Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • Page E09

Zone: 1S PAGE: E9 Typesetter: GUSS50BQueue: 68 Date: 22:58 Plate: CMYK CMYK THEHARTFORDCOURANT SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER4, 2005 E9 NEW HAVEN not the size of the players at the college level that surprised Mike McLeod. And not the offensive schemes, intricate as they are. the speed that surprised the Yale freshman from New Britain. is faster than I McLeod said Saturday. surprised me.

I expected to break away like Idid in high school. not going to Someday, it may. In 29-16 scrimmage victory over Princeton at Yale Bowl 17-10 before starters were replaced at halftime McLeod touched the ball seven times and finished with 82 total yards. In this, his first test against outside competition, he returned the opening kickoff 32 yards. On his first play from scrimmage, he rushed for 20.

On his first reception, he gained 13. He scored first touchdown on a 4-yard run. know Mike can play Yale coach Jack Siedlecki said. know he can run the ball at tailback. biggest thing in the next two weeks is his pass blocking.

We want him to feel confident he can pick up the McLeod, 5 feet 11, 200 pounds, rose on the Yale depth chart last week when senior tailback David Knox was diagnosed with a neurological disorder that will probably end his college career. is only 12 days into Siedlecki said. have to put him in situations where he is 100 percent comfortable with everything he does. not going to make him understand everything we do in one preseason. We ask him to do things he understand.

We ask him to do too McLeod shared first-half running chores with junior Jordan Spence, who gained 32 yards on eight carries as Yale outgained the Tigers, 350-168. Quarterback Jeff Mroz completed 12 of 18 passes for 158 yards, four to Alex Faherty for 60. Senior running back Tyler Wells of Haddam scored twice, once on a 65-yard deflected pass from third-string quarterback Ryan Fodor of Madison. hoped to learn what we could do, and we got the ball in a lot of Siedlecki said. lot of guys made plays, and what we wanted.

was pleased with our offense. We did some things we might not do in games to see what the kids could do. Defensively, we were a little slow, a little sluggish at the start. It was like getting your sea legs. They moved the ball easily in the first quarter.

We shut them down in the By then, McLeod had nearly a half of blitz experience. blitz schemes, picking McLeod said. starting to understand it better. done anything in college yet, so I feel I have to prove myself. I feel any He said it was nice to get his first test against outside competition behind him.

I build up to do what I do on the practice field and then to do it here on my first play, it gives me he said. First Yale Exhibition Of Talents By TOMMY HINE COURANT STAFF WRITER SEASON OPENER: SEPT. 17, AT SAN DIEGO, 4:30 P.M. MCLEOD Scores TD in scrimmage WORCESTER Steve Silva ran for three touchdowns, caught atouchdown pass and threw a pair of scoring passes as Holy Cross opened its season with a 56-21 victory over Sacred Heart Saturday. Both of touchdown passes were to quarterback John who completed 15 of 21 passes for 215 yards and two TDs.

Sacred Heart (0-1) jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first 4:35 of the game on Ed 1-yard run and Tyler 14-yard touchdown pass to Joey Henley. But the Crusaders responded with 49 unanswered points. Silva rushed for 85 yards on 15 carries. Pricolo led Sacred Heart with 91 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. Holy Cross Beats Sacred Heart Associated Press STATE LYNCHBURG, Va.

Marcus Hamilton ran for 138 yards and scored twice to lead Liberty to a17-6 victory over Concord Saturday. Liberty, a Division I-AA school playing its opener at home, is next opponent, Sept. 10 at Rentschler Field. UConn opened Thursday with a 38-0 victory over Buffalo. Division II Concord (0-2) jumped to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on Ryan 3-yard pass to Dustin Greenwood.

The extra point was blocked. Liberty was held scoreless in the first half, but scored in the third quarter on Brock 47- yard pass to Hamilton, who later scored on an 18- yard run in the fourth. Zacry Kolegue closed the scoring with a 27-yard field goal. Farrel finished 9 of 22 for 147 yards with no interceptions. Pimentel finished 10 of 24 for 122 yards with no interceptions.

On the ground, Con- James Tunstalle carried 19 times for 53 yards. Liberty was 6-5 last season and has never played UConn. Liberty is the only I-AA team on schedule. The opponents this season include Youngstown State, William Mary and VMI. Their coach, Ken Karcher, is in his sixth season with a record of 21-36.

Rushing Leads Flames Associated Press NEXT FOR UCONN: LIBERTY LIBERTY 17 CONCORD 6 Tracking Opponents Home games (in capital letters) at Rentschler Field, East Hartford DateOpponentVs. UConnW-LThis weekend Sept. 1BUFFALOL, 38-00-1Lost to UConn 38-0 Thursday Sept. 10 LIBERTY 1-0 Def. Concord, 17-6 Sept.

17At Georgia Tech0-0At Auburn, late Oct. 1 At Army 0-0 Idle Oct. West Virginia today Oct. 15 1-0 Beat E. Michigan 28-26 Thursday Oct.

to Illinois, 33-30 Nov. 2 At West 0-0 At Syracuse today Nov. 12At Notre Dame, late Nov. 26 SOUTH 0-1 Lost at Penn State, 23-13 Dec. Kentucky today East opponent PROVO, Utah Even the high altitude slow Boston Will Blackmon.

Blackmon caught eight passes for 100 yards, returned a kickoff and a punt and even played defensive back Saturday in Boston 20-3 victory over Brigham Young. run all day in practice, so used to he said. adrenaline was flowing so I felt like I get The Eagles became the first team to beat the Cougars in a season opener since Florida State in 2000, but BYU lost for the 11th straight time against a ranked opponent. BYU stop the short passing game, as Quinton Porter completed 27 of 35 passes to 10 receivers. kept sitting Blackmon said.

run a deep route when just sitting there? just common Porter passed for 232 yards and two touchdowns in his first game in nearly two years. He sat out last season after injuring a hand late in 2003 and losing his starting job to Paul Peterson. Porter said a few throws sailed on him, but for the most part he was on target to lead the Eagles to 365 yards of offense. was having so much Porter said. putting as much pressure on myself as I did a couple of years John Beck completed 41 of 60 for 330 yards all but 8 of the yards.

The Eagles sacked him twice. Mathias Kiwanuka broke up two passes and had five tackles despite being double-teamed the entire game. just prepared for a lot of things. But we knew they were going to throw the ball regardless of which route that they Kiwanuka said. While BYU seemed to rediscover the short pass in the first game under coach Bronco Mendenhall and offensive coordinator Robert Anae, the defense could never quite figure it out.

BC kept BYU off balance on a 12-play, 80-yard drive that put the Eagles up 17-3 on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 4-yard pass from Porter to Chris Miller. BC converted on three third downs during the drive, including a short pass Blackmon turned into a 25-yard play. Blackmon, who started at cornerback last season, also returned a punt 24 yards Saturday. touchdown to start the final quarter seemed to sap the 58,180 fans. It was a frustrating start for Mendenhall, the defensive coordinator who was promoted after Gary Crowton resigned following third straight losing season.

BYU was called for 10 penalties and dropped several passes. have plenty to improve Mendenhall said. Full Day For Blackmon Has 8 Catches, Also Plays Defense And Special Teams Associated Press BC 20 BYU 3 COLLEGE FOOTBALL COLUMBUS, The United States is headed to next World Cup in Germany after beating Mexico 2-0 Saturday thanks to goals by Steve Ralston and DaMarcus Beasley five minutes apart in the second half. The quick strikes, after a sloppy, chippy first half, lifted the U.S. into the 32-team tournament with three games to spare.

It was the first time since 1934 that the U.S. was the first team into the World Cup for North and Central America and the Caribbean. also the fifth straight World Cup appearance for the U.S., which is ranked sixth in the world, one spot behind Mexico. The victory avenged a 2-1 loss in Mexico City in March and gave goalie Kasey Keller his 50th career victory for the national team. The United States has not lost to Mexico on U.S.

soil since 1999, and has not yielded any goals in that span, either. On both U.S. scores, Mexico seemed confused who should be where on set plays. Eddie floating free kick was headed by Ogu- chi Onyewu, who at 6 feet 4 soared over the smallish, befuddled defense. His shot hit the goalpost and bounded into the air directly to the unguarded Ralston for his second career international goal.

That woke up the flag-waving, red- white-and-blue clad U.S. fans, who began pounding the bleachers with their feet. The noise seemed to further unnerve the visitors, and they were out of position on a short U.S. corner kick. The ball came to Claudio Reyna and the unmarked U.S.

captain fed an equally wide-open Beasley. His twisting left-footed kick soared over goalie Oswaldo Sanchez. From there, it was a matter of getting Keller his fifth straight shutout in qualifying. He extended his scoreless streak to 507 minutes. The U.S.

is 6-1 in the final qualifying round, and most of the regulars will be excused from game at Guatemala. Mexico (5-1-1) still needs another point in its final three games to make Germany 2006. At the final whistle, most of the 24,685 fans chanted as several players ran off the bench wrapped in U.S. flags. The strong U.S.

showing in the second half helped ease the ugliness of the first 45 minutes, in which neither team threatened until the final minute. Keller needed to make a diving hand save on Ramon free kick in injury time. Reyna drew a first-half yellow card, meaning he will be suspended for game, but with the U.S. already qualified, Reyna have played anyway. U.S.

defender Gregg Berhalter also drew a yellow and is in the same situation. U.S. Earns World Cup Berth Associated Press SOCCER EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.— Ante Razov scored on a direct free kick with two minutes remaining in regulation, rallying the MetroStars to a 2-2 tie with the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night. Razov, sidelined for three weeks after undergoing hernia surgery, entered the game as a substitute and, after Youri Djorkaeff was brought down outside the penalty area, beat Wizards goalkeeper Bo Oshoniyi. Razov scored his seventh goal of the season and his sixth since joining the MetroStars in June.

The MetroStars (8-7-10) extended their home unbeaten streak to 10 games and kept the playoff hopes alive. The Wizards (11-6-9) scored in the opening minute when rookie Ryan Pore got behind the defense and scored on a soft liner past Tony Meola. The MetroStars tied the score in the 27th minute when Youri Djor- kaeff scored his seventh goal off a pass from Amado Guevara. Kansas City took a 2-1 lead on Josh goal in the 51st minute. MetroStars Rally To Tie Wizards Associated Press MLS HAMILTON, N.Y.

Friday night in the hotel, Central Connecticut senior Derek Pearson was chatting to a teammate about his life as a kicker and how he had never been in position to win a game. He said he was due. Be careful what you wish for. 32-yard field goal with 1 second left gave the Blue Devils a 24-22 victory over Colgate Saturday in a season opener before 4,629 at Andy Kerr Stadium. Colgate had won 17 in a row at home.

Pearson kicked four field goals in five attempts, including a career-best 48- yarder. He also missed two conversion kicks (one was blocked). Colgate called two timeouts before the winning kick. know a kicker is a pressure Pearson said. tried to ice me, but I paying any Luckily for him, he notice the snap was high.

Pearson was put in that position after Colgate took the lead, 22-21, on Mike 27-yard field goal with 27 seconds left, capping a 15-play, 74-yard drive. Central, starting on its 20-yard line, had a bad start. Quarterback Tim Sheard was sacked and lost 5 yards. There were 18 seconds left. Central set up a play with three receivers on the right side.

the defense was overflowing to the Sheard said. So the sophomore from Syracuse, in his first varsity start, made a move toward the left and noticed wide receiver Steve Bergeski, the backside outlet in case something went wrong, wide open along the left sideline at the Central 40. high, floating pass found its mark. Bergeski caught it, spun and headed across the field toward the right sideline. saw our three receivers starting to put up a Bergeski said.

While he started to gain attention from the Colgate defenders, he had another problem: time. He noticed the clock showed 3 secondsleft and headed out of bounds at the Colgate 15, finishing a wild 70-yard play. was yelling at him to get out of Sheard said. know he hear Central coach Tom Masella has been saying that Sheard is a special player. is going to make plays we Masella said.

not going to do things On the Blue previous four possessions they make a first down and gave up field position and the lead. But not for long. just had a letdown in the last 18 said Colgate coach Dick Biddle, who has led the Raiders to nine straight winning seasons and four Patriot League titles. something that makes their season, and if you watch it, it can break yours. seen it happen.

We just made too many mistakes in the first Colgate had the ball on 6, 14 and 7 in the first half and got only two field goals out of it. Central intercepted five passes, including three in the first half, and recovered two fumbles. Coree 40-yard interception return for atouchdown with 8 minutes left in the third quarter gave the Blue Devils a 21-6 lead. After the game, Sheard was bent over with his face buried in his shirt. he said.

never been involved in a game like Nice Kick-Start To Central Season By WOODY ANDERSON COURANT STAFF WRITER CENTRAL 24 COLGATE 22 For three quarters Saturday it appeared Ron Zook would begin his Illinois coaching career with a loss as had his three immediate predecessors. But the Illini finally caught fire in the fourth quarter and rallied from a 20-point second- half deficit in Champaign, to beat Rutgers 33-30 when Pierre Thomas dived over the goal line in overtime. The touchdown capped a26-point half. know we were down by Zook said, I told them all along, the score count until Trailing 27-10 when the fourth quarter began, the Illini (1-0) tied it when Tim Brasic hit running back E.B. Halsey with aswing pass and Halsey ran in from 13 yards out with 1:13 to go.

It was third touchdown pass in his first game as starting quarterback. He also led the team in rushing with 78 yards on 18 carries. Jason Reda missed a 52-yard field goal attempt with 3 seconds left in regulation, and Jeremy Ito gave Rutgers (0-1) a 30-27 lead with his 40-yard field goal on the first overtime possession. The Illini then overcame a penalty and got a 20-yard run from Halsey to put the ball on the 2 for winning dive. is the toughest loss ever been apart said Rutgers quarterback Ryan Hart, who tied a Big East Conference record with his ninth 300-yard game.

had the game most of the time and we gave it up in the The Scarlet Knights rolled up 517 yards on offense, but they scored only three touchdowns. Ito also missed four of his seven field goal attempts. tough to beat a team like Illinois when you only kick field Hart said. we would have scored some more touchdowns, it would have been harder for Hart was 27 of 44 for 342 yards and two TDs, one a 55-yarder to Marcus Daniels on the second play of the second quarter. Brian Leonard scored third TD on an 83-yard run, hurdling would-be tackler Charles Bailey in the process.

Leonard carried 12 times for 128 yards and caught five passes for 65 yards. in all, the difference is we made plays in the first half. We make plays in the second said Rutgers coach Greg Schiano. Penn State 23, South Florida 13: Alan Zemaitis returned a fumble 16 yards for a score and Tony Hunt rushed for a touchdown and set up another score with a long run as Penn new-look offense clicked early before struggling late to win in State College, Pa. Penn State (1-0) was up 3-0 when South Florida quarterback Courtney Denson was hit in the backfield by Tim Shaw.

Zemaitis scooped up the loose ball and ran untouched into the end zone, holding the ball over his head as he crossed the goal line to give Penn State a 10-0 lead. Hunt scored on a 1-yard touchdown plunge early in the second quarter to give the Nittany Lions a 17-0 lead. He added a 70-yard run midway through the fourth quarter that set up a 4-yard touchdown run by quarterback Michael Robinson (9 of 15 for 92 yards) to help seal the win. Johnny Peyton had two touchdown catches for the Bulls (0-1), including a 4- yard score late in the fourth quarter. This One Slips Away From Rutgers Down By 20, Illinois Rallies To Win In OT Associated Press BIG EAST PIERRE THOMAS gets a boost from James Ryan after putting Illinois over the top with a 2-yard touchdown dive in overtime.

Rutgers led by 20 in the third. ASSOCIATED PRESS.