week It's hard to build up steam for a team with that record Air Force now has a week off before closing the regular seasôn Dec 12 at Hawaii By beating Army and Navy the Falcons have clinched the Liberty Bowl bid no matter what happens in Honolulu And that means a couple of more weeks added to a season that began late last summer As:Coach Fisher DeBerry mentioned before the game the academic pressure on these athletes is tremendous becaPse they all must carry the full class load of their classmates and a season stretching into five months puts a lot of mental and physical pressure on the athletes after theirdaily football drills The season may have seemed even longer for the Utes record overall and who Sound themselves with a conference mark after closing with a four-gam- e victory rush:a year ago capped by the win over BYU season of Th1s was Utah's worst showing since the r is surrecord of 1986 And Jim Passel's passed in futility only by Tom Lovat's three years and Wayne Howard's first season when Utah won only eight and lost 36 games from 1974-7record while the worst in Ute Bikt even Lovat's history didn't produce as many lopsided defeats as this year's Utah team The most points a Lovat team gave up was 51 to BYU and in three years only eight teams scored 40 oi more against Utah This year BYU scored 70 Hawaii 67 Fresno State 52 Colorado State 50 and Wyoming and UTEP 45 each while Nebraska added 42 points to the opponent total Include the 64 points Ohio State scored in 1986 along with 52 points by Arizona State and UTE P the 52 points by San Diego State and the 48 by Air Force in 1987 and the 61 by Wyoming 56 by Air Force and 48 by Hawaii last year and four-yea- r oppoyou have the makings of a nents' scoring defensive stand in the final minutes That third-dowSaturday saved Utah from further national "recognition" in futility i:':' ::':: !i:n' ft::!iv ':' P 2-- 9 25-3- 3 five-yea- 7 8 near-recor- d n Observation Ward under fire always can count on a few rockhard backers some of whom may be said to be Fassel-izeA coach Paterno Sees Lions-BI- SAN DIEGO (AP) — Penn State coach Joe Paterno in accepting a bid to the Holiday Bowl predicted a higher-scoringame than the g victory over Nittany Lions Pittsburgh Saturday that ended the regular season The No 22 Nittany Lions secured an invitation to the Holiday Bowl Dec 29 against Western 16-1- Athletic Conference champion BYU after Ray Tarasi kicked a 20- yard field goal with 13 seconds remaining to beat No 19 Pitt No 21 BYU (1M) secured the 'AC title Saturday night with a 48-2victory over San Diego State 7 at Jack Murphy Stadium site of the Holiday Bowl in the Holi"It won't be -day Bowl" Paterno said Maybe will Veil La coach Edwards BY') take it easy because I'm his buddy 16-1- 3 Or maybe we'll throw and hell runadded Paterno drawThg laughter because the suggestion went contrary to the teams offen I L ANt """ "A" """641041m" AIL ifre " 42-3- 8 25-3- 3 five-yea- 41?'?7'" down" 42-2- 4 Asked if the report was true that he told his team early in the week he might resign Fassel said when down" - In addition to making a claim he would stay on at the U and "seriously evaluate" possible changes in the support staff Fassel said he felt quarterback Scott Mitchell would "stay on to play his senior year" Fassel said he had "talked a lot to Scott" about a decision to turn pro since Mitchell is eligible after his fifth year at the U "Certain things mean a lot to Scott I think down deep he knows what's best for him" said Fassel And what does Mitchell think down deep? He wants to stay and play" Fassel contended ) - - :::: ::y a 4S :::' s: '': :'4ii '4!-7- - iV:''''" —Tribune Stott Photo by Pick Egan Utah head coach Jim Fassel declared after the Air Force game he would not resign the report emerged "I called the team together and explained it" Fassel reportedly told the Crimson Club meeting on Monday of his private talks with his wife about resignation But Fassel denied that he said flatly that he was thinking of resigning About staying for a sixth season Fassel noted that "it's always a mutual decision with the administration I haven't had a flicker of feeling from anybody else about his won-los- status" Utah Athletic Director Chris liill Fas said late Saturday that "this Falcons Deflate the Rally Win Lewis on counters and dives and rolling out and pitching Oh yes Dowis displayed his passing prowess with five completions of 19 yards or more Wayne Lammle's 16th field goal (a of the season and freshTD reman Steve Abrams' ception from Richmond gave Utah in the first and 10-leads of Continued From D- - I er" Dowis explained of the hit he took from Ute defenders Bob Bonifacio and Howard Reeve on a rollout to the left side "There's pain a lot of it right now" he added gingerly touching his sprained right shoulder He passed only two more times the rest of the way both times to preserve a Falcon drive that eventually fizzled and was ended by a Brent O'Brien sack of Dowis with 2:22 left "1 don't want to second-guesmy NCAA coaching staff" the rushing quarterback said when asked if the Falcons should have passed more "When we stalled it was little breakdowns We weren't playing with 11 guys taking part You need everyone in this game" But Dowis acknowledged Utah's comeback "It was just one of those games where they took the momentum and we didn't do much to stop them I'm just glad to get out of here DO1A'iS d 0 But Dowis dashed for TD runs of 7 and 19 yards and Johnson had a yard scoring run Then with with just 46 seconds left in the half Lewis burst up the middle for an scoring run When the Falcons' Johnson knifed through the right side for a touchdown run at 11:30 of the third period Air Force had scored on six straight possessions Almost inexplicably the Utes then closed the door "We changed up on some things defensively Our guys were staying on their feet stringing out their wide stuff We plugged up the middle and forced their play to the corners" said Fassel -- We figured they would grind it out on us but they were forced into some passing I'll tell you that Dowis is the most underrated wishbone-offens- e passer I've ever seen" Richmond who has now thrown for 724 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in the two games he has subbed for injured Scott Mitchell said of the Utes' comeback "We just tried to take them the defense) outside and work Dennis inside on their 1- e d with a win" Dowis took note of the improved Ute defense over a year ago when the Falcons rushed for 640 yards in a 56- 49 win here "Last year we just pitched it and ran up and down the field They must have watched the films They took us out of a lot of our stuff today" It didn't appear that way in the first half After Utah stopped the Falcons' first series Air Force scored on five straight possessions to build a first-hal- f lead And it was the same old basic Falcon wishbone ploy — Johnson and 34-1- 8 linebackers" And Richmond himself suffering shoulder from a near injury that prevented him from throwing in practice Wednesday through Friday knew Smith was there "He had that fire in his eyes today And he would tell me that a route was open He wanted the ball He was a tremendous team leader He kept the team going today" Richmond said of Smith Smith who set an NCAA record for TD receptions by a tight end with 19 for the season and tied Purdue's Dave Young for career receptions by a said he tight end (24 from 1977-80- ) was surprised the Falcons "didn't do anything surprising on defense "We thought they might come out in the 'Bear' defense or something But they were basic and disciplined Our defense gave us a chance to win the game Everyone believed we could win this game and we had a chance" said Smith who had seven catches for 139 yards t For a underdog a four-poiloss was a moral victory But Fassel wasn't playing for moral victories He disdained a conversion try with 8:33 left that would have put Utah in a position to kick a tying field goal "We didn't come in today with plans for a tie We expected to win" said Fassel Air Force's six straight scoring thrusts spoiled that 42-3- 8 '4 4 ‘''''''i t': 474' It:fr':' fl Agni 4' "IPW - - " - p !"?':i4F ' ' Vit 4' te:5:- S I- '5''': la: ' :' :H:: C:21 ( ' :: ::! 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('' :1 4 :::!':::!:!:::':::' - -- - ii::: :i:: - — ' ' - -- —Mauna Staff Photo by Rick Egon Ute running back Steve Abrams broke away for 103 yards rushing against Air Force Irish Setback Takes Edge Off Orange Bowl iZ4IL' I "!"0-- ' —::g:'"'t'':'-'-::f':--::''-'::::- i''''''"'''''' :' - '' c ' 0 to 00090004& led by sopho- ANAmptscA Jok 11MA04Ath 7 quarter s A7' 'N '': ' : r 'f:':::'''' t " ' !:A '' : ' " r::: t' ''''''' i 0 4'' it l'::'1- (: t )1 :( '4 i ' It et ii-- '- I yt ' :' ' '4i j''' :' IC I: z !A ' I : '' t4 ' 27-1- - vs-N- - ::1 4 -- A x::' "- 4 - - mr-- ' 4 o 42-3- 8 ' 7:r7 ' el c 4'0)"44' 21-1- 0404 —Assoacted Preu Poto Colorado's William Mano lt right accepts imitation from Orange Bov l's Tom Voccl - I 4 Ah0 Tribune Wire Services The Orange Bowl set up a potential national championship game Saturday by issuing an invitation to No 1 Notre Dame but the Fighting Irish couldn't keep up their end of the deal The Fighting Irish will face No 2 Colorado in the New Year's Night game in Miami The Buffaloes finished the regular season 11-and earned the automatic berth issued to the Big Eight champion The bowl issued its invitation to the Fighting Irish less than an hour before they were to take the field against No 7 Miami The Hurricanes then ran to a victory over the Fighting Irish to end the Orange Bowl's hopes of a No I 2 matchup of unbeaten& Here's how the bowls look: — California Dec 9: Fresno State vs Ball State — Independence Dec 16: Tulsa vs Oregon — Aloha Dec 25: Michigan State vs Hawaii — All American Dec 28: No 23 Duke vs Texas Tech — Liberty Dec 28: Air Force a winner over Utah vs Mississippi which accepted an invitation after a victory over Mississippi State Holiday Dec 29 Penn State acrepted an invitation after its ictory and will play BYU — John Hancock Dec 30: Despite the loss to Penn State Pittsburgh accepted a bid and will 0 qe OtY - Yc?c-ri'- :':ote '' Crz'i' c ::4!: tc ti'6 l'''' ' 4' o'r 'tie ''1 Ar '' rgo 4i viditri:Ttk4f- ' ' : 1 0 '2 'A4) ::: ' 14 14 :g ' : :::' ti')' ' :‘ '':'1 ' v ti '' ':'''':" : M- -- - V' :' ''' 41 : ' t- 4::: - ''''''' v ' ' 71 :t:-:'-- !tv t 1 r :'f ik 1---' -:::: ''''Ml A ' r' :11 t'11481w':iJ'bY - - C1'"- 1- ' tq''''t:5 ':' 2 kif0' 4 " loss But moments after the to Air Force at Rice Stadium dropr record to ping his record Fassel flatly stated he would not resign "Hell no" he responded to a question as he left the Ute dressing quarters where he told his team "I've never been more proud of a bunch of guys in the fourth quarter when Utah rallied from :':!::r:Aw4:-::':::4- g Fassel who purportedly has one more year left on his contract said he and his wife Kitty "got into our car and drove around for a long time last weekend "I've always said that when coaching becomes too much of a strain on me my wife and my kids I'd get out It's been a long season and it's worn on me I got down quite a bit Both Kitty and I got loss to BYU Nov 18 1 " 1:::::) more quarterback Ty Detmer is ranked second in the nation in total offense behind Houston averaging 5387 yards per game BYO will be back in the Holiday Bowl for the first time since 1984 when the Cougars heat Michigan and secured the national champi onship with a 13-- record The 1984 game marked the Cougars' seventh consecutive appearance in the Holiday Bowl beginning with the first game in 1978 It was also the last time the WAC representative has won the Holiday Bowl The bowl did not select the WAC champion in 1985 opting for Arkansas vs Arizona State Paterno said the Holiday Bowl was Penn States clear choice "I said if they Wanted us then when the time was appropriate we were very interested ' Paterno said "Outside of playing for a national championship I'm really anxious to play this game " IL 70-3- " :'4c High-Scorin- g sive philosophies Brigham Young ::::: : Bowl Matchup T H:iz :: :::!::::v400":) - sel's future will not be a thing We normally meet on Tuesday's to talk about the program and after the season we eval uate the entire structure You can't put a handle on how long this (evaluation will take" Hill who fired Utah basketball coach Lynn Archibald last March after the Utes were picked to win the WAC crown and finished in a tie for sixth place said the decision on Utah's football future would be made after meetings with Fassel and school President Dr Chase Peterson "Dr Peterson has been out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday He'll be back this week and we'll talk" said Hill "When things aren't going well of course you have to talk and talk more in depth about the program's direction" added Hill Said Fassel when asked about possible changes in his assistant ranks: "I evaluate the staff every year I'll sit down with all of them this week It's going to be a case of I lead they follow or they get out "Right now we're all very disaps record We pointed in the had every reason to believe we'd be better on defense because we had a lot people back But we didn't make the improvement we thought we would" said Fassel He Also Expects Mitchell to Stay By Dick Rosetta Executive Sports Editor Embattled University of Utah football coach Jim Fassel admitted Saturday afternoon he "thought seriously about resigning" after the ::::::li :4r:::4!: ::::::-::::- 8 2-- 6 74 iirz 3-- 0 4-- 8 :::--''-' ::Ho V" ::k0-slivior::- :::: ithelk n 27-1- Asset Says He Won't Resign k: - ': '':!:J::::::'::: e d back-to-bac- k 40-yar- d elei 1 two-poi- 21-1- 8 d ::c::::::::(::ii::::::":::i:7:::::::i!:::E:::::1!:i:it::v Futility Mark d 7 - r-- 21-1- 0 p D' Escapes Ute quarters The Aggies made it a 0 game on a 20- yard field goal by Russ Moody with 5:58 left in the third Then after Greg Haynes picked off an Oates pass in the end zone Johnson threw a scoring strike to Tracey Jenkins and found Patrick Newman on the ensuing toss to close the gap to with 11:18 left in the contest The Aggies' offensive workhorse throughout the comeback was halfback Demetrius Brown who racked up over 75 yards on the ground in the first half and after getting banged up late in the second quarter still ended up with 121 yards for the afternoon on 34 carries But the 49ers put a damper on the USU field rally with Allen connected on a goal with 4:36 remaining Long Beach then sewed the contest up when rover back Greg Svintenko picked off an errant Johnson pass at midfield and raced 51 yards for the touchdown with 3:36 left Inside linebacker Gene 50-yar- 4-- Lemmers picked off Johnson again on the Ags next possession to add the exclamation point The Aggies ended up with 414 yards of total offense but most of it was had playing catchup The 49ers produced 440 yards on the day "Our problem was coming back from 21 points down" said Shelton "It was a matter of trying to get in sync and keep it going" Johnson completed 13 of 34 passes for 256 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions Newman who ended his USU career as the Aggies' second leading receiver had five catches for 89 yards and a score Moore Jenkins and tight end Ryan Duve had two receptions apiece Oates ended up throwing for 278 yards three TDs and one interception On 17 of 26 passing Foster (98 yards) and Washington (62 yards) each caught four passes (and one apiece for scores) while fullback Jim Bittner spearheaded the 49er ground game with 104 yards on 14 carries stretch in the third and fourth ing a If the Ags weren't convinced they changed their minds in a hurry after 49er quarterback Paul Oates threw three touchdown passes on Long Beach's first three possessions Oates connected with flanker Sean Foster d on a scoring bomb on the 49ers first play of the game He found split end Derek with 10:11 left in Washington on an the first for a 14-- advantage and the 49er lead ballooned to 21-- 0 with 3:30 remaining in the period on a d rainbow from Oates to Michael Newsome "We played awful bad defensively in the first quarter" said Shelton The Aggies bounced back closing to within 21-early in the second period when quarterback Kirk Johnson threw a touchdown pass to Rod Moore They got another break when 49er kicker Kenneth Allen missed 45- - and field goal chances on snaps just before the half Utah State then really put the heat on dur In five-wi- n - at Ptorot-PNot play Texas A&M — Freedom Dec 30: Washington vs Florida Indiana lost a chance to go when it lost 1514 to Purdue on Saturday — Peach Dec 30: Georgia vs Syracuse which lost to No 17 West Virginia on Thanksgiving Day — Gator Dec 30: West Virginia vs No 15 24-1- 7 Clemson —Copper Dec 31: It looks like North Carolina State vs Arizona — Hall of Fame Jan 1: Ohio State vs Alabama Auburn or Tennessee — Florida Citrus Jan No 16 Virginia which was idle vs Illinois — Cotton Jan l Arkansas vs Alabama Auburn or Tennessee — Fiesta Jan I: It looks like No 5 Florida State vs No 6 Nebraska Both were idle Saturday — Rose Jan 1: Michigan vs Southern Cal the Pacific-1Conference champion — Sugar Jan 1: Miami will play the Southeastern Conference champion Thu rthranked and undefeated Alabama No 10 Auburn and Tennessee all still are contending Two games next Saturday — Alabama at Auburn and Tennessee at Vanderbilt — will dccide the league title If it winds up a tie a bowl committee probably would pick Alabama — Orange Jan Colorado t s Notre Dame 0 1 i 1 0 |
