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Show 6 Monday, November! 9, 2007 SPORTS www.dailyutahchronicle.com Utah defeats deja vu NATALIE DICOU Cody Brunner ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Fans are psyched for rivalry veryone has heard the saying. "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Well, when it comes to Utah and BYU—foes who make up one of the fiercest rivalries in sports—one man's "Oh crap!" is another man's "Woohoo!" In the backs of their minds, fans on both sides know that when Utah succeeds, BYU benefits, and when BYU succeeds, Utah benefits. The state is bolstered when either team makes national headlines. But fans let their emotions get the best of them, and most would rather the other goes o-o rather than garner attention for the state. It's the nature of the rivalry. But even the most-anti-BYU or anti-Utah fans have to be excited about the situation surrounding this year's showdown. Saturday's game—even if you take the rivalry out of the equation and focus purely on the two teams—is shaping up to be one epic battle. Both programs are enjoying seven-game winning streaks. That has never happened in the long history of the Holy War. Although many Ute fans would prefer BYU to perennially suck, the prospect of beating the Cougars while they'reflyinghigh has to be even more satisfying (although kicking them while they're down is not without its charm). The game would be packing even more of a punch had the Utes found a way to beat Air Force in thefinalminutes of the game on Sept. 8 instead of being subjected to a heartbreaking goal-line stand. Two seven-game winning streaks clashing in late November isn't anything to grumble about though- And the game really could still be for a share of the conference title. Utah leading New Mexico at halftime isn't a big surprise. Sustaining that lead and playing an entire 6o minutes against the Lobos, however, is a bolt from the blue. The Utes did exactly that as they staved off deja vu and won 28-10 at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night, extending their winning streak to seven. "We all know what happened the last couple years," Utah quarterback Brian Johnson said. "We've been up at halftime, and they've found a way to battle back and come back to beat us. We made the point to play the entire game this time around." The Utes PLAYER OF THE GAME saw their 14-0 halftime lead evaporate in Defensive End the blink of an eye early in the Paul Kruger third quarter as the Ireshrran from Orem. Uuti, chased down UNH history looked qujriertack Donovan PoMi-ric in the twickfidd and like it was re- •iiripped [he boll, '.vnich was pitta) up arid returned peating itself. fw a game- dinihirig Touchdown by Ulah'i Kw MHI But Utah's Kiugr-r hntshe^i The game v/ith 5n: Tackles and 1 5 stonewall de- web dlonq with the forced fumble. fense took over late in the game and forced three fumbles to preserve the Utes' winning streak on Senior Night. The game against New Mexico did see the ends of two other Utah streaks, though. Prior to the Lobos' third-quarter touchdown, in which they started the drive at the Utes' 10-yard line, the Utah defense had not allowed another team to score in nine consecutive quarters. Up to that point, the defense also had not conceded a touchdown in 12 straight quarters. "It starts up front with the (defensive) line," Johnson said. "Those guys are doing a great job, and they're just fun to watch. I get to sit and watch them get teams in third and long, and their superior athleticism takes over." The Utes had only three sacks, but held New Mexico running back Rodney Ferguson to just 51 rushing yards and forced quarterback Donovan Porterie out of the pocket on numerous occasions. Porterie finished the game completing 18 of his 41 passes for 198 yards. After climbing back into the game, the Lobos fumbled twice on punt returns. The other second-half fumble came in the fourth quarter when freshman defensive end Paul Kruger chased Por- See DICOU Page 7 See DEFENSE Page 8 E Brke McCain knocks a pass away from New Mexico's Travis Brown early in the Utes' 28-10 win at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday. Stanford slips by in OT Natalie Dicou STAFF WRITER TERESA G E T T E N / R K feity Utoh Chronklt Katie King looks to attack the basket amid Stanford defense. King finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Week #13: Nov. 22-25 NCAA See HEARTBREAK Page 7 Jon Gilbert touchdown on the Scoreboard. Johnson hooked up with Derrek Richards in the back of the end zone for a seven-yard The scene was eerily familiar. Utah score that put the game back in hand held a skimpy second-half lead over its for Utah. Mountain West Conference nemesis "Things got a little tight there," New Mexico in Rice-Eccles Stadium on Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham • Saturday night, and suddenly the Lobos said. "That (botched punt return) made a push. seized the momentum there in the Memories of 2005 and 2006, along third quarter." with the accompanying theme song Utah had a similar opportunity in from "The Twilight Zone," came the fourth quarter. New Mexico again' rushingback for the Utah faithful af- stopped the Utah offense and forced ter New Mexico started the second it to punt. DeAndre Wright muffed half off with 10 unanswered points to the ensuing Sakoda punt, and Utah's whittle Utah's 14 point lead down to R.J. Rice pounced on the loose ball. four. However, New Mexico forced JohnBut this year, Utah got the break it son to fumble on the next play and recovered possession. needed to hang on. Louie Sakoda's punt midway The crucial plays kept rolling out through the third quarter sailed to- for the Utes. With little more than ward the patiently waiting arms of seven minutes to play in the fourth New Mexico return man Ian Clark. quarter, New Mexico retained possesClark muffed the punt, and Utah line- sion with an opportunity to cut into backer and special teams guru Kepa the 21-10 Utah lead. Gaison recovered the ball for Utah on The Ute defense, however, forced the Lobos' 24-yard line, reviving the yet another turnover, and Utah exreeling Utes. tended Whittingham's longest win"That was the turning point in the ning streak as head coach to seven game," Utah quarterback Brian Johnson games. said. "We've been up at halftime in the "We won the turnover battle today, past, and those guys have come back which is always a big value," Whitand beat us." tingham said. This time was different for Utah. It j.gilbert@ took the Utes three plays to put another ch ro n icle. utah.edu STAFF WRITER IGSKIN ICKS Last week's winner: The Hawk (I.D. required) (12-4) To pick up your prize come to Union Room 236 Si @ USC The U women's basketball team and their small, but electric, crowd could almost taste a win over one of the elite programs in women's college basketball on Sunday. But a victory against No. 5 Stanford slipped away in thefinalminute of double overtime and the Utes fell, 8i-77: With two minutes to go, the Utes held a six-point edge. But a turnover, a missed free throw and Stanford's late-game heroics cost the Utes dearly, and the team had to settle for a moral victory instead of one for the win-loss column. "I'm so proud of this team right now," said Morgan Warburton, who scored 20 points. "A part of us is sad, but I'm so proud of everything we did because this team did not give up. That is the difference between this year and last year." Last year, the Stanford Cardinal throttled the Utes 74-47, dominating them from start to finish. This year, it was a different story. The Utes went toe-to-toe with Stanford and were down by one at halftime. Speedy point guard Leilani Mitchell drove into the lane and converted several underhand layups to keep the Utes ahead for much of the first half. Mitchell, who played all 50 minutes, finished with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists. Going into the season, the Utes knew Crucial muff swings momentum for Utes @ Arizona St. Boise St. @ Hawaii Virginia Tech Virginia Tennessee @ AIIM Kentucky Kansas NFL Auburn Texas Carolina Denver Texas A&M @ Green Bay NAME Alabama Detroit Tennessee E-MAIL Cincinnati Houston Cleveland Washington Tampa Bay Baltimore San Diego New Orleans _Tie Breaker: Pick the final score of Utah Seattle St. Louis @BYU Fill out the Winner's Box and submit sheets to Union Room 236 by 6 p.m. Wednesday. Winners announced every Tuesday, but just because you win Pigskin Picks doesn't mean you can tell your mom what to do.\ Staff records: Cody Brunner (105-55), Jon Gilbert (96-64), Tony Pizza (94-66), Jason Peterson (91-69), Matthew Piper (90-70), Ashley Freitas (68-76) V |
