Who can figure the University of Utah football team? Just when you thought the Utes had packed it in for the season, they regroup and upset their old nemesis, the Air Force Academy, 20-13 Saturday afternoon in rainy, cold Colorado Springs.
Having suffered baffling, devastating losses to New Mexico and UTEP - the twin pumpkins of college football - the Utes pulled out all the stops for Air Force, a team that had beaten them eight times in the last nine years, including the last seven.For two and a half quarters they played each other dead even, slugging it out in the trenches, until finally Jamal Anderson scored on a one-yard run and Chris Yergensen kicked a 43-yard field goal.
"It was a heckuva victory," said an emotional Ron McBride, Utah's head coach. "It was a physical game. There was no finesse."
The victory eliminated Air Force (6-3 overall, 4-3 in league play) from the Western Athletic Conference title race, and kept Utah (5-3/3-2) just one game behind co-leaders Hawaii and San Diego State.
Credit the victory to an ingenious game plan and some sly, old-fashioned motivational maneuvering by McBride, with help from the local newspapers. Having watched reserve quarterback Mike McCoy languish for two weeks while trying to fill in for the injured Frank Dolce, and having studied theAir Force defense thoroughly, the Utes produced a plan that made McCoy look like, well, the real McCoy, and fully utilized the considerable talents of fullback Jamal Anderson and tailbacks Pierre Jones and Keith Williams.
"In order for (McCoy) to have success, we needed to run the ball, and take the pressure off him," said McBride.
The Utes, who had scored just 13 points in the six quarters since Dolce's injury, overhauled their game plan. They went to the ground game almost exclusively, rushing 58 times and passing only 16 times. The result: they rushed for 273 yards, with Williams collecting 119 yards on 20 carries, Jones 84 on 17 carries and Anderson 55 on nine carries. That allowed the Utes to control the ball. They ran 74 plays, 22 more than Air Force, and dominated the time of possession, 35:18 to 24:42. Meanwhile, McCoy, limited to timely short passes, mostly screens on the outside, completed 12 of 16 passes for 108 yards.
"I salute their game plan," said Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry. "They gave us a lesson in physical football."
Afterward, the Utes, clearly relieved after their recent nosedive, couldn't resist rubbing in their victory. Linebacker Preston Christensen, among others, mockingly saluted the crowd repeatedly as the Utes left the field, and some of his teammates exchanged unpleasantries with fans in the stands. There's no love lost here.
The night before the game, McBride read to his team a local newspaper article in which Air Force linebacker Mark Moody was quoted saying the Falcons were due for a blowout, and Utah would be the game to do just that. For good measure, McBride distributed photocopies of the article to his team the morning of the game.
"There was a lot of talk out there," said Christensen. "I did a lot of talking myself. I admit that. I was mad about that article."
Not that the Utes were any too happy to begin with, given the recent turn of events. Shaken by their two losses, the seniors called a players-only meeting on Monday and rededicated themselves to a cliche: take the last four games one game at a time.
Meanwhile, the Ute coaches went to work dissecting the Falcons, who lead the WAC in scoring defense and total defense. "We saw some weaknesses in their scheme," said Rick Rasnick, Utah's offensive coordinator. "We thought our fullback matched up well with their linebackers. We thought we could go off tackle with the way they slant their defense."
The Air Force linemen slant to the strong side, creating heavy traffic and confusion in the backfield. The Utes sent the 240-pound Anderson the other way, to the weakside, to block the outside linebacker, 210-pound Vergil Simpson, and then pitched the ball to their tailbacks, heading the same way. In this way, Williams and Jones repeatedly broke big gainers. When Air Force adjusted and ordered their linemen to sit and read, the Utes pounded them with quick openers up the middle.
"We wanted to try to manhandle them," said Jones, "because they're a bit smaller than we are."
The Utes' first 14 plays from scrimmage were running plays, and given the weather conditions, it wasn't the best of days for throwing the ball anyway. Shortly after the opening kickoff, a cold rain began to fall, driven by a strong north wind. The fans, who had barely settled into their seats, headed for the exits, never to return. Before the first quarter was finished there was a traffic jam - leaving the stadium. The official attendance was listed as 36,872, but by the second half there were less than 10,000 fans in the stadium.
On their first possession of the game, the Utes drove 59 yards on eight running plays for a touchdown. Williams ran 14 yards. Jones ran for eight, then eight more. Anderson ran for 17 to the one-yard line, setting up Jones' one-yard scoring run.
The Falcons answered with an 80-yard scoring drive of their own, twice converting third-down plays. On the second one, a third-and-two, quarterback Jarvis Baker ran around the left end and kept going, 31 yards for a touchdown.
They traded scores again in the second quarter - a Chris Yergensen 25-yard field goal for a 23-yard Chris MacInnis field goal - and the score was tied at 10.
With time running out in the first half, the Falcons drove to the Ute 10-yard line, and MacInnis attempted a 27-yard field goal, but Dave Chaytors - Utah's designated kick blocker - blocked it, leaving the score tied at halftime, 10-all.
The Falcons opened the second half with MacInnis kicking a wind-aided 52-yard field goal. It was their last score of their game. The Ute defense stuffed the wishbone the rest of the afternoon, limiting the Falcons to a total of 251 yards. They repeatedly botched up the option play, and eight times caught the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage - four of them by defensive end Luther Elliss. All of which was enough to buy time for Utah's offense.
After MacInnis's field goal, the Utes assembled a 68-yard scoring drive in which they converted fourth- and third-down plays. On third-and-two, Jones took the handoff and started right, stopped, reversed field, slipped, and then dashed through the left side of the line for 24 yards. On the next play Anderson ran one yard for a touchdown and a 17-13 Utah lead.
With 4:50 left, and one second on the play clock, Yergensen kicked a 43-yard field goal to give Utah a 20-13 lead. Ellis sacked Baker to end any hopes the Falcons had of producing another of the 11th-hour comebacks that have become their trademark this season.
"The guys understood the circumstances," said Rasnick. "It was not a fun week in town, just listening to people. All of a sudden we were a lousy team."
For another week at least, the Utes are the team everyone thought they would be.