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Show 1991 IN REVIEW Utah applied for membership to a different league in 1991 and very nearly gained acceptance. No, the Utes didn't try to break ranks with the Western Athletic Conference. They simply wanted to join the postseason bowling league. On final count, Utah's 7-5 record-its best in six years-was probably one pin short of a holiday invitation. The Utes rolled their share of strikes in 1991, however. After opening the season with wins against Utah State at home and Oregon State on the road, Utah came oh-so-close to an upset bid of eventual bowl victor Air Force. On the final drive of the game, quarterback Frank Dolce marched the Utes 53 yards to a first and goal situation on the AFA seven-yard line. After three attempts to punch the ball into the end zone failed, and Chris Yergensen's subsequent field goal attempt was blocked, Air Force escaped with a narrow 24-21 victory. But the strong shot against a perennial power like Air Force opened the bowl scouts' eyes to a Ute team on the rise. They opened wider after Utah knocked down what was a Pac-10 contender at the time, in Oregon (24-17). The next week, although Utah missed a three-game sweep of the Pac-10 after a tough one-touchdown loss at Arizona State (21-15), postseason play remained in the picture. And, seven days later, when head coach Ron McBride's Utes snapped a 19-year losing jinx against Wyoming in Laramie with a 5742 pummeling of the Cowboys, the bowl scouts began reserving space at Utah's home games. The return home brought a 21-16 win over Colorado State. Sophomore tailback Keith Williams, who would finish the season as Utah's first 1000-yard rusher since 1986, rambled for 115 yards. Utah's defense, the nation's laughingstock just two years prior, held its fifth opponent of the season to three touchdowns or less. Yergensen's 54-yard field goal tied the third-longest boot in Ute history. The Wyoming and CSU wins cleared the lanes for a showdown between two teams in the hunt for a piece of the WAC championship- Utah and San Diego State. Both teams entered the game at 5-2, with one league loss. Both were off to their best start in years P a h since 1985, SDSU since 1979). Both were attracting a gallery of bowl scouts. The day featured 157 yards in receptions by all-WAC wideout Bryan Rowley, 316 passing yards and two TDs by Dolce and four sacks by a swarming U. defense. But, after leading for most of the afternoon, Utah lost the final frame and the game, 24-21. As McBride would comment later, "If we'd won either the Air Force or the San Diego State games, I think we would have First-team all-WAC defensive end Jimmy Bellamy led the league in sacks with 15. turned the corner. We made a big jump from our first year, but if we'd done all the little things right, we would have beaten them both and really been on our way." At the time, a holiday game still beckoned, since Utah's three losses were by an average of just four points. Unfortunately, Utah did neither the little nor the big things right the Saturday following its emotion packed loss to San Diego State. As a result, Utah suffered a 52-26 beating by Hawaii, effectively ending its roll toward a bowl. After failing to pick up a spare on the islands, Utah needed to win two of its remaining three games in order to finish above .500. The Utes kept to the ground in the first, and met with great success against New Mexico. Led by Williams' career-best 191 net yards and a 107-yard game by Charlie Brown, Utah rolled to a school-record 478 yards in rushing. The WAC-lead-ing U. defense did its part, too, holding the Lobos to just 277 total yards and one early touchdown. Score it Utah 30, New Mexico 7. Up next, Texas-El Paso, a team which had just dispatched Utah's nemesis Hawaii, 41- 24, in Honolulu. Williams, who went on to second-team all-WAC notoriety, again found plenty of open lanes, and romped to 142 yards. But this was a defensive battle. Time and again, Utah's defense held in a 10-9 win. With the win came a loss, however. Quarterback Dolce, who had taken every snap of the season, broke his ankle on a broken play and left the field on a stretcher. The Utes, minus their accomplished signal caller, would close their season on a losing note against bowl-bound Brigham Young. The 1991 scoresheet looked plenty good, though, despite the dashed bowl dreams. Four Utes (Bryan Rowley, Jimmy Bellamy, Anthony Davis and LaVon Edwards) earned first-team all-WAC honors-the most Utes picked since 1984. Rowley was named a second- team All-America wide receiver by The Sporting News. Another five Utes gathered second-team all-WAC honors (Mike DeHoog, Keith Williams, Dave Chaytors, Keith Embray and Reggie Alston). Led by the WAC's total defense leader, the Utes ended a decade of sub-,500 road woes, going 3-3 in away games. Utah's fourth-place WAC finish was its best in four years. In just his second year as Ute coach, McBride led the Utes away from the WAC gutter and into bowl contention. |
