Utes: Defense shows improvement in run defense

[IE]

After allowing an average of 213.5 rushing yards a game in the first four contests, the Utes' defense is giving up an average of just 74.7 rushing yards in its last three games.
The Utes are crediting UNLV running back Frank Summers for spurring their improvement.
Summers embarrassed Utah's defense running for 190 yards on 29 carries in the Rebels' 27-0 win over the Utes. Afterward, UNLV coach Mike Sanford was quoted as saying the Utes were afraid to tackle Summers.
Those comments showed up in the Utes' locker room, said right end Greg Newman.
"We took it personally," he said.
The Utes face another on Thursday against Texas Christian. The Horned Frogs rank fifth in the conference averaging 227.4 passing yards and are seventh averaging 134.3 rushing yards.
However, like the Utes, the Frogs' rushing game has improved in recent games. The Frogs have averaged 156.8 rushing yards in their last three games and are 4-0 when averaging 142 rushing yards or more.
Preseason MWC Offensive Player of the Year Aaron Brown hurt his knee in the season opener and missed the following two games, but has been in the lineup since. He is averaging 5.3 yards a carry and is coming off a 91-yard, two-touchdown performance in the Frogs' 38-36 win over Stanford.



"He makes them a lot better," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.




Pin it

Louie Sakoda had two punts downed inside the 20 against San Diego State, making 17 of 40 downed inside the 20 this year, and is 69-of-153 for his career.
His foot has helped the Utes give their opponents an average field position starting on their 29-yard line, while the Utes average starting position is their 33-yard line.
However, it's an area the Utes could improve in if they are able to corral more balls before they slip into the end zone. Twice against the Aztecs, Sakoda put the ball inside the 5-yard line and it scooted past Utes into the end zone.
"It's more difficult than it looks to get the ball down inside the one," Whittingham said. "We do a good job, not great, but it's still a work in progress, and it's still one of the things we do better than most teams."

Props to him

Freshman left guard Caleb Schlauderaff continues to excel since joining the starting lineup for the last four games. He tied his personal best with five knockdowns against San Diego State. He also has earned the respect of veterans including right tackle Dustin Hensel.
"When I saw him jogging on the field [against UCLA] I said, 'OK, this is going to go good or bad, and it went great. The kid stepped up and had the best game of everybody. When he came in the locker room he said, 'I can't believe I just did that,' and I was like, 'Well, me either.' He has been huge for us."




On Thursdays

The Utes like Thursday games because of the national TV exposure, but it has put them in a time crunch to prepare, Whittingham said. It also puts extra demand on the players and their academics.
"If I had my druthers, we'd have the least amount of Thursday games as possible," Whittingham said. "But it's good exposure though for the program because it's one of the few games on TV and is a good recruiting tool."

 

[Lee]

What does everyone think of this game? This line stinks in my opinion!!

 

[IE]

TCU, Utah face matchup in unexpected situation

By AUSTIN WARD
Star-Tribune staff writer

It's still an important game.

Just not for any of the reasons most everybody expected.

A meeting that was supposed to help crown a conference champion is now little more than an unofficial elimination game.

Two teams accustomed to making regular postseason appearances likely have any hope of playing in a bowl this December on the line on Thursday night.

Regardless of the circumstances -- injuries, inexperienced quarterback play or pesky uprights -- this isn�t what TCU or Utah had in mind.

"I don't think a team will win the conference with three losses," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "I think the team that loses the ball game will be out of it."

The Horned Frogs and Utes might already be out of it with two disappointing losses apiece, and both currently appear to be on the outside of the league's bowl picture.

BYU is still undefeated and riding a record-setting 11-game win streak in the conference, and the Cougars have established themselves as the clear favorites to repeat as league champs in the process.

Surprising Air Force, with its front-loaded schedule and no-nonsense new coach, has already won four league games and has just two left on the docket after Saturday's with Wyoming.

Throw in the Cowboys and New Mexico -- the team that demolished UW last week -- as the four leading candidates to chase down the crown and the bowl bids, and that leaves little wiggle room for supposed powers TCU and Utah when they tangle in Texas.

Not that Patterson or Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is willing to call it a "must-win" game just yet.

"I don't think you ever say that and make it a bigger game during the season," Whittingham said. "You can go back after the season�s over and look back and say that a game was a pivotal and made a difference, but as you go through the season, I think you just treat each game as a huge game.

"We do, and we take them one at a time."

Looking back already, the Air Force loss at home and the bust in Las Vegas stand out as the pivotal losses for the Utes.

The Horned Frogs ran into an upright in Laramie and threw their way out of a win at Air Force. The loss left TCU lumped in with the Utes, UNLV and winless Colorado State in the bottom half of the league standings.

It couldn't be much further from where they expected to be heading into this week, but the game still holds a shred of relevance.

"The thing then you�re playing for is to get yourself into a bowl game," Patterson said. "I always look for the positive.

"What I do is turn my attention to being the spoiler and try to get yourself in a position where you can be the spoiler. Get to seven, eight or nine wins and make it hectic for everybody else. You always change your direction, change your goals and find a way to go out and play hard."

Really, they�re just trying to find some importance.

There won�t be much left for the loser.

SO LONG, SONNY?: He didn't really back off his statement, but Sonny Lubick expressed some surprise about how much attention it's received.

The longtime Colorado State coach said earlier this week he�d consider retiring at the end of the season, and with the Rams mired in a 13-game losing streak, there's not much else to talk about.

"That thing, I can't believe people are getting so darn excited about all this," Lubick said. "I'm not on the hot seat here with the losses, but I�ll talk to some people at the end of the season and see where it goes from there."

The sentiment around the league was unanimous that it should go far, with virtually every coach paying respects to the dean of the Mountain West Conference and some even perhaps trying to sway his decision.

"I think the coaching profession would miss Sonny if he decided it was time to go," New Mexico coach Rocky Long said."I sure hope he doesn't. He's been one of the great coaches and meant a lot to our league.

"Only Sonny knows if it's time."

WILD WEEKEND: It's the first version of Separation Saturday -- and Thursday -- in the league.

Even, perhaps especially, in the basement.

League favorites turned also-rans TCU and Utah meet Thursday night in a battle of greatly failed expectations, with the loser likely out of the bowl and championship pictures.

Neither Colorado State or UNLV were expected to be there at all, so at least that meeting on Las Vegas will live up to the lack of hype.

They've combined for two wins -- both by UNLV -- and Rebels coach Mike Sanford made it clear that both teams should be in panic mode if they aren't already.

"There are two teams that are in desperate need of a win," he said. "At least I'll speak for myself and our team, we are.

"We've got a big challenge ahead, and we've got to find a way to get a win."

ON A ROLL: The Lobos have won six straight against San Diego State, which is almost as many times as Rocky Long declined to talk about the recent edge he's had over the Aztecs.

"I didn"t know that," Long said. "We don�t live in the past around here.'

Hopefully the Aztecs don�t either. New Mexico has won five straight in San Diego.

BUMPS AND BRUISES: UW coach Joe Glenn said linebackers Mike Juergens and Weston Johnson would both miss Saturday�s game at Air Force with right knee sprains.

Senior wide receiver Michael Ford is expected to play with his sprained right shoulder.

 

[IE]

Team looks forward to break; focus remains on Thurs. game



A tired group of Frogs must make it through a Thursday night conference game before getting 16 days off between games, head coach Gary Patterson said at his weekly media luncheon Tuesday.

Following its matchup against Utah, TCU gets its first break of the season with 16 days off until its next game against New Mexico.

Patterson said his team is fatigued.

"We've been a tired football team," Patterson said. "A tired football team equals injuries, and we have to find a way on a short week to get things done."

Senior free safety David Roach said the team was tired, but it should be expected at this point in the season.

"Everybody in the country is tired right now," Roach said. "I don't think there's anything that we're dealing with that anybody else isn't dealing with."

Redshirt freshman quarterback Andy Dalton said he is looking forward to the break, but the team is not going to lose concentration on the game ahead.

"I definitely think the two weeks off are going to help us out," Dalton said. "We've been playing through this stretch that we've had, and we're just focusing on this game and hopefully end it with a win and get a really nice 16-day break."

This marks the third season in a row the two teams will meet on a Thursday - every year TCU has been a member of the Mountain West Conference.

As a result of TV obligations, the teams keep facing each other Thursday instead of the traditional Saturday.

This will be TCU's second Thursday game this season with one more coming Nov. 8 against BYU.

Patterson said the pressure to move games to Thursday is due to financial reasons.

"It always comes down to money," Patterson said. "We're doing it for whatever our contract is with CSTV."

Patterson said his view on TV varies with the record of his team.

"When you're winning, TV is great," Patterson said. "When you're losing, it's not so great."

No matter what the circumstances, Patterson said the team that plays harder is going to win.

This game could be the end to one of the team's hopes for a conference championship. Both teams currently have two losses in the conference, and a third one would likely vanquish any hope of winning it.

"You're not going to win the conference with three losses," Patterson said. "I don't think you put yourself in the situation."

In the past three seasons, the conference champion has gone undefeated in conference play.

BYU, last season's conference champion, remains the only team unbeaten in conference play at 3-0.

Saturday's 38-36 win at Stanford was TCU's first on the road, and Patterson said playing without unnecessary penalties was a big reason.

"You see what happens with our offense when you don't put yourself at second and 20 - how much easier it is to move down the field?," Patterson said. "When you don't hurt yourself, when you're only playing your defense, you're not playing yourself. You give yourself the chance to be successful."

 

[IE]

Exhaustion has put Frogs into survival mode

By JEFF WILSON
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

A regular observer of TCU practices entered the Sam Baugh Indoor Practice Facility on Tuesday and headed straight to the offense's half of the field.

Within those 40 yards, he said, is where he would find the Horned Frogs unit that didn't need much help.

That's the good 38 points at Stanford can do. Or, conversely, the damage 36 points allowed to the Cardinal has temporarily done to a defense that otherwise has a splendid reputation.

TCU is hardly troubled defensively, but the Frogs aren't what they were last season or early on in 2007. In allowing 60 points and 402 rushing yards the past two games, some of what ails the unit has been exposed.

Fortunately, a much-needed open week awaits. With time to mend and rest ahead, the defense plans to leave nothing in reserve Thursday against Utah.

"Everybody in the country is tired right now," senior safety David Roach said. "We've got to pull through, pull together as a team and try to play the best football we can possibly play no matter what the situation is."

Gary Patterson said Tuesday that he is coaching a tired and bruised team beset by injuries and some inexperience. The defense has been on the field for 528 plays, which is up from 431 through six games last season.

Some of that relates to rules changes that affect the game clock and an offense that at times has struggled to sustain drives. Some, though, is also tied to an unusual week in August when starting defensive tackle James Vess was suspended for the season and defensive end Tommy Blake first started to suffer from an undisclosed illness.

Patterson conceded that the loss of Vess has been as hurtful to the defense, if not more so, than Blake's absence.

True freshman Kelly Griffin and redshirt Cory Grant have played well in spurts, but some opponents have seen opportunity inside in Vess' absence.

"Cody Moore, a junior who starts at defensive tackle, said nose tackles Griffin and Grant have done more in their first season than he could have.

"We all make mistakes, but they've limited them a lot," Moore said. "The way they've produced is amazing to me. They have improving to do, but for freshmen they're really good guys."

But Patterson said he has had to commit more players to stuffing the run, and that has left cornerbacks to play more man coverage. The most recent result, against Stanford, was three pass plays of at least 28 yards.

The end is in sight, though. The Frogs say they just need to survive Thursday.

"It's definitely not acceptable by our standards," junior linebacker Jason Phillips said. "Everybody's a little tired. But we know we've just got to push through and get this win."

Receiver suspended
Gary Patterson said wide receiver Walter Bryant has been suspended indefinitely after the junior was arrested last week.

Bryant was charged with assault with bodily injury to a family member after his wife alleged that Bryant slapped her in the face, arm and leg after an argument at his apartment last Wednesday, according to a police report. Bryant denied slapping her face and arm, and said he slapped his wife's leg only after she started to wave her hands in his face.

Also, Patterson said redshirt freshman wideout Clint Renfro is out for the season with an Achilles' tendon injury.