University of Utah Student Newspapers--The Chronicle | 2008-12-15 | Page 2

.THE Monday, December 15,2008 DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Utah and Alabama's roads to the Sugar Bowl Utah (12-0, 8-0 MWC) Utah 25, Michigan 23 • August 30 (Ann Arbor, Mich.) In front of 108,000-plus fans at the Big House, quarterback Brian Johnson threw for 305 yards as he helped lead the Utes to a 25-23 road win against the Wolverines. Utah 30, Air Force 23 • Sept. 20 (Colorado Springs, Colo.) After a fast start, the Utes survived three turnovers. Darrell Mack had three rushing touchdowns in the second half, including the game winner with 58 seconds remaining. Utah 37, Weber State 21 • Sept 27 (Salt Lake City, Utah) Against their former head coach Ron Utah 42, UNLV 21 • Sept. 6 (Salt Lake City, McBride, the Utes scored 30 unanswered Utah) In their first conference game of the season, points that led to the 16-point victory. Kicker the Utes avenged last season's loss to UNLV Louie Sakoda went 3-3 on the day to become by outscoring the Rebels 28-7 in the second the Utes' all-time leading scorer. half, holding Frank Summers to under 100 Utah 31, Oregon State 28 • Oct. 2 (Salt Lake yards rushing. City, Utah) After struggling for most of the second half, Utah 58, Utah State 10 • Sept. 13 (Logan, the Utes rallied from a 10-point deficit to win Utah) The Utes gained 446 yards and held the Ag- the game on a 37-yardfieldgoal as time expired. gies to 116 yards in a 48-point victory that in- Louie Sakoda went 3-3 on the day, including the cluded three touchdowns by Matt Asiata. See RECAP Page 11 TYLER COBB/thtOelfyVtahChnnktt Utah @ Michigan Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1, 8-1 SEC) Alabama 34, Clemson 10 • Aug. 30 (Atlanta, Go)t,r^:.••.;_.. •"v"'"--":, Alabama's offense kept the ball for a little more than 41 minutes, held Clemson to zero rushing yards and upset then-No. 9 Clemson in a seasonopening victory. Alabama 20, Tulane 6 • Sept. 6 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) Javier Arenas set a school record for Alabama with 212 return yards, including an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown, and Alabama held the Tulane Green Wave to only twofieldgoals. Alabama 41, Western Kentucky 7 • Sept. 13 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) Alabama's offense gained 557 total yards and 30 first downs as the Crimson Tide scored 24 straight points and rolled to the victory. Ole Miss on a fourthrdpwn attempt late in the game. After trailing'for the first time all year, Alabama went on a 24-0 run in the first half! : , /THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Advertising 801-581-7041 News 801-581-NEWS Fax801-581-FAXX Alabama 29, Tennessee 9 • Oct. 25 (Knoxville, Tenn.) : Alabama beat its SEG rival for the second straight year with a strong rushing game and a defense,that held Tennessee to 36 yards rushing. ' ; ; EDITOR IN CHIEF: Dustin Gardiner [e-mail] MANAGING EDITOR: Rachel Hanson [e-mail] PRODUCTION MANAGER: Alyssa Bailey [e-mail] ASST. PRODUCTION MANAGER: Sara Copeland [e-mail] NEWS EDITOR: Rochelle McConkie [e-mail] ASST. NEWS EDITOR: Lana Groves [e-mail] RED PULSE EDITOR: Trevor Hale [e-mail] ASST. RED PULSE EDITOR; Kyle Stegerwald Alabama 35, Arkansas State o • Nov. 1 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) In its first shutout since 2005, Alabama rolled over .Arkansas State behind tailback Mark Ingram's 113 yards and two touchdowns. ; - :••.-.'"'-V -. . Alabama 27, LSU 21 (OT) • Nov. 8 (Baton Rouge, La.) ,'• Alabama avoided another scare as John Parker Wilson scored on a i-yard touchdown run in overtime to give the Crimson Tide the victory. , ,-"/:,' Alabama 49, Arkansas 14 • Sept. 20 (Fayetteville, Ark.) Behind a pair of interception returns for touchdowns, Alabama cruised to victory in itsfirstcon- ^'Alabama 32, Mississippi State 7 • Nov. ference game of the season. Glen Coffee gained 15 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) 162 yards on 10 carries for two touchdowns. The Crimson Tide's special teams produced a safety and an 80-yard punt return • Alabama 41, Georgia 30 • Sept. 27 (Athens, Ga.) by Javier Arenas and the defense held MisAgainst the preseason No. 1 team, Alabama sissippi State to only 35 rushing yards. took a 31-0 halftime lead and held off a Georgia surge to win by ir. Alabama Quarterback John Alabama 36, Auburn o • Nov. 29 (TusParker Wilson was i3-for-i6 passing for 205 yards caloosa, Ala.) and one touchdown. In its second shutout of the season, Alabama broke a six-game losing streak to AuAlabama 17, Kentucky 14 • Oct. 4 (Tusca- burn, holding the Tigers to 170 yards. looKpAla.) ^^f~^~fw«7&^^ •• -r After a late fourth-quarter field goal that put it ; Florida 31, Alabama 20 <Dec. 6 (Atlanup Jw 10, Alabama avoided an upset and held off ta,Ga.) • •*••• - •• . ; .. . KetBncky.in the final two minutes. Gien^ftfiSfc'11 •*i"ir!cthe SEC title gaine, "Alabama suffered rushed for 218 yards and one touchdown. its first loss of the season after coughing up ; ' a 20-17 lead going into the final quarter by Alabama 24, Mississippi 20 • Oct. 18 (Tusca- gaining just 1 yard in the final 15 minutes. loosa, Ala.) Alabama was taken to the wire, but stopped ' 1 , [e-mail] OPINION EDITOR: Craig Blake [e-mail] -d^,,. SPORTS EDITOR: Tony Pizza [e-mail] ASST. SPORTS EDITOR: Chris Kamrani [e-mail] PHOTO EDITOR: Tyler Cobb [e-mail] ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR: Lucas Isley [e-mail] . ••'\\\ ONLINE PRESENTATIONS EDITOR: Daniel Mace [e-mail] PAGE DESIGNER: Joseph Peterson COPY EDITOR: Beverly Jackson COPY EDITOR: Jessica Blake COPY EDITOR: Sara Copeland COPY EDITOR: Christina Anderson PROOFREADER: Christina Anderson ADVISER: J i m Fisher GENERAL MANAGER: Jake Sorensen ! [e-mail] DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING:Tom H u r t a d o [e-mail] ADV. PRODUCTION MANAGER: Natalie Dolllnger [e-mail] ADV. DESIGNER: Emily Torres [e-mail] ADV. DESIGNER: Karissa Greene [e-mail] ACCOUNTANT: Deanna Johnson [e-mail] CIRCULATION MANAGER: Jeff Suarez [e-mail] i 1 * II The Daily Utah Chronicle is an independent student newspaper published daily Monday through Friday during Fall and Spring Semesters (excluding test weeks and holidays) and once a week during Summer Semester. Chronicle editors and staff arc solely responsible for the newspaper's content..Funding comes from advertising revenues and a dedicated student fee administered by the Publications Council. To respond with questions, comments or complaints, call 801-581-7041 or visit www.daityutahchronicle.com. The Chronicle is distributed free of charge, limit one copy per reader. Additional copies of the paper may be made available upon request. No person, without expressed permission of The Chronicle, may take more than one copy of any Cnronicle issue. i Patrick Reimherr Chris Hill Philip Malugade Nate Terry Chris Evans ASUU President* Athletic Director President of the MUSS Redzone Radio Host CreatorofUtefans.net Yes I would say so, just based on , the fact that who our opponent I think it is one of the most If not it is one of the biggest Non-conference wise it is. We iiThey have been to BCS before challenging bpponentsthat it is right up there. We are have had big games on three but this year is the first year a h Do you think this is the biggest game in we have looked at in a long undefeated and we are playing occasions nowTCU and then non-BCS team has had chance of time, even bigger than the a well known number one the BYU was the biggest in Utah's history? : I? '••'••";/-* V playing a really top team in the Fiesta Bowl and Penn State, to ranked team who has the most the rivalry series, it's definitely country. There are a lot of games be playing Alabama who was bowl wins in history of college biggest non-conference in in the history of Utah but weVe ranked number one a week ago football, it's pretty big. history, the Fiesta Bowl great never had a chance to play such will be a big challenge, so yeah. but opponent wasn't so great. a high ranked team and on such " ^ . ^ r i y > big stage. ; v \ ; v I .think so, because you know the Fiesta Bowl was thefirstBCS bowl but the opponent was pretty weak.This time they have actually have us matched up with someone that is capable of beating us. Yeah it is definitely the biggest game in history. I don't if there is anyway to say that, defensively they are better, I watched the 2004 season from No, the 2008 team is very good offensively the/re probably Wisconsin before moving here, and has earned their spot in but I would say yes because of not. I don't think the 2004 team history, but the 2004 team had adequately tested, could've Alabama's size they have one 2. if Utah beats Alabama, is the 2008 team a perfect season and they went I don't think we can decide guy competed with USC and some that is 385 pounds, these beyond that with what they did. until we see the game, 1 can't better than the 2004 team? of those teams but didn't get guys are big and extremely fast, go on the hypothetical. We've won some close games the chance. Ifs impossible to say and beating them in what is this year. In 2004 we handed essentially a home game would which team is better because 2004 everyone a pretty solid victory. didn't get a chance to accomplish be very impressive. . as much as this team has. Its hard to argue with the wins of this season, but the 2004 team just blew evervone out of the water. 1 say the 2004 team is still better. But we'll never know though because in 2004 we were never matched up with anyone that could actually beat us. / Ithlnk it is great A lot of Utah fens are upset about not going to Resta because of proximity, and ItwouldVebeennicetobe I think the Resta bowl would've been a little bit bigger, because I What's great is we are In a BCS thinkTexas is a better team than bowlandweplayagainsta. i b Alabama. It wouldVe be a bigger ., i ( . , r gamereitherwaywedidn'twant That s the only reason it was a to h a v e a n uncfefeated season - J $ # ? dlsaPP°intmentand then face a rinkyndink team.. . No matter what it's good and i S :, 5 , . , i f / , . v , v ^ r 7 . v - - . r - , r - : ' 9 ^ opportunity to prove I'm a realist so Iknowthere": was no way would be in the national championships even though we are undefeated and everyone else in the top 10 has one loss. It would've been nice to be a little closer to home, but , *, A • \'m happy with i t . 3. Were you happy with the Sugar Bowi or did you think Utah deserved something else? • 4. Do you plan on traveiing to the game? 5- Score prediction? (, , i I think it is a great bowl to go to go, well deserved and appropriate. I do. Me and three friends are driving down. It's a once-in^alifetime opportunity, when else will Utah be playing Alabama in the Sugar Bowl? Utah by three because Louie will kick a field goal and save it 31-28. It willjbe a high scoring game because they are both running teams. S " Oh yeah, I'll be there for sure J^I' iVT yin ^ H^° ^ P V 5 1 ^ ^ ' ^ ^ ^ ^ e r y o r i e ^ s h o u l d find a " Yes I am. driving from there, it's a little bit; . „ • , ,., wavtooetthere s cheaper that way. Oh I can tell you that the Utes I obviously hope we win but it , $*%-£.&%\*± will win but I don't know the .will be a low scoring game, it'll V score. be Utah 24-21.. .' •: ',- •'- 3^ ^ *