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Show ro utah bowl history ute bowl history UTAH IN THE BOWLS (3-2) 1938 1964 1992 1993 1994 SUN BOWL UTAH 26, NEW MEXICO 0 LIBERTY BOWL UTAH 32, WEST VIRGINIA 6 WEISER LOCK COPPER BOWL WASHINGTON STATE 31, UTAH 28 FREEDOM BOWL SOUTHERN CAL 28, UTAH 21 FREEDOM BOWL UTAH 16, ARIZONA 13 1938 SUN BOWL RECAP EL PASO, Texas-Predicted as the most even match-up of the 1938 bowl season, Utah blasted the forecasters and New Mexico, 26-0, on Jan. 2. Utah, the old Big Seven champion, struck early. Tom Pace capped a 58-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown run off a lateral from Ray Davis midway through the first quarter. With a minute remaining in the period, Ray Peterson intercepted a Lobo pass on the Ute 40-yard line and returned it for a second score. Peterson crossed the goal line again in the second quarter, on a fourth-down, 1-yard plunge. New Mexico's highly-touted aerial attack never advanced past Utah's 40-yard line. As for the Utes, halfback Clarence Gehrke finished their scoring with a 10-yard foot race. New Mexico, co-champion of the old Border League, gained just 153 yards of total offense to Utah's 366. The Lobos picked up 59 yards by air to Utah's 18, but were intercepted four times. Utah 14 6 0 6. New Mexico 0 0 0 0. .23 .. 0 UU-Pace 15 run (McGarry kick) UU-Peterson 60 interception return (McGarry kick) UU-Peterson 1 run (kick failed) UU-Gehrke 10 run (kick failed) 1964 LIBERTY BOWL RECAP ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.-Utah never trailed in its 32-6 victory over West Virginia in the 1964 Liberty Bowl-the first indoor major bowl game ever held. A national television audience and 6,059 fans in the Convention Center watched Utah jump to a 3-0 lead on a 29-yard field goal by All-American Roy Jefferson. Jefferson, who also booted a 32-yard field goal, left the game in the first half after separating his shoulder. But Utah had plenty of firepower left. Halfback Ron Coleman sprinted 53 yards for a touchdown on a day that saw him lead all rushers with 154 rushing yards. Andy Ireland added another long TD dash for the Utes-his went for 47 yards-while quarterback Pokey Allen contributed an 11 -yard touchdown run. The Ute offense, featuring a two-quarterback attack, closed its scoring with a 33-yard touchdown strike from Richard Groth to Bill Morley. In all, the Utes totalled 466 yards of offense. The Utah defense did its job, as well, holding the Mountaineers scoreless until the waning minutes of the third quarter. West Virginia's Allen McCune hooked up with receiver Rich Juriga with 5:30 to play for the Mountaineers' sole touchdown. Utah's backfield intercepted five McCune passes. F R E E D O M BOWL C H A M P I O NS ^ I ^ mf m The Liberty Bowl win capped a 9-2 season for coach Ray Nagel and the Utes. It would stand as the most wins ever by a Ute team for 30 years. Utah 3 16 6 7. West Virginia 0 0 6 0. LIBERTY BOWL STATISTICS Utah First Downs 25 . Rushing Yardage 323 . Passing 143 . Passes 11-23 . Intercepted by 4 . Punts 1-43 . Fumbles lost 3 . Yards penalized 61 . West Virginia 12 105 123 13-28 0 4-25 1 29 Scoring Summary UU-Jefferson 29 field goal UU-Allen 11 run (Jefferson kick) UU-Jefferson 32 field goal UU-Coleman 53 run (pass failed) UU-Ireland 47 run (run failed) WV-Clegg 6 pass from McCune (pass failed) UU-Morley 33 pass from Groth (Pullman kick) .32 ,. 6 Team Statistics Utah Washington State First Downs 20 28 Net Rushing 39-179 41-144 Passing 40-21-0 48-32-1 Passing Yards 316 492 Total Offense 79-495 89-636 Fumbles 3-1 4-2 Penalties 7-55 18-136 Interceptions 1-9 0-0 Punting 6-43.0 6-36.5 Return Yards 90 60 Time of Possession 30:08 29:52 Sacks By 2-11 1-8 Individual Leaders Rushing (Att-Yds-TD) Utah: K. Williams 13-112-1, Jones 11-43-1. WSU: Wright-Fair 27-123-2. Passing (Att-Comp-I-Yds-TD) Utah: Dolce 40-21-0-316-2. WSU: Bledsoe 46-30-1-476-2, Pattison 2-2-0-16- 0. Receiving (Rec-Yds-TD) Utah: S. Williams 7-127-1, Hooks 5-75-0. WSU: Bobo 7-212-2, Davis 8-134-0, Pointer 5-73-0. Kickoff Returns Utah: Lusk 1-25, Jones 2-23. WSU: Hunter 3-55. Punt Returns Utah: S. Williams 3-17. WSU: Hunter 2-(-2). Utah Defensive Leaders: Tackles: Swanson 9, Leary 9, Tonga 8. Sacks: Lambert 1-6, Christensen 1-5. 1992 WEISER LOCK COPPER BOWL RECAP TUCSON, Ariz.-In the early going, Utah played the part of a team that hadn't "gone bowling" for 28 years. The uptight Utes spotted favored Washington State a 21 -0 lead just one quarter into the Weiser Lock Copper Bowl. But the Utes became acclimated to postseason play in the second and third quarters, when they put 28 points on the board, while holding the Cougars to one second-quarter TD. Frank Dolce hit Sean Williams for Utah's first score, a 10-yard pass play. Six minutes later, Keith Williams scampered into pay dirt from 25 yards out to narrow the gap to 21-14. After a 48-yard touchdown pass by Washington State's Drew Bledsoe, Dolce countered with a 49-yard strike to Henry Lusk, who plucked the ball from his defender's hands in a leaping end zone catch. An 8-yard TD rush by Pierre Jones tied the score and a successful two-point conversion from Dolce to Scott Murry tied at things up at 28, but only for 20 seconds. Washington State responded with 22-yard field to take a 31-28 lead. Utah's Chris Yergensen's 20-yard field goal attempt with 3:19 remaining in the game went wide left and the Utes came up short. Utah Washington State .... .... 0 ...21 14 7 14 0 0 3 21 31 Scoring Summary WS-Wright-Fair 3 run (Price kick) 13:25, 1st WS-Bobo 87 pass from Bledsoe (Price kick) 10:32,1st WS-Wright-Fair 3 run (Price kick) 1:20, 1st UU-S. Williams 10 pass from Dolce (Yergensen kick) 9:35, 2nd UU-K. Williams 25 rush (Yergensen kick) 2:51, 2nd WS-Bobo 48 pass from Bledsoe (Price kick) 0:31, 2nd UU-Lusk 49 pass from Dolce (Yergensen kick) 8:49, 3rd UU-Jones 8 rush (pass good, Murry) 5:25, 3rd WS-Price 22 FG, 5:08, 4th Henry Lusk was named offensive MVP of the 1993 Freedom Bowl for his 6-catch, 140-yard, 1-TD night. 1993 FREEDOM BOWL RECAP ANAHEIM-On paper, the Freedom Bowl match-up looked mismatched- the tri-champion of the powerful Pacific-10 Conference (Southern California) against the Western Athletic Conference's fourth-place finisher (Utah). On the field-for two quarters-the pairing looked even worse. Then Utah came alive. When USC jumped to a 28-0 halftime lead, Utah appeared headed for a lopsided loss. Offense? The Utes managed just 101 yards of total offense and failed to cross midfield in the first 1 9 9 5 U T A H F O O T B A LL ute bowl history half. Defense? The Utes gave up 296 yards and four touchdowns. Over? No way. Led by eventual Freedom Bowl Offensive MVP Henry Lusk, the Utes charged back to within a touchdown of the Trojans, with the ball and a chance to win at the end. Lusk caught six second-half passes for 140 yards and a 59-yard touchdown to help the Utes climb within seven (28-21). In the meantime, Utah's defense slammed the door on USC's vaunted offense-holding the Trojans scoreless in the second half. Junior defensive end Luther Elliss had a huge game for the Utes, with five tackles for lost yardage, two sacks (12 yards) and two pass breakups. Former Trojan Adam Swaney had a career day as a Ute, with four tackles for loss and three sacks (16 yards). Quarterback Mike McCoy's Hail Mary pass with 0:08 was picked off as time ran out, averting Utah's upset bid. Utah Southern California. .. 0 .20 0 8 13 0 8 0 21 28 Scoring Summary SC-Morton 31 pass from Johnson (Ford kick) 12:23,1st SC-Morton 9 pass from Johnson (Ford kick) 8:45,1st SC-Dotson 2 run (kick failed) 4:10,1st SC-McWilliams 5 pass from Johnson (pass good) 13:34, 2nd UU-Henry Lusk 59 pass from McCoy (Yergensen kick) 11:08, 3rd UU-Anderson 34 run (kick failed) 4:28, 3rd UU-Williams 1 run (pass good to Anderson) 3:26, 4th Team Statistics Utah Southern Cal First Downs 17 20 Net Rushing 64 91 Passing 40-23-3 44-30-1 Passing Yards 286 345 Total Offense 350 436 Fumbles 2-0 2-1 Penalties 5-51 10-96 Interceptions 1-22 3-0 Punting 8-34.1 6-36.7 Punt Returns 3-28 1-31 Kickoff Returns 1-20 3-68 Time of Possession 27:45 32:14 Third Down Conversions 4-14 9-19 Sacks By 5-28 5-37 Individual Leaders Rushing (Att-Yds-TD) Utah: Anderson 16-67-1, Williams 1-1-1, Jones 1-9-0. USC: Walters 19-70-0, Strother 9-50-0, Dotson 3-7-1. Passing (Att-Comp-I-Yds-TD) Utah: McCoy 40-23-3-286-1. USC: Johnson 44-30-1-345-3. Receiving (Rec-Yds-TD) Utah: Henry Lusk 6-140-1, Anderson 7-61-0, Claiborne 3-42-0, Rowley 2-18- 0. USC: Morton 10-147-2, Strother 6-63-0, Grave 4-48-0, McWilliams 2-17-1. Kickoff Returns Utah: Jones 1-20. USC: Grace 2-45, Dotson 1-23. Punt Returns Utah: Henry Lusk 3-28. USC: Grace 1-31. Utah Defensive Leaders: Tackles: Boyd 10, Rexford 10, Elliss 9. Sacks: Elliss 2-12, Swaney 16. Interceptions: Rexford 1-22 Touchdown! Mike McCoy unloads the game-winning touchdown pass on his way to the turf at the 1994 Freedom Bowl. McCoy's fourth-down- and-goal heave to freshman Kevin Dyson gave Utah a 16-13 win over Arizona. F R E E D O M BOWL C H A M P I O NS • ute bowl history 1994 FREEDOM BOWL RECAP ANAHEIM-In certainly one of the most remarkable ratios of points per yardage, Utah won the Freedom Bowl over Arizona, 16-13, despite accumulating just 75 net yards against Arizona's famed Desert Swarm defense. Utah, which managed just five first downs and six rushing yards all night, seemed doomed to its second straight Freedom Bowl defeat when quarterback Mike McCoy found himself in the clasp of a Wildcat defender on fourth-and-goal. But McCoy made a desperation heave on his way to the ground, and freshman Kevin Dyson streaked through a crowd of Wildcats to make a game-winning catch with 3:34 left. Ironically, the hero's mantle and the game MVP award went to neither of the above. True freshman Cal Beck, who in Utah's final regular season game against BYU set up the winning touchdown with a sensational kickoff return, topped that feat this day. Beck took the Wildcat kickoff 72 yards to the Ute 5-yard-line with 4:00 minutes remaining. A gutsy effort by the Ute defense also played a big role in Utah's first bowl victory in 20 years. Though overshadowed by Arizona's total domination of Utah's offense, the U. defenders limited Arizona to two field goals and a touchdown. The Wildcats gained only 184 total yards against the Luther Elliss-led Ute defense and converted on just 3-of-13 third down attempts. The Pac-10's runner-up failed to score in the second and third quarters and its sole The Kaufusi brothers celebrate after helping Utah to victory at the 1994 Freedom TD came in the first quarter. Bowl. From left: Henry (defensive tackle), Steve (coach) and Jeff (defensive end). Utah...... Arizona. .16 .13 Team Statistics Utah Arizona First Downs 5 14 Net Rushing 32-6 37-45 Passing 25-11-2 27-13-1 Passing Yards 69 139 Total Offense 57-75 64-184 Fumbles 0-0 2-2 Penalties 9-94 4-35 Interceptions 1-26 2-15 Punting 10-41.0 6-36.8 Punt Returns 2-6 4-28 Kickoff Returns 5-173 3-59 Time of Possession 27:33 32:27 Third Down Conversions 3-15 3-13 Sacks By 2-16 6-45 Individual Leaders Rushing (Att-Yds-TD) Utah: McCoy 7-(-42)-0, Brown 16-44-1, Johnson 4-6-0. Arizona: Carter 19- 44-0, Myles 9-12-0, Taylor 2-11-0. Passing (Att-Comp-I-Yds-TD) Utah: McCoy 25-11-2-69-1. Arizona: White 27-13-1-139-1. Receiving (Rec-Yds-TD) Utah: Dyson 2-8-1, Marsh 3-25-0, Tucker 4-28-0. Arizona: Carter 2-24-1, Dice 6-61-0. Kickoff Returns Utah: Beck 3-140, Lawson 1-31. Arizona: Taylor 1-19, Carter 1-22. Punt Returns Utah: Marsh 2-6. Arizona: Wray 4-28. Utah Defensive Leaders: Tackles: Lusk 9, Leary 6, Stapley 6, H. Kaufusi 6, Elliss 6. Sacks: Elliss 1-7, J. Kaufusi 1-9. Interceptions: Lusk 1-26. Mark Rexford, shown here returning an interception at the 1993 Freedom Bowl, started at linebacker for both Utah Freedom Bowl teams. 1 9 9 5 U T A H F O O T B A LL A, |
