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Show Wed, Sept. 7, 2011 Page 9 WednesdaySp0 Heartbreaking loss Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com TouchBase WACStandings Football Overall, WAC Hawaii 0-0 Nevada 0-0 Fresno State 0-0 Idaho 0-0 Louisiana Tech 0-0 New Mexico State 0-0 San Jose State 0-0 Utah State 0-0 Auburn steals away program-defining win in final three minutes of game 1-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-1 Top 25 1 Oklahoma (32) 1-0 1448 2 LSU (17) 1-0 1415 3 Alabama (9) 1-0 1409 4 Boise State (2) 1-0 1310 5 Florida State 1-0 1196 6 Stanford 1-0 1154 7 Texas A&M 1-0 1033 8 Wisconsin 1-0 1031 9 Oklahoma State 1-0 981 10 Nebraska 1-0 947 11 Virginia Tech 1-0 906 12 South Carolina 1-0 843 13 Oregon 0-1 828 14 Arkansas 1-0 752 15 Ohio State 1-0 606 16 Mississippi State 1-0 594 17 Michigan State 1-0 530 18 Florida 1-0 382 19 West Virginia 1-0 357 Baylor 1-0 284 20 21 Missouri 1-0 242 22 South Florida 1-0 221 23 Penn State 1-0 147 24 Texas 1-0 135 25 TCU 0-1 130 Golf season opens up BY CURTIS LUNDSTROM staff writer The Utah State Golf Team kicked off its season over the weekend, traveling to Headwaters Golf Club, at Teton Springs Resort, for the Battle of the Tetons Tournament. The Aggies shot a 903 for the course, leaving them 39-over-par and tied with Hartford University for eighth place. Individual performances were highlighted by freshmen Brennan Coburn and Tanner Jenson, who finished tied for 24th overall, and senior Chance Godderidge, who finished 30th. Jenson competed in the tournament as an individual. Mason Casper, of Utah Valley University, took the individual title with a final score of 202, 14-under-par. Casper led the Wolverines to the top of the team standings, storming back from an early 5-stroke deficit to overtake Southern Utah atop the board, and distancing the team from the Thunderbirds for an 8-stroke victory. On day one, the Aggies shot 605, leaving them in ninth place, 29 shots back of the lead. Sophomore Brennan Coburn paced the Aggies through day one with rounds of 76 and 74, leaving him at a 6-over-150 for the first two rounds of the 54-hole tournament. Junior Brendan Dennis finished just behind Coburn, one shot back at 151. USU head coach Dean Johansen is in his 13th year as head coach of the team, and said he liked what he saw in the tournament. "I definitely saw a lot more positives than negatives today," Johansen said. "We graduated two (from last year), but we have Austin and Chance as seniors, which gives us lots of experience, and we've got freshman hungry to get on the road, and that makes for a good combination The second day of the tournament saw better fortune for the Aggies, with Godderidge shooting a solid round of 2-under-par, pushing him up See GOLF, Page 13 BY TYLER HUSKINSON assistant sports editor Special teams has been a concern for the Utah State football team since training camp, this year. Lackluster special teams play cost the Aggies a few games during the 2010 season, as well. This time was different, however. If it weren't for two well-executed special teams by a very talented and very athletic Auburn team, who are the defending BCS Champions, the Aggies could have notched what arguably would have been the biggest victory in team history. Despite leading the Tigers 38-28 with about three minutes remaining, the Aggies managed to drop their 14th consecutive home opener with a final score of 42-38. "You guys have to understand how athletic Auburn is," USU head coach Gary Andersen said. "If you cannot see that out there on the football field, understand that this is the SEC and the tremendous athletes they have out there on the football field. It is not an excuse in any shape or form, it is a credit to them and their recruiting that they've done in their program." True freshman Chuckie Keeton was spectacular in his career debut as an Aggie. Keeton was 22-of-31 and passed for 221 yards. In front of 80,000 hostile fans, the true freshman didn't commit a turnover and was sacked only once. "I thought the offense was basically exceptional all day long," Andersen said. "They did exactly what they had to do to win the game. Special teams and defense at the end did not." After a 3-and-out series to begin the game, Keeton orchestrated three consecutive touchdown drives. The third touchdown of the game — a one-yard rush by junior Robert Turbin — gave the Aggies a 21-7 lead, midway through the second quarter. "He did a great job," Turbin said. "You're talking about an 18-year-old true freshman who is coming straight out of high school and not only playing at the Division I level, but being on the road and playing against the defending BCS National Champions. To perform the way he did just shows that he has a great career ahead of him." After Keeton orchestrated those three drives is when the special teams problems began for USU. Freshman running back for Auburn Tre Mason took a Josh Thompson kickoff 97 yards the other way to trim USU's lead in half, which contributed to Auburn's total of 257 kickoff-return yards. "They have tremendous people running down on kickoffs," Andersen said. "They have tremendous people on kickoff return. I could go on and on and on. "Auburn has some special men in their program and you have to understand that," he added. "We played 20-reps especially on the defensive side of the football, and we hung in there. But we gave up a kickoff return that was huge." Auburn took the lead late in the third quarter when junior quarterback Barrett Trotter found junior wide receiver Travante Stallworth open for a 39-yard touchdown pass. Keeton worked his magic again and led the Aggies on back-to-back touchdown drives, for a 38-28 lead. Auburn scored with a AUBURN RUNNING BACK Michael Dyer celebrates his game-winning touchdown over Utah State, late in the fourth quarter Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011. Auburn won 42-38. AP photo little more than two minutes remaining the contest and faced an onside kick situation. Once again, the Aggies could not execute special teams. Auburn recovered the kick and scored the go-ahead touchdown. "Guy makes a great play," Andersen said. "It's a great kick on an onside kick. The guy rises above us and gets the ball. Is it right? I'm not saying it's right. Could we have done better? Yes, we could have." The Aggies' next opportunity to notch their first win of the season will come Saturday, Sept. 10, when they face instate rival Weber State. The Aggies are confident they will be resilient and bounce back. "The biggest thing we are going to take away from this game is, we are done taking moral victories and are almost there," Andersen said. "There is none of that. We expected to come in here and play very well. We expected to put ourselves in a good position late in the fourth quarter. We will build from it and learn from it. We will know exactly where we sit, and I expect this to be a very good football team." —ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu Volleyball serves up success BY SPENCER WRIGHT staff writer Utah State 3, Syracuse 1 Senior All-American outside hitter Liz McArthur posted her fourth double-double of the season, with 13 kills and 11 digs, to help Utah State's volleyball team (2-3) notch a four-set win (2523, 25 23, 17 25, 25-19) against Syracuse (3-1) here, Friday, in the second day of the Utah State Invitational, sponsored by Gossner Foods. Junior outside hitter Josselyn White added 12 kills, 15 digs and four block assists for Utah State, while Ashlan Rogers recorded a career-high 19 digs. Freshman setter Paige Neves also had a season-high 19 digs to go along with a season-high six block assists, and junior middle blocker Alyssa Everett had a season-best eight block assists. - JUNIOR OUTSIDE HITTER Josselyn White spikes a ball in the match against Syracuse University. Utah State won the match 3-1. CODY GOCHNOUR photo - Noemie Lefebvre and Ying Shen each had 16 kills to pace Syracuse, while Ashley Williams finished with a match-best 28 digs. McArthur led Utah State with five kills in the first set as the Aggies hit .093 (11-7-43) and held Syracuse to a .020 (12-11-50) hitting percentage. With the set tied at 14-14, USU went on a 7-2 run to go up 21-16 and then held on for the 25 23 win. McArthur added four kills in set two, as did junior opposite side hitter Shay Sorensen, as USU hit .135 (13-6-52) and SU hit .073 (14-10-55). Syracuse led by three early on in the set, but Utah State rallied late scoring five of the final eight points for the win. Syracuse used a 10-3 run in the third set to coast to the 25 17 win as it hit .261 (10-4-23) and limited Utah State to a negative .042 (8-9-24) hitting percentage. Everett led Utah State with - - four kills in the fourth set as the Aggies hit .059 (8-5-51) and held the Orange to a .000 (12-12-58) hitting percentage. In the fourth and final set, USU went on a 12-4 run in building a 20-12 advantage before posting the six-point win. Utah State finished the match with a .076 (40-27-170) hitting percentage and Syracuse hit .059 (.48-37-186). USU also outblocked the Orange, 15.5-15.0, while SU posted four more digs (88-84). Both teams finished with three service aces, and Syracuse had three more service errors (6-3). Utah State 3, Texas State 2 Utah State carried its momentum from Friday right into Saturday, in the final match of the Utah State Invitational. Behind a stand-out perfor► See VOLLEYBALL, Page 13 Soccer soars through sixth straight win BY MEREDITH KINNEY sports senior writer Utah State 1, Utah 0 It was a historic day at the Chuck and Gloria Bell soccer field, Friday, when the Utah State Aggies women's soccer team defeated the University of Utah, 1-0. The victory continued the Aggies best start ever giving the soccer team a 5-0-0 record in the 2011 season. Utah State soccer hadn't beaten the Ute's at home since 1997 — a streak that has lasted 14 years. They also hadn't beaten PAC-12 for 13 years. "Utah's a big rival," sophomore forward Mari Miyashiro said. "It feels so awesome to beat them on our home field." The Aggies also picked up their second shutout of the season. "Our biggest goal of this match was a shutout," Aggie defender Natalie Norris said. "We finally achieved that." Despite a couple promising chances, it took the Aggies 85 minutes to get on the board. USU wasn't able to convert until a ball off the foot of Miyashiro found its way across the goal line. "It was a fantastic game," said USU head coach Heather Cairns. "Both teams had control at different times, we just gutted it out and took advantage of that opportunity." With the loss, the Utes are still without a win and have failed to score a goal through the first four games of the schedule. Norris and fellow defender Taryn Rose had particularly strong performances along with goalkeeper Molli Merrill, who recorded the shutout — their third on the season. Merrill stopped seven Utah shots and recorded six saves in the match. Utah had some good chances in the second half, including a shot off the foot of Ute Lauren Dudley, who caught Merrill out of position; but the Aggie defense See MOVING UP, Page 13 |