Southern watch: College sports from around Utah
BYU
Football
Florida State (2-1) handed the Cougars (1-2) their second-straight loss of the season in Tallahassee on Saturday, 34-10. BYU gave their worst offensive performance in seven years, gaining a meager 191 total yards. The loss hastened the criticism of BYU’s controversial two-quarterback system.
Former Aggie quarterback Riley Nelson performed dismally, throwing one completion for just one yard, and had one interception. Although he was sacked six times for a loss of sixty-one yards, freshman Jake Heaps had a better game, accounting for the team’s only touchdown – the first in his collegiate career.
The Seminoles held BYU scoreless in all but the second quarter, and pulled away with three touchdowns in the second half. BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said he was disappointed with the outcome.
“I think Florida State executed at a higher level for longer than our team did,” he said. “They made all the critical plays as the game wore on and that ended up in the outcome we had.”
Volleyball
On Friday and Saturday, BYU was humbled with two straight sweeps at the hands of the No. 6 Hawaii Warriors.
Senior setter Kiana Rogers tallied her sixth double-double of the season in the losing effort. She had 24 assists and 10 digs in the second match. Jennifer Hamson added 16 kills combined from the weekend.
“We played better (Saturday) than we did (Friday), but it was still disappointing,” BYU head coach Shay Goulding said.
University of Utah
Football
In Albuquerque this weekend, Utah (3-0) proved that they deserve their No. 14 ranking with a crushing 56-14 victory over New Mexico (0-3).
Terrance Cain, Utah’s backup quarterback, starting in place of the injured Jordan Wynn, threw for a Ute record completion percentage by hitting 20 of 23 passes. He also accounted for three touchdowns to three different receivers to pick apart the Lobo defense.
The Ute defense on the other hand stifled their opponents and gave up only one touchdown late in the third quarter and a total of just 69 rushing yards.
In what has historically been a game to go down to the wire, the Utes were able to dominate their opponents in New Mexico, something that Lobo head coach Mike Locksley was willing to admit.
“That was a very good Utah team,” said Locksley. “Very deserving of their No. 14 ranking.”
After the win, the Utes gained one spot in the AP Top 25 college football poll, moving them up to No. 13 in the nation.
Volleyball
In the Sheraton Tournament in Tempe, Ariz., the Utah women’s volleyball team faced Pacific, No. 21 Michigan, and the host Arizona State. Despite good performances from outside hitter Morgan Odale, opposite hitter Karolina Bartkowiak and middle blocker Erin Redd, the Utes lost in their first two matches.
“Those three (Odale, Bartkowiak and Redd) really did a nice job on the attack,” said Utes head coach Beth Launiere. “We have really grown as a team.”
Despite the 1-3 performance, Bartkowiak was named to the all-tournament team. The 6’2″ senior from Poland had 17 kills, 14 digs, and four blocks in the effort.
Tennis
Utah sophomore Evgenia Kryuchkova defeated No. 41 Michaela Kissell of Marshall 6-3, 7-5 in an upset on Friday at the University of Virginia Fall Invitational
Southern Utah University
Football
Going on the road to California, the Football Championship Subdivison (FCS) Southern Utah Thunderbirds (1-2) nearly pulled off the upset against San Jose State (0-3), eventually failing 16-11.
SUU took the lead with a field goal late in the third quarter to go up 10-11, but their defense was unable to hold the Spartans through the final whistle.
San Jose quarterback Jordan LaSecla marched his team down into Thunderbird territory at the end of the fourth quarter to set up running back Lamo Muldrow to score on a six-yard run with just 1:10 left in the game.
The Thunderbirds mounted one final charge, but lost it when freshman quarterback Jason Mayer threw an interception to Bene Benwikere.
– tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu