Dixie College has never made any bones about the fact that it is a running football team. Let all those colleges up in northern Utah pass the ball all over the universe - the Rebels will just grind it out on the ground and be content, thank you.
So what was the difference in Saturday's Rotary Bowl game between Dixie and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M?Passing, of course, specifically that of freshman Tyler DeHart, who was named MVP after leading the Rebels to a 42-21 victory over the fumble-prone Golden Norsemen in front of 5,000 fans at Hansen Stadium.
DeHart, who didn't even win the QB job for good until midseason, completed 12 of 19 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns. Now those may not be Ty Detmer/Scott Mitchell-type numbers. But those guys don't usually average 25 yards per completion or 15 yards per attempt like DeHart did Saturday.
Afterward the Alta High graduate, who was averaging five completions for less than 100 yards per game, was still acting pleasantly surprised about his outstanding afternoon.
"I was happy to be able to throw the ball today," he said. "We really don't have much of a passing game. We're a running team, and I thought we were going to run the ball all day."
That was the Dixie plan, and that's what Coach Greg Croshaw was expecting to do. He planned to go to the air on the first play of the game, which was was successful, but otherwise he wanted to do what Dixie does best - run, run and run.
"We didn't plan on passing, we never do," said Croshaw. "But I don't think there's any question that was the difference in the ballgame. We couldn't have scored points running the ball because they were too tough up the middle."
NEO Coach Glen Wolfe, who has been the mastermind behind the top junior college program in the country of the past decade, agreed that the passing made the difference, although he wasn't surprised by it.
"We felt they'd do that (pass)," said Wolfe. "I just thought our secondary played as bad as we ever have in the 12 years I've been here. They were just pathetic."
Perhaps that's because his players were still dazed from all the activities since the 20-hour drive from Miami, Okla. They included a tour of Hoover Dam, a look at Las Vegas, a trip to Zion National Park and a banquet featuring former Dallas quarterback Danny White.
The Rebels had started off like they were playing Inver Hills, Minn., a mediocre team they cruised past 54-8 in last year's Rotary Bowl, instead of the top JC team of the decade. They took just four plays to move 72 yards with Teddy James going the final 12 yards. The first play of the game was a 53-yard pass from DeHart to Kendall Smith.
A few minutes later came the first of many kicking miscues for Dixie as Bill Hansen missed a 35-yard field goal try that looked more like a skulled 9-iron shot. A couple of minutes later, the Rebels tried a different kicker, freshman Jeffrey Wintch, but his 37-yard try bounced off the right goalpost.
The kicking woes continued after the Rebels' second touchdown when Hansen's kick was wide right. The TD, a 1-yard sneak by DeHart, was set up by a 31-yard pass from DeHart to Smith.
Smith, not to be confused with the Kendal Smith who played receiver at Utah State for four years, had by far the best day of his career at Dixie. His six catches were just one short of the number he had for the season and he had matched his touchdown total with two.
His biggest catch came after NEO had come back to grab a 14-13 lead late in the first half on a 65-yard run by Leshon Johnson - NEO's MVP for the game - and a 36-yard touchdown pass from Jackie Hood to Tim Lewis.
With 1:18 left, DeHart fired a 40-yard touchdown pass to Smith, who had gone up with two NEO defenders at the five and after all three tipped the ball in the air, stretched out and snagged it in the end zone.
"It was a post pattern, the free came over and all three of us went up," said Smith. "The ball tipped in the air and I just dove for it. I didn't even know I was in the end zone.
In the second half, both teams scored on their first possessions, Dixie on a 16-yard run by James, who finished with 100 yards rushing on the day, and NEO on a 1-yard run by Hood.
Then, after consuming eight minutes off the clock on an 86-yard drive, Dixie came up empty with their kicking game again as Wintch's 23-yard field goal try late in the third quarter was blocked.
But as bad as the Dixie kicking ("It almost cost us," said Croshaw), was the Norsemen's ability to hold on to the ball. On the very next play, Tyrone Rogers fumbled after being hit by Nehumi Masi and Shane Tafoya recovered.
"You can't turn the ball over and expect to win," said NEO's Wolfe. "What did we have, 10 fumbles?"
Actually only seven, and five were lost to Dixie.
On Dixie's next play after the fumble, DeHart scrambled before finding Smith on a 23-yard scoring play and the Rebels had some breathing room at 35-21.
The Rebels missed another field goal in the fourth quarter, their fourth of the day, but Zed Robinson put the finishing touches on the win with a 88-yard scamper up the middle on a simple trap play.
The loss means NE Oklahoma will likely finish out of the top four in the final national JC rankings for the first time in the 1980s. They had come into the game ranked No. 4. Dixie, which had been ranked No. 6, will likely moved into the top five, possibly as high as No. 3.