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Show I ^ ^ ™: DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE SPORTS CHAM PI Dl www. dailyu ta h chronicle.com Monday, August 8, 2005 Ute head coach Kyle Whittingham addresses the crowd after the Utes defeated Pittsburgh 35-7 In the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The Utes finished the season a perfect 12-0. v • The life of Brian Sophomore quarterback takes center stage for Ute football .'•I 2005—taking over for a juggernaut that piled up 45 points and 500 yards of offense per game. Brian Johnson isn't worried. His job didn't get any easier with All the new Ute quarterback has the graduation of all-conference \ to do is replace a Heisman Trophy wide receiver Paris Warren and * finalist and take the reigns of a 12-0 tailback Marty Johnson—nor the {..'"championship team that broke the early exit of playmaking wideout "* BCS barrier. Steve Savoy. One thing he hasn't had to worNo pressure, right? ) i, ' "I try not to look at it as pressure," ry about, though, is someone else fc^i Johnson said. "There's always going breathing down his back. The quar•,to be doubters out there, (but) my terback position has been his since f* teammates know what I can do, and Smith's departure. He's been carrying the first-team offense all spring " I know what we can do as a team." ^ Johnson watched on the sidelines and put together an impressive perflast year as Alex Smith propelled the formance in the Red/White game, ' Jjtes to an undefeated season and a throwing for 258 yards and three tiesta Bowl title. But that was last touchdowns. year. Smith left school a year early "I've just been working as hard ji& went No. 1 in April's NFL Draft, as I can trying to get the respect while head coach Urban Meyer, the of my teammates. I think I did that man who recruited Johnson, depart- throughout the spring," Johnson ed for the University of Florida. So said. spotlight—and all the pressure Indeed, in just one year's time, his that comes with it—falls squarely teammates have noticed a dramatic on Johnson, and he has the unenvi- difference. l j able task of trying to live up to an "He wasn't really the guy last year, w* impossible precedent. so he didn't say too much," start"It's kind of weird. Last season ing tailback Quinton Ganther said. was something that doesn't happen "But now, if you mess up, you'll hear too often " Johnson said. "Not a lot about it. Brian will let you know. He *' "of teams go 12-0. (But) I just try to had a year that was a learning extake it as a blessing. I'm just trying perience because Alex was the guy. to prepare the best I can so I can What (Brian) is now is our leader. play to the best of my abilities." He's vocal, and he's doing everyAnd oh yeah—Brian Johnson thing he needs to do to have this is just 18 years old. As the young- team ready." est '(player on the team last season, However, Johnson knows that • *- Johnson saw some playing time spring ball and practice are just f. as Smith's backup, appearing in 10 that—practice. When he steps on games—mostly when victory was the Rice-Eccles turf as a starter well in Utah's hands. He completed for the first time on Sept. 2 against 14 of 21 passes and ran for 108 yards Arizona, it's a whole new ballgame. on 21 carries. With a higher profile will come the But that's nothing compared to the job that lies in front of him in See J O H N S O N PageD2 I: Chris Bellamy Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor Return to Oz Runnin' Ute Luke Nevill ; charged with filling the biggest of shoes to do it at his own pace. Some people think he's going to step right in and be the guy. I think he's going to have To most Americans, Australia is some nights where he's -that, but it's just a distant landmass, a country going to take some time." Giacoletti intoned that patience 7,500 miles across the Pacific Ocean, populated by little more than kanga- might need to be a virtue for Ute fans, as Nevill isn't exactly the most experoos. But for Utah basketball fans, the rienced player. In fact, he has only country is developing into a normal played competitive basketball for five years, with most of the praise being suburb of Salt Lake City. Last season, the Runnin' Utes had centered on the "potential" side of more scholarship players from Down the spectrum, rather than the "estabUnder (2) than from the Beehive State lished" end. Coming from the Australian Insti(1). Fans got to know Andrew Bogut, seeing him blossom from gawky tute of Sport—the same school that teenager to the No. 1 pick in the NBA produced Bogut—Nevill had an interesting path on his way to the U. draft. After his sophomore season in high Now they will get to know another Australian, as redshirt freshman Luke school, Nevill embarked on an ex-; Nevill—another 7-footer—takes cen- change program to the United States.. Playing for Kell High School in Mariter stage for the Utes this season. The young center knows that all etta, Ga., Nevill started to learn the eyes will be on him, but he is willing nuances of the American style of to give it a shot when the limelight is play, in the process averaging 17.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.7 blocks cast. "There is a lot of pressure put on per game. me," Nevill said. "It's going to be He attracted the gaze of some bigtough, but I'm going to try and do my name schools, including Utah, South best to fill (Bogut's) shoes. We'll just Carolina and Georgia. But when Rick see how it turns out." Majerus resigned as coach of the The 19-year-old Perth native sees Utes, the letters from Salt Lake City many similarities in his game to stopped coming. Bogut's. Then came the odd coincidence. After Giacoletti was hired, he start"I think we both are very agile and can play to 15 feet (away from the ed making phone calls to the Austrabasket)," Nevill said. "We can both lian Institute of Sport, looking for a shoot the three, we both have good coach who could help Bogut make footwork. In those ways we are quite his decision on whether to go pro or return to Utah for his sophomore similar." But U head coach Ray Giacoletti is season. quick to dispel any notions that NevDuring a conversation with a coach ill will step right .in and be a blond at the institute, it came up that there Bogut. was an institute player—now playing "The one thing I want people to un- in Georgia—who might be someone derstand is that Luke is not Andrew. Giacoletti would want to take a look Just because he happens to be- from at. He did, and, in turn, ended up Australia, just because he happens to learning that the U had actually albe 7 feet tall, doesn't make him An- ready attempted to recruit Nevill. drew," Giacoletti said. "I think Luke "I didn't even realize when we first has a chance to be a very good college basketball player, but he needs See N E V I L L PageD3 Joe Beatty Chronicle Sports Editor t t |