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Show —* iHH DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE SPORTS wmv.dailyutahchronicle.com Monday, October 3, 2005 Utes feel the road woes Joe Beatty Chronicle Sports Editor CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Like many young teams with inexperienced starters, the Utes are quickly learning that there is a big difference between the friendly confines of RiceEccles Stadium and the many issues that come with being on the road. For the second time in as many road games, the Utes lost away from home, putting their road record at o2 in 2005. The 31-17 setback Saturday exposed more flaws in a team that was picked in the preseason to successfully defend its back-to-back MWC titles. "Right now, we're just a good football team," Ute head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "Until we can win a tough game on the road, all we're going to be is a good football team." As in the overtime setback to TCU on Sept. 15, Utah was plagued by mistakes that it hasn't been making in games played in Salt Lake City. This season, the Utes have committed 150 yards of penalties in the two road games, as opposed to 130 yards in three home dates. They have also been plagued by turnovers on the road, throwing two interceptions and fumbling eight times, five of-which were recovered by the opposing team. "If you can't win on the road, you're going to be 6-5 or 5-6, a mediocre team," Ute safety Casey Evans said. "Our goal is to be great, and obviously we aren't too close to that right now." The Utes had not lost back-toback road games since October 2002, when they fell to San Diego State 3617 and to New Mexico 42-35 in double overtime two weeks later. The only solace the Utes could take in their most recent loss is that it didn't hurt their conference record, leaving them still in the hunt for their thirdvstr^ight title. ( t ^ "The reality*is that tin's nad nothing to do with our goal to win the Mountain West Conference championship," Whittingham said. "Two goals we had going into the season were to beat Arizona and win the conference championship. We still have that right there in front of us; we just need to take care of business." The Utes will get a chance to start taking care of business right away. They head to Fort Collins on Saturday to battle Colorado State, which is coming off a 41-23 win over Air Force, in the Rams' MWC opener. The remaining road dates are trips to UNIV on Oct. 22 and to Provo on Nov. 19 to end the season against BYU. j.beatty @ chronicle.utah.edu id on tobacco road Utes lose to North Carolina 31-17 Chris Bellamy Chronicle Asst. Sports Editor CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Two weeks after a sluggish showing and loss to TCU, the Utes (3-2) put together an even sloppier performance Saturday, turning their second-consecutive road loss, 31-17. The Utes turned the ball over five times and committed a season-high 12 penalties as the Heels (2-2) overcame a third-quarter deficit to run away with their second victory in a row. "You're not going to win any football games turning the ball over five times. It's just not going to happen," Whittingham said. The Ute defense kept the Heels in check for much of the game, until the Utes' offensive miscues finally caught up with them. Cedrick Holt intercepted a tipped Brian Johnson pass midway through the third quarter, setting up a nine-play, 68-yard UNC scoring drive. Tar Heel quarterback Matt Baker, who has struggled all season in his first year as the starter, finally started to catch fire on that drive. He completed three passes for 51 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown strike to Wallace Wright that put the Heels on top, 17-14. Baker dodged a bullet two drives later, when an Eric Weddle interception returned for a touchdown was called back due to a roughing-the-passer penalty on Ute safety Casey Evans. "That was a big turning point in the game," Whittingham said. It didn't take long for Baker and the UNC offense to capitalize as the senior quarterback connected with junior wideout Mike Mason for a 40yard completion deep in Utah territory, setting up a i-yard touchdown run by tailback Barrington Edwards that opened up a 10-point lead. After that, it was all Heels. The Utes turned over the ball three more times in the fourth quarter, including two fumbles in a span of less than one minute. The second of the two came on a pitch to Quinton Ganther, who rushed for 16 yards before putting the ball on the ground and giving North Carolina prime field positioa That proved to be damaging for Utah, as Baker, suddenly looking like a different quarterback than the one who was picked off twice in the first half, found Jesse Holley for a 43-yard score that gave the Heels a two-touchdown advantage. The Utes got the ball back three more times in the quarter, but couldn't get anything going. "(The Tar Heels) just did a good job of making plays. We've just got to be better on offense. It was a poor performance," Johnson said. "You just can't turn the ball over. You've got to protect the ball, and we didn't do a good job of that, and we've got to get that fixed." With Quinton Ganther on the sidelines for the Utes' first two offensive series—after the senior was disciplined for undisclosed reasons—Johnson established himself as the focal point of the offense early. Ganther never got on track, finishing North Carolina cornerback Cedrick Holt, right, attempts to knock the bafl away from Utah receiver Travis LaTendresse in the fourth quarter on Saturday at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, NX. North Carolina won 31-17. PLAYER OF THE GAME Larry Edwards The Tar Heel linebacker was a menace all day, making 12 tackles, with three for a loss. He forced Ute quarterback Brian Johnson to fumble on a crucial fourth-quarter drive, stopping the Utes' momentum and helping the Heels get the win. with only 55 yards rushing, leaving Johnson to shoulder most of the offensive burden. Before turning it over three times in the second half, he did a good job, leading a pair of scoring drives that gave Utah a brief lead. Down 7-0 after UNC's Brandon Tate returned the game's opening kickoff 96 yards for a score, the Utes finally got even early in the second quarter, and Johnson did most of the work himself. The sophomore quarterback ignited the scoring drive with a 19-yard scamper and quickly marched the Utes down the field, keeping the Tar Heel defense offbalance with a combination of keepers and short passes. Facing a 2nd-and-6 from the UNC . 17, Johnson escaped a busted play and ran 15 yards before being pushed out of bounds. One play later, he scored his sixth rushing touchdown of the season, spinning out of one tackle and diving into the end zone as the Utes tied the game at seven. On that one drive alone, Johnson piled up 97 yards, of total offense, completing all five of his passes for 53 yards and rushing for 44 on the ground. UNC 31. Utah 17 4 Final 3 17 Utah 14 31 UNC First quarter UNC - Tate 96 yard kick return (Barth kick), 14-47 Second quarter Utah - B. Johnson 2 yard run (Beardall kick), 12:14 UNC-Barth 32 yard field goal. 4:21 Third quarter Utah - LaTendresse 15 yard pass from 8. Johnson (Beardall kick), 1025 UNC - Wright II23 yard pass from Baker {Barth kick). 3:54 Fourth quarter UNC - Edwards 1 yard run (Barth kick), 14:02 Utah - Beardall 35 yard field goal, 10:41 UNC • Holley 43 yard pass from Baker (Barth kick). 5:11 Attendance • 50,000 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING - Utah. B. Johnson 22-98, Ganther 11-55. Casteel 2-8. Liti 3-6. UNC. Edwards 23-44, Arnold 8-28. Baker 8-13. PASSING - Utah. B. Johnson 22-34-1-211. UNC, Baker 16-31-2-267. RECEIVING - Utah. Madsen 8-97, Casteel 5-55. LaTendresse 3-32. Ganther 3-14. Hernandez 3-13. UNC, Mason 4-82. Hamlett 4-61. Pollock 3-29. Holley 2-47. Wright II1-23. Arnold 1-15. Mitchell 1-10. Johnson did more of the same on Utah's opening drive of the second half, leading another ir-play drive, this time for 77 yards, going 6-for6 in the air for 61 yards. He showed poise and patience when the Utes got into the red zone, getting out of the pocket on a third down and finding Travis LaTendresse for a 15-yard touchdown pass that put the Utes on top for the first time all day. "Utah, to their credit, came out with a different scheme in the second half, and it took a while to get adjusted to that," UNC head coach John Bunting said. "It's a difficult team to play against, but our kids did a terrific job of adjusting." But the lead was short-lived, as the Ute offense crumbled under the increased pressure of the North Carolina front seven. The Tar Heels forced four total fumbles and sacked Johnson four times en route to their second big victory in a row after dropping their first two games of the season. "Some people overlook us, but we have so much talent and depth on this defense," junior linebacker Larry Edwards, said. "We come out there and force turnovers and make some big plays that get us in good position. That's what we do." Johnson finished the game with a career-high 98 rushing yards on 22 carries while completing 22 of 34 passes for 211 yards. But it was the opposing quarterback, Baker, whose team came out on top, as the firstyear starter lit up the Utah secondary for a handful of big plays in the second half. "I got frustrated (in the first halO, and you can't do that as a quarterback," Baker said. "Sometimes you make bad throws, and in the first half I made a couple of bad throws. In the second half, I pulled it together." The Utes return to action Saturday at Colorado State. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. c.bellamy@chronicle.utah.edu Utes down TCU in four games Steve Gehrke Chronicle Editor in Chief Utah outside hitter Danielle Leichllter reaches for a block over TCU's Nlrelle Hampton on Saturday at Crimson Court. Leichllter helped lift the Utes over the Horned Frogs In four games. MEN'S TENNIS UTAH AT ALL-AMERICAN TOURNAMENT OCT. 6,2005 ALL DAY #TULSA,OKLA. The U volleyball team C10-5) is back in the winning column after defeating TCU (10-6) three games to one Saturday night at Crimson Court. Coming off two straight losses last week to New Mexico and archrival BYU, the defending Mountain West champs were looking to boost their position in MWC play against TCU—a team the Utes had not faced since they competed in the WAC in 1998. The Horned Frogs took charge early, winning the first game 30-27, but the Utes rallied to command the next three games straight 30-19,3027 and 30-17. "We just had to kind of get back in the groove," said Ute head coach Beth Launiere. "It took us a little bit to adjust, but then I thought we did some nice stuff." Launiere said TCU's slower style of play initially threw off the Utes' timing after battling BYU's speedy offense last week in Provo. VOLLEYBALL SOCCER TCU AT .UTAH "We were jumping way early," she said. "We started blocking some balls once we adjusted to the tempo of their offense." It was the Utes' defensive dominance that shifted the tides in game two when they racked up 6.5 of their total 14.5 blocks on the night. Emillie Toone, Lori Baird and Airial Salvo racked up 15 of the team's 23 assisted blocks. Shelly Sommerfeldt earned her usual double-double, racking up 14 kills and 13 digs. Danielle Leichliter had a breakout game with a pair of season highs in 13 kills and a .357 hitting percentage. "We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to get back in the winning column," Leichliter said. "Sometimes it's just how you deal with pressure, and I think we did a good job of responding this game....We're slowly turning around and putting Some things together." The Utes' overall attack percentage was a sblid .228 while holding TCU to .069. That wasn't always the case for the Frogs, who came out {5-4-0} (7-5) OCT. 6, 2005 7 p.m. @ UTE FIELD UTAH AT WYOMING (10-5) (5-7) OCT. 7, 2005 7 p.m. @LARAMIE,WYO. blazing with a .231 percentage in game one. The Frogs went up 6-1 early and hit .700. They continued their hot streak in game two, letting off a barrage of kills at a .700 clip before Utah went on an 11-1 run. TCU's Talaya Whitfield led the initial run, hitting .556, but she fell consistently over the next three games to .400, .136 and finished with .000. "We came out ready and just eased up as the match went on," Whitfield said. The Utes' serving percentage improved noticeably, climbing from .840 last week against the Cougars to .897 Saturday. Team members on the sidelines did sit-ups each time a Ute committed a service error. "I didn't make them do the sit-ups, they just did that on their own," Launiere said. "We'd been doing it in practice just to be aware that the service errors were becoming an issue. I felt we for sure needed to address it." PLAYER OF THE MATCH The senior had two season hiqhs Saturday night with 13 kills and a .357 hitting percentage to help lift the Utes lo a 3-1 victory over (he Horned Frogs. Kate Robison was automatic as a server. In game two, she approached the line with the Horned Frogs leading 27-25 and lifted the Utes with five unanswered points. "Getting it over the net always helps, and then the team just backed it up," she said. "We need to keep working on serving and passing for next week—that's how . we win games." The Utes climbed to fifth place with a 2-2 record in conference play, leaving the Frogs searching for their first conference win of the season, as they fell to 0-2. The Utes will travel to Laramie on Friday to take on the Wyoming Cowboys (5-7, 0-3). s.gehrke@ chronicle.utah.edu MEN'S TENNIS FOOTBALL UTAH AT ALL-AMERICAN TOURNAMENT UTAH AT (3-2) COLORADO STATE (2-2) OCT. 7, 2005 ALL DAY @TULSA, OKLA. OCT. 8, 2005 4:30 p.m. & FT. COLLINS, COLO. |
