This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
UTAH FOOTBALL: Utes beat CSU 35-22
They ran a reverse right out of the gate, threw deep almost immediately, faked a punt and had Eric Weddle not only run the show from quarterback half a dozen times, but also complete a pass for the first time in his career.
Yeah, the Utah Utes knew they had to have this one.
Still hoping to reach a bowl game - if not claim an unlikely share of the Mountain West Conference championship - the Utes did everything they
could to make sure they did not blow their chance to salvage the season. It worked perfectly, too, as the Utes pulled away from Colorado State for a 35-22 victory as steadily as the weather swallowed Rice-Eccles Stadium in a drizzly gloom Saturday.
"We came out and wanted to prove something," quarterback Brett Ratliff said.
What they proved is that for all the turbulence they have endured this season - the blowout losses, the angry fans, and most recently, the indefinite suspension of starting offensive tackle Jason Boone - they're still not out the Mountain West Conference championship race.
Yes, they need to win the rest of their games to win a share of the title, and have rival Brigham Young Cougars lose to New Mexico next weekend. But even that slim possibility would have been extinguished with a loss to a CSU team that is but a shell of the one with which the Utes played so many classic games in recent years.
"This was a big win for us," linebacker Kyle Brady said.
Not only did it keep the Utes in the hunt for a title - they want to make it a "November to remember," Ratliff said - but it also made them eligible for a bowl game, though they need one more victory to guarantee a postseason trip.
"It's all up to us," linebacker Joe Jiannoni said. "It's our destiny."
So was beating the Rams.
Having strained to run the ball all season without injured running back Kyle Bell, the Rams had lost four straight games, and did not seem to have much of a chance against a Utah team coming off a big win and a bye week.
Surprisingly, they stayed close throughout the first half on the strength of quarterback Caleb Hanie's deep passes and running ability. But once they cut the lead to 21-16 on a field goal early in third quarter, they sputtered to a stop against an adjusted Utah defense.
"Something flipped in us or something," Jiannoni said. "We just had to go get it."
The Utes were getting it all day long, on offense.
Ratliff completed his first five passes - that gave him a streak of 15 straight completions, dating to a victory over UNLV two weeks ago - on his way to a 296-yard passing performance in which he found eight receivers, two for touchdowns.
The Utes also used nine players to run the ball, and piled up a season-high 526 yards. Twice, they ran reverses - the first set up a 40-yard touchdown pass to Brent Casteel on the opening drive, the second was a double-reverse that led to the final score - and punter Louie Sakoda picked up 14 yards on his fake punt that led to Utah's second touchdown.
"Just trying to win," offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig said.
The Utes might have felt more threatened had they not answered CSU's third-quarter field goal with an 80-yard drive that ended with Darryl Poston's 14-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 28-16 and basically crush what little life the Rams had left.
"They were pretty good on offense," CSU coach Sonny Lubick said. "They've played some games where they were a little bit shaky, but I thought they played good. Another way you can look at it is, defensively, we couldn't get some stops when we really needed them."
Yeah, but the Utes will pass on that point of view, sticking instead with the whole surge-to-save-the-season thing. It seems to be working for them.
"I want people to doubt us," Ratliff said, "so we can come out and prove that we're a good team."
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Since offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig isn't considered a player, we'll go with Brett Ratliff, who threw for 296 yards (three short of his season high) and two touchdowns. He connected on his first five attempts to help the Utes to a fast start.
PLAY OF THE GAME
The Utes reached deep into their bag of tricks this afternoon, calling a reverse, a double-reverse, a fake punt, and a variety of gimmicks with Eric Weddle under center. We'll go with Louie Sakoda's 14-yard run on a fake punt that set up the Utes' second touchdown for a 14-0 lead.