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Show StatesmanSports Friday, Sept. 30, 2011 Page 5 RSL burned by Fire 3-0 SPENCER WRIGHT staff writer A goal allowed in the 9th minute. A red card for a headbutt in the 11th. There were still 79 minutes to play but being down a goal and a man was too much for Real Salt Lake to overcome, as Chicago Fire midfielder Pavel Pardo had a hat-trick to hand RSL a 3-0 loss Wednesday, at Rio Tinto Stadium. After a five-game win streak that propelled the team into an automatic playoff bid, Real Salt Lake has now lost two in a row, by a combined score of 7-0. Despite the automatic bid being secured, RSL head coach Jason Kreis is anything but pleased with his team's recent dip in CHICAGO FIRE DEFENDER JOSIP MIKULIC takes down Real Salt Lake forward Fabian Espindola form. during the first half of an MLS soccer match in Sandy, Utah,Wednesday. AP photo "Absolutely, I'm concerned. I won't be sleeping tonight," Kreis said. "To take two results like this at this time in the year could be critical." It was a game, though, that looked to have all the makings of another RSL victory. The team was playing in front of a record crowd at Rio Tinto — 20,762 — and star midfielder Javier Morales was set to make his first appearance for the club since fracturing his ankle on May 7, against Chivas USA. Indeed, Real Salt Lake did come out brightly and had a wonderful opportunity in the 8th minute. RSL midfielder Will Johnson found forward Alvaro Saborio making a run, in, behind the Fire defense and slotted a nice through ball to him, but Saborio hooked his shot, just wide. It was all downhill from there for Real Salt Lake. Chicago opened up the scoring just a minute after Saborio's miss, completely against the run of play. Fire midfielder Marco Pappa received the ball off a throw-in and, with acres of space in front, took a dribble and curled a shot past the outstretched hands of RSL goalie Nick Rimando. "I was very disappointed to see us give up a goal off of a throw-in," said RSL defender Nat Borchers. "It's something that we talk about every day, at training." Then, just two minutes after the goal, Real Salt Lake went down a man when RSL See RSL, Page 6 From Page 4 BYU game may define season "I know JJ DiLuigi is a really good player," the former track star said. "They have got some great wide receivers, they look really talented. Their offensive line is always huge, so they are really talented all the way around. Their quarterback Jake Heaps is a good player. All around they are a good offense from what I have seen, so far." Aggie running back Robert Turbin has led the USU ground game, so far, this season. The redshirt junior needs one touchdown to take sole possession of the No. 3 spot on Utah State's all-time rushing touchdown list and has rushed for over 100 yards in each of his last two games played. "I think Robert has a great knack and that is natural ability to me," Andersen said. "There are times where we ask him to be able to hit it down in, and there is other times where he bounces it out and obviously turns itself into a big play. I think as a back you have to be able to do both." What to watch for: The running game will be important for the Aggies to control. The Cougars are currently No. 116 in the Football Bowl Subdivision, with an average of 68 yards per game, while the Utah State defense allows an average of 82.7 yards per game on the ground. BYU quarterback Jake Heaps will have to have a good night with the Cougars, to get the win. USU allowed an average of 197 yards through the air in their two close losses to Auburn and Colorado State. If Heaps beats the Aggie secondary, USU will have a tough time getting the win. USU will have to find a way to bounce back from the heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Colorado State last week on Homecoming. "It was a tough loss," said USU wide receiver Austin Alder, who graduated from Provo High School. "As a team, we just have to come together, bounce back from it and we are ready to play BYU. We are excited." - tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu. edu JUNIOR CORNERBACK QUINTON BYRD tackles Colorado State's Chris Nwoke in the 35-34 loss, Sept. 24. The Aggies travel to Provo to take on BYU, Sept. 30. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photo ► From Page 4 McArthur leads Aggies over La Tech Down by three, midway through the third set, it looked like Louisiana Tech was on the way to being swept. A 10-3 run by the Bulldogs turned that deficit into a seven-point advantage and a 25-21 win, to avoid the shutout. The Lady Techsters were led by junior outside hitter Marcella Braz, who had nine kills to go with nine digs on the night. The Bulldogs also got solid performances out of freshman middle blocker Regan Himmelberg and sophomore blocker Caitlin Germany, each with four kills. The Aggies bounced back in the fourth set, starting with a 5-0 run and never looking back, putting Louisiana Tech away by a margin of 25-12, while McArthur had five of her 20 kills in the set. "Defensively we did some nice things, and offensively we had a nice night as well," DuBose said. "You look across the board and we got some stuff done tonight." The Aggies had a .237 hit- ting percentage as a team, for the night, but DuBose said the Aggies played better than the stats show. "If you discount the third game where we had 11 errors, we were over .300, so it was a nice match for us offensively," DuBose said. USU will next face the crimson-clad Aggies of New Mexico State Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m. in Las Cruces, NM. - curtis.lundstrom@aggiemail.usu.edu USU HEAD COACH GRAYSON DUBOSE talks to his team during an intermission at the match I against Hawaii, Sept. 24. KIMBERLY SHORTS photo Don't blame Turbin for Aggie loss I love Robert Turbin. After the junior running back and future NFL prospect failed to make it into the end zone against Colorado State Saturday, in what could have been a program-defining victory, the leader of the Aggie football team — and quite frankly the leader Aggie Nation — went public and tweeted an apology to fans, personally, for not winning the game. "Sorry to all Itaggiefans for losing the game," he tweeted. "My game, one play, and I lost it. I promise to improve, and I won't let it happen again." Turbin rushed for 155 yards and four touchdowns against the Rams and in retrospect going for the twopoint conversion was probably the wrong decision. That's beside the point, however. The sight and sound of nearly 23,000 Aggie fans on their feet and screaming and pulling for an Aggie victory Saturday night gave me chills down my spine. Before the Aggies dropped the game, I was certain head coach Gary Andersen had finally accomplished what he had set out to do in changing the mindset of not only the football team, but Aggie fans as well. After they failed to convert the two-point conver- As a matter of • fact sion, I wondered if I would ever see Romney Stadium as full as I had seen it that night. I cautiously ventured out into the social media world to see what the response Aggie fans would give about the loss and I stumbled onto Turbin's apology. As I stumbled onto his apology I began to find responses from other media members and that made me wondered if fans responded to him personally. I was pleasantly surprised to find many messages of encouragement for Turbin to not give up because fans had his back and didn't plan on giving up hope yet. One tweet even said that Turbin made nearly 23,000 people believe in Aggie football again. It was at that point that I realized that Turbin is not only the leader of the Aggie football team, he is the leader of Aggie Nation. He showed his desire to win and his willingness to do whatever it took to win. He also showed is willing- Create Your Own ness to be accountable to everybody, including fans. This great athlete and great human being has won over the support of many fence sitters, and I think it would be a shame to let him or any member of the Aggie football team down due to lack of support. With that being said, I think there needs to be an Aggie invasion at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Let me rephrase that, I know there needs to be an Aggie invasion at Lavell Edwards Stadium. If you can't make it to the stadium, you should still cheer loud and make it known in every way possible that you are an Aggie. Utah State football is on the brink of being great and breaking through a fog of failure and doubt. Even the smallest push can create big waves, and that small push just might be the unrelenting support from fans. If you can't find any other reason to get excited, at least get excited to cheer against BYU. MASTERPIECE! With our innovative design software, you help us create your own unique masterpiece and we custom make it for you. At our store, you don't just browse for the perfect ring—you create it! S. E. Needham - Tyler Huskinson is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. He is also a sports writer for The Herald Journal. Follow his Twitter feed @TDHuskiSports or send any comments to ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu . jewelers since 1896 Where Utah Gets Engaged! 141 North Main • www.seneedham.com • 435-752-7149 Ar A |