This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah's football team doesn't play BYU's football team this year, leaving fans to compare Saturday's blowout victories in a colossal waste of their collective breath.
The schools' soccer fans don't have that problem.
We here at The Tribune — and in the Salt Lake media at large — are sometimes accused of trying to foist the rivalry on our audience, when there are more important things happening. Sorry about that. But there was a moment in Friday night's 1-0 thriller before 2,500-plus fans at Ute Field that showed you can have both: rivalry, and more important things.
There was Utah sophomore kicker Andy Phillips — maker of two field goals in Utah's 20-13 victory in Provo last year — walking out wearing blue to console a Cougar midfielder. And it was OK, because the midfielder in question is his sister, Bizzy. You can read a little more about the siblings' sporting deal in The Daily Utah Chronicle.
There it is: Andy Phillips reppin BYU soccer (just for an afternoon). Went immediately to hug his sister. #Utes pic.twitter.com/gFmNhjgYcy
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) September 6, 2014And in case there's any worries about Andy's loyalties (although we doubt there is), here's the photo he tweeted out after the birth this week of his son, Maximus:
Thank you for the overwhelming support from family, friends, and fans. We are truly blessed! #maximusphillips #utes pic.twitter.com/EAqz92tg7a
— Andy Phillips (@AndyDPhillips) September 3, 2014OK, OK. Spiel over. Onto the rest of the week in Utah sports.
FOOTBALL • Injuries, not defenses, limited junior wideout Kenneth Scott to three touchdowns in four years at the U. Healthy, Scott now has three in the first two weeks of the 2014 season, and Kyle Goon wrote about why that should tug at your heartstrings at least a little bit. (Or you might be a robot.) In related news, the ease with which Kaelin Clay eluded Idaho State's coverage teams belied the difficulty of Clay's road to success. Also: Phillips welcomes fatherhood, Parker Erickson was nominated to be a Rhodes Scholar, and Travis Wilson made a special effort to help a Utah first-grader in his fight against cancer.
Here's our coverage of Utah's blowout of Fresno State on Saturday:
• Whittingham said after the game that the team has some "bumps and bruises," plus other notes
ON DECK • Bye week. Next game: at Michigan, Saturday, Sept. 20, in Ann Arbor, Mich.
WOMEN'S SOCCER • Senior midfielder Katie Taylor drilled an 84th-minute penalty kick, high and right, to give the Utes just their seventh win in 28 tries against their in-state rivals BYU. The Utes remain unbeaten at 4-0-1. The last time they were unbeaten through five games? The 2005 season, when they won the Mountain West Conference championship and fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Arizona
ON DECK • vs. UNLV, 7 p.m. Friday at Ute Field (blackout game); at UC Davis, Sunday at 1 p.m. in Davis, Calif.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL • Not only are the Utes unbeaten at 5-0 for the third straight year, but in four of those matches they haven't dropped a set. Led by 20 kills from Chelsey Schofield-Olsen and 21 digs by fellow senior Shelby Dalton, the Utes swept both Cal Poly and St. Mary's in Moraga, Calif., on Saturday.
ON DECK • vs. Utah Valley, 7 p.m. Tuesday at Crimson Court; vs. ETSU, 3 p.m. Friday in Nashville, Tenn.; vs. Georgia Tech, 9 a.m. Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.; at Lipscomb, 5:30 a.m. Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
WOMEN'S CROSS-COUNTRY • Three Utah runners placed in the top 10 in the Utah Open at Murray Park, with the Utes capturing runner-up honors for the second consecutive week. Leading the way again was senior Nicole Rietz, who placed sixth, followed by junior Lauren Mills and true freshman Shaylen Cook. Boise State won the meet on foreign turf, while BYU finished fourth.
ON DECK • Montana State Invitational, Sept. 20 in Bozeman, Mont.
MEN'S GOLF • Junior Max McGrail shot a three-day total of 217 to tie for 23rd at the season-opening Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The Utes placed 10th overall.
ON DECK • Husky Invitational, Sept. 22-23 in Bremerton, Wash.
SOFTBALL • The Utes held their first day of team practice in preparation for their fall schedule.
ON DECK • vs. SLCC, 4 p.m. Sept. 16 at Utah Softball Stadium
MEN'S BASKETBALL • We caught up with all-time great Utah point guard Andre Miller about finally, after 16 years, rewatching the 1998 championship game loss to Kentucky. Miller was inducted into the Crimson Club Hall of Fame on Friday.
ON DECK • vs. Pacific, Nov. 6
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL • Michelle Plouffe was honored during Utah's blowout victory against Fresno State as the school's top senior female athlete in a team sport for the previous year. Plouffe was selected in the second round of the 2014 WNBA Draft by the Seattle Storm after scoring 2,100 points and pulling down 1,155 rebounds during her career at the U.
ON DECK • vs. Alaska-Anchorage, Nov. 5 at the Huntsman Center
— Matthew Piper
mpiper@sltrib.com
Twitter: @matthew_piper