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Show 8 Tuesday, September 2,2008 SPORTS www.dailyutahchronicle.com Several stars shine in football opener Christopher Kamrani ASST. SPORTS EDITOR ANN ARBOR, MICH.—The oft-injured quarterback, the All-American and the guy who previously played one quarter for the U football program led the Utes past mighty Michigan. Brian Johnson, Louie Sakoda and Matt Asiata have each paved their own separate paths toward Utah's win at the Big House. Johnson has been known to display his offensive arsenal on the national stage. During a steamy, muggy Saturday afternoon at Michigan Stadium, Johnson did not fail to live up to that billing. He used his bounty of wide receiver talent to create a memorable performance against the winningest program in college history. Every time Johnson cocked back to let one fly, it was the Wolverine secondary that had no idea for whom it was intended. It could have been Bradon Godfrey, Freddie Brown or David Reed. Speedsters Brent Casteel and Jereme Brooks were in on the in-air orchestra as well. "We have guys that understand what we're trying to do as an offense," Johnson said. "They know where they fit into that and the roles they play. They catch the ball well, and I'm glad to have these guys on my side." Johnson connected with Godfrey on a 19-yard touchdown with 13 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Utes a 22-10 lead at half. After throwing for an astounding 253 yards in the first half, Johnson and the offense became a bit more conservative, while the Michigan defense turned more aggressive. "It was really a tale of two halves offensively," head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "(We) were very effective in the first half, moved the ball up and down the field, put some points on the board. We sputtered early in the second half." Sakoda had a Jekyll-and-Hyde-type day for the Utes. In addition to scoring 13 of Utah's 25 points, including tying a personal record with four field goals, Sakoda kicked a career-best 53-yard field goal in the third quarter. "We got to score more touchdowns," Johnson said. "We love Louie to death, but we gotta find a way to put some in the end zone." Sakoda's day wasn't all peaches, however. He had a PAT blocked after the Utes swiftly answered Michigan's first-quarter touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Sakoda had a punt blocked that was one of the turning points for a swift Michigan comeback. As Sakoda has done so many times in the past, he got the job done when his team needed him. He placed three of his six punts inside the Michigan 15-yard line, including a 52-yarder from Utah's end zone. "Louie Sakoda came up big for us at the end, as he has so many times before," Whittingham said. Even the brute running back Asiata couldn't be stopped behind center, taking four direct snaps in a row that earned him 40 yards rushing. Asiata was banging into nearly everyone on the field, including the center official, who was bulled over on one particular Asiata jaunt. "They told me to pound the ball, so I gotta pound the ball," Asiata said. "We just gotta come out with confidence and swagger. We just gotta play our game, and we can't beat ourselves. We play as a team and just come out with the W." Asiata finished with jy yards rushing on 13 attempts in his first fall game with the Utes. He opened some eyes throughout the game, including a 39-yard swing pass that resulted in Asiata leveling a safety before eventually being brought down by two defenders. With the resurgence, emergence and always-there game of these three key players, the Utes now must look past this historic win and set their sights on revenge against UNLV on Saturday. , c.kamrani@ chronicle.utah.edu TYLER CQBB/Tht Daily ViehCtoonidt Matt Asiata pursued contact all day Saturday, including when he ran over the umpire during the second quarter. has winless weekend Utah soes 2-0 in invitational Soccer Utes fall to back-to-back national powers Paige Fieldsted Bryan Chouinard STAFF WRITER STAFF WRITER The Utah women's volleyball team started its season off perfectly, going 2-0 at the Ute Invitational this past weekend. The Utes started the season off with a 3-0 sweep over Utah Valley University on Friday at Crimson Court, winning 25-17, 25-10 and 25-22. "We played pretty well for our fir^t match," said head coach Beth Launiere. "We executed well, but it wasn't as fine-tuned as*it will become." In the first set, senior Kathryn Haynie got the Utes off to a great start with a kill on the first rally of the game. Behind kills by Haynie, Lori Baird and newcomer Cinthia Silva, the LUCAS ISLZY/ThetoUfttahCh Utes jumped to an early 10-2 Emillie Toone accounted for five of the Utes'45 kills In her first match back against Utah lead. Valley University. The Wolverines didn't recover from the 8-point deficit, as the ing care of their responsibilities 2-sets-to-i lead by closing out the Utah women continued to outhit and focusing on scoring the next third set 25-20. them, tallying 15 kills to UVU's point." It looked to be much of the six. An ace and back-to-back kills In the second match of the same situation for Utah early in from Baird and Emillie Toone weekend, Utah won in come- the fourth set of the match, as ended the game at 25-17. from-behind fashion with a 3-2 Santa Clara led 6-3. The Utes With a comfortable lead in the victory over Santa Clara. came alive as two blocks, an ace second set, Launiere replaced The Utes took a 2-0 lead in the and two Baird kills gave Utah a starting setter Stephanie Shard- first set with two Haynie kills, 9-6 lead. The Utes found the molow with freshman Abby Sim- but didn't get a chance to build mentum they needed getting two mons. much of a lead, as the Broncos blocks and five kills to put them "I wanted her to be able to battled back with several kills of ahead of the Broncos 20-13, beget a few points under her belt," their own. fore coasting to a 25-19 fourth-set Launiere said. "She did well for Utah led the entire set but win. her first college match." didn't lead by more than four, The Utes were unwilling to The Wolverines were deter- as several hitting errors kept give up after being down early mined not to go down without a the game close. The set ended in the fifth set and went on a fight and kept the third set close. at 25-23 on a Santa Clara hitting 4-point run behind two Haynie With four lead changes and four error. aces and a kill by Toone to lead score ties, UVU made the Utes Hitting errors on both sides the match 13-12. fight for the third set and their of the net kept the set within A solo block by Silva and a kill first win. three points. Despite the Utes by Baird sealed the game for the The Utes' lead didn't last for outhitting the Broncos in terms Utes at 15-13. long, as a kill and three back-to- of percentage points, Santa Clara Haynie, who earned a doubleback stuff blocks by the Wolver- pulled off a 26-24 win. double, led the team with 21 kills, ines gave them a 14-13 lead. Utah started the third set out 10 digs and 5 aces. Utah relied on the hitting ex- sluggish, letting the Broncos take "It felt great to get that many perience of seniors Baird and a 7-2 lead that ballooned to 15-6 kills," Haynie said. "But really Haynie to take back the lead, and after many Utah errors. it was the middles who started they did just that, dropping UVU "They were being the aggres- pounding balls and really opened 25-22. sors," Launiere said. "We were up the outside for us." "The whole team was flowing," letting them dictate the match." p.fieldsted@ Haynie said. "Everyone was takSanta Clara wound up taking a chronicle.utah.edu MICHIGAN continued from Page 1 third-and-long situation. Then, after managing to answer with a touchdown of their own, Utah's special teams allowed Michigan to block the extra point. On the ensuing kickoff, Utah again wasted decent field position with an expensive personal-foul penalty to give Michigan possession on the 50-yard line. Add those miscues to a bevy of holding calls and false starts, and Utah could have put itself in a deep hole early. The key words being "could have." "We can't shoot ourselves in the foot offensively," quarterback Brian Johnson said. "Administrative penalties, turning the ball over, things like that. That's a better lesson learned in the win, but obviously that can come back to bite you." Utah's defense allowed Michigan to gain 38 yards in the first quarter—all through the air—and settled into a steady stream of forcing 3-and-outs and short offensive stints, which allowed Utah's offense to methodically stretch its lead to 22-10 at the half. The defense wasn't the only Utah side to overcome early game jitters. Utah managed to move the ball well from the get-go, but had four to the Arizona Wildcats two nights prior. Arizona struck quickly in the second minute when Renae Cuellar made good on the through-ball from Karina Camacho. However, after falling behind early, Utah managed to play solid defense and keep the game within reach. Going into the 80th minute, the Utes made an aggressive tactical move by throwing bodies forward into the attacking area in an attempt to tie it up, but doing so left them more vulnerable at the back. "We went to three in the back trying to tie up the game and allowed three more goals," Manning said. "We took a risk and paid the price. We haven't trained in that formation at all this year, but we gained valuable experience by playing it." Although Manning and his team came away winless in their first home set of the season, there were positives to be taken away from the two games. The team got a chance to work on a new formation at game-time speed. The defense improved dramatically over the weekend, and, most importantly, the younger players on the team were able to get more quality minutes at the college level, along with valuable experience. The Utes head back on the road later this week to Eugene, Ore., to take on the University of Oregon on Friday. The next time you can catch the Utes in action at home will be Sep. 12, when they host Utah State at Ute field. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. b.chouinard@chronicle.utah.edu The Utes opened their 2008 home field campaign this Labor Day weekend as they welcomed Arizona and No. 19 Georgia onto Ute Field. It was a tough weekend for Ute fans to swallow, as the team was on the wrong end of a 4-0 shutout at the hands of Arizona on Friday and gave up a late goal Sunday afternoon to fall 2-1 to the Bulldogs. After a first half that saw the Utes dominate ball position as well as shots on target, Georgia struck first when Marah Falle put one in the back of the net off a failed clearance by Utah in the 50th minute. After the goal, it didn't take long for the Utes to level the score sheet. In the 53rd minute, Chelsea Forbes slid home the pass from Kellie Woodfield from just inside the box to equalize at one apiece. "When the ball came to me, I was Just thinking I had to get a goal," Forbes said. "I had to hit the back of the net. Lauren (Hair) did a great job to dribble through their defense and get it across to Kellie, who played it back to me." The Bulldogs weren't done yet. In the closing stages of the game in the 86th minute, Falle would tally her second score of the game with a powerful header from the middle of the box past a diving Emalee Rogers. Falle's brace proved to be the game winner, with time expiring minutes later, leaving Utah stunned with its third loss of the season. "I think Georgia did a good job crowding up the midfield and taking our passing lanes away," head coach Rich Manning said. "We started to fatigue a little bit toward the end, and they scored a fantastic goal, so all the credit to UGA there." LENNIE MAHLER/rftrDou } UlcbChntxdt The Utes came Lauren Hair struggles to maintain balance during the Utes' Friday night 4-0 loss off a 4-0 shutout to the Wildcats at Ute Field. offensive penalties for 31 yards. The biggest was a 10-yard holding call on Utah's first offensive drive that eventually led to a third-and-19 situation. However, Utah managed to convert on third-and-long and answer Michigan's gift touchdown on an 8-yard run by Corbin Louks. "I think that set the tone for us," Johnson said. "We did a good job and ran one of our bread-and-butter plays, and we banged it right to (Brooks)." Utah managed to go 4-for-8 on third-down conversions in the first half and scored on its first four possessions. But just like the first half, Utah had to recover from a series of mistakes that left Michigan with 1 two short fields and a chance to win the game late. With a 15-point lead and a little more than nine minutes to go in the game, Louie Sakoda saw a punt blocked, which gave Michigan the ball at the 33-yard line. It took the Wolverines eight seconds to capitalize, leaving them with plenty of time to make the game closer. After a fumble on its next offensive series, Utah gave Michigan that chance. Michigan recovered Johnson's fumble at Utah's 31-yard line. The Wolverines answered with a touchdown drive, despite gaining three yards on the series. A 15-yard facemask penalty on a sack and a 15-yard pass interference call on Brice Mc- Cain resulted in Michigan needing just a 3-yard scamper by Sam McGuffie to get within two points. However, that's as close as the Wolverines would get, as their failed two-point conversion signaled the start of Utah's defensive success down the stretch. "We have a resilient group of people, very fast," Whittingham said. "That's the key." Michigan gained nine yards over its final four possessions of the game, which sealed the upset for the Utes. Utah finished with 15 penalties for 137 yards, compared to eight penalties for 53 yards for Michigan. t.pizza.(d)chronicle.utah,edu |
