This Date in College Football Belt History – October 22

Casey — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:08:09 +0000

The 18^th ranked, 6-0 Utah Utes of coach Ron McBride traveled to Fort Collins to meet the 12^th ranked, 7-0 Colorado State Rams of coach Sonny Lubick. Utah lead 9-7 at the half but the scoreboard lit up for 60 points & 4 lead changes between the teams in the 2^nd half as Utah claimed The Belt with a 45-31 victory. The game featured highlights & missteps of every kind as the Utes had a safety, blocked a punt, blocked an extra-point attempt, blocked a field goal attempt, intercepted four of Colorado State’s QB Anthoney Hill’s passes (two of which they returned for touchdowns), & 14 penalties for 117 yards lost. Colorado State blocked two punts, recovered three fumbles & intercepted Utah’s QB Mike McCoy once. The game started slowly with the only points of the 1^st quarter coming when Hill mishandled a snap & the ball went out of the end zone for a safety giving Utah a 2-0 lead. The Utes scored on another mistake by Hill when Utah’s All-WAC CB Kareem Leary intercepted his pass intended for TE Justin Shull, & returned it 39 yards for a touchdown pushing the lead to 9-0. Hill got some redemption when he scored on a 1-yard touchdown run before the half but with the score 9-7 with Utah leading as the teams went to their locker rooms, the fun was just about to start. McCoy scored on a 1-yard touchdown run that capped an 80-yard drive as Utah pushed the lead to 16-7 but the Rams rallied with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Hill to WR Eric Olson. The highlight of the drive was a 62-yard scramble by Hill getting the Rams out of a 3^rd & 8 situation. A 28-yard field goal by Colorado State’s PK David Napier gave the Rams a 17-16 lead. After McCoy connected with All-WAC WR Curtis Marsh for a 41-yard pass, the Utes’ RB Charlie Brown broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run. The 2-point conversion had Utah back ahead at 24-17. The conversion came on a gimmick formation called “The Duck” that had 4 players line-up wide left, 4 in the middle of the field, & 2 in between with McCoy taking the shotgun snap & hitting RB Rob Hamilton for the points. The Utes used the same formation to score on their next drive with McCoy finding TE Rick Tucker for the 5-yard touchdown pass & a 31-17 lead. The 4^th quarter saw Colorado State rally with 2 touchdowns by RB Van Ward on runs of 5 & 1 yard to tie the game. McCoy got the lead back for Utah after a 70-yard, 14-play drive when he found Marsh on a fade pattern for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 3:36 to play for a 38-31 lead. The Rams tried to respond & drove to the Utah 10-yard line with 0:44 left. Hill tried to hit WR Matt Phillips in the end zone but Utes’ S Harold Lusk made the interception that he returned 105-yards with 0:22 left to secure the Utah win. McCoy finished with 210 yards passing with his 2 touchdowns & an interception as well as a rushing touchdown. Hill finished with 243 yards passing with a touchdown but 4 interceptions as well as a rushing touchdown while Olson added 8 catches for 118 yards to his touchdown. The Rams finished 10-2; WAC Champions, ranked 16^th nationally while the Utes finished 10-2 & ranked 10^th nationally. Colorado State would play for The Belt again in 1996.

The College Football Belt

This Date in College Football Belt History – September 30

Casey — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:31:54 +0000

The 1-2 Brigham Young Cougars of coach Lavell Edwards traveled to Fort Collins to meet the 2-1 Colorado State Rams of Sonny Lubick. Cougars’ QB Steve Sarkisian threw 3 touchdown passes while the defense held Colorado State to 14 yards rushing & withstood 2 late touchdown passes from Rams’ back-up QB Moses Moreno as Brigham Young won 28-21 to claim their first Belt reign. Colorado State took a 6-0 lead when CB Jason Craft intercepted Sarkisian & returned it 30 yards for a touchdown. The Cougars scored the only points of the 2^nd quarter when Sarkisian found WR Mike Johnston for a 25-yard touchdown pass giving Brigham Young a 7-6 halftime lead. Sarkisian connected with RB Hemi Heimuli for a 45-yard touchdown pass for the only points of the 3^rd quarter. It appeared the Cougars had the game in hand when RB Mark Atuaia scored on a 3-yard touchdown run & Sarkisian hit TE Tom Baldwin for an 8-yard touchdown pass giving Brigham Young a 28-6 advantage. Moreno replaced QB Daren Wilkinson in the 4^th quarter after Wilkinson had thrown for just 80 yards with 2 interceptions. Moreno found WR Paul Turner for touchdown passes of 5 & 14 yards as the Rams closed to 28-21 but the Cougars were able to run off the last 1:38 of game time to secure the win. Sarkisian finished with 254 yards passing with his 3 touchdowns but 2 interceptions & the Cougars held the ball for 37:41 of the game. Moreno finished with 128 yards passing with 2 touchdowns as well as an interception & All-WAC DE Brady Smith recorded 4 sacks for Colorado State. The Rams finished the season 8-4; WAC Co-Champs while the Cougars finished 7-4 & WAC Co-Champs. Colorado State would play for The Belt again in 1996.

The College Football Belt

Pickin' Splinters » Sonny Lubick

This Date in College Football Belt History – October 22

This Date in College Football Belt History – September 30