The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah • 37

toff zsh COLLEGE 23 18 Washington 42 Boston College 41 Colorado 2 Northwestern 17 8 Arizona State 38 Georgia Tech 31 15 Colorado St 14 UNLV 41 7 31 Kentucky 68 Oregon State 48 San Jose State 35 Miami (Ohio) 13 21 Louisville 34 Nevada 6 Stanford 23 12 Carolina 10 FOOTBALL SCOREBOARDC-4 5 tribune Section Sports US OPENC-2 BASEBALLC-21011 PREP FOOTBALLC-3 HNFLFOOTBALLC-6 OLYMPIC NOTESC-9 Mark McGwire 60 1 home run Reds Sammy Sosa 58 I home run Pirates SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 6 1998 Gordon monson Utah Gets Revenge Topples Utah State BY JOE BAIRD THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE LOGAN After taking it relatively easy the last two offseasons and paying for it the University of Utah football team found Game at a Glance Utah Tips USU And All Is Right In the World itself back class this summer The course? Agriculture 101 Saturday night the Utes passed the final exam just barely beating Utah State 20-12 at Romney Stadium to end a two-year drought against the Aggies But no matter how it looked Coach Utah 20 Utah State 12 Fast Fact: Utes ruin Aggie debut Next: Saturday Louisville at Utah 7 pm Saturday Utah State at New Mexico 6 pm Ron McBride and his team were relieved to put it behind them and move on to fall semester kind of hard to live with everybody reminding you that you got your butt beat by Utah said McBride now 7-2 against the Aggies Up next another date with an old tormentor Former Aggie coach John Smith brings his Louisville team to town this weekend for the opening of Rice-Eccles Stadium Never mind that the Cardinals got blasted by Kentucky on Saturday their opener Dating back to his days at Idaho Smith is 3-1 against McBride The Ute coach has had a tough time living with that too If this is payback month for Utah performance was at least a promising start The Utes had lost their See UTAH Page C-5 Trent Nelson The Salt Lake Tribune Utah Nick Morgan is hauled down by Aggie defender Donald Dicko in Logan on Saturday Utah topped USU 20-1 2 Cougars Get Steam-Rolled By Speedy Crimson Tide BY MICHAEL LEVWS THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE TUSCALOOSA Ala The Brigham Young Cougars blew it They know it and they admitted it But that hardly made their 38' 31 season-opening loss to Game at a Glance What are you supposed to do vs hen the wrong team keeps winning or threatening to An inferior team An in-state nval no less that trails the all-time senes something like a bajilbon to six A team from a school that has State its name and that the old-timers refer to as "the short for Agn-cul tural College The Ags The Trac-torheads The Unsophisticates widely regarded as an up-and-coming football program too good for the conference you're even though never won the league title outnght and this wrong team these Jethros from farm country this other program that would have done practically anything to get into the conference from which you just bolted whips you two And is going for a third to start the You have a sweet new stadium renovated at a cost of $50 million waiting to be unveiled back in the city You have nch and powerful alumm all bent on throttling up for the big time You counsel private with Pac-10 point men over what it would take to eventually get invited into their conference Meanwhile you feel pressure to win for the Breakaway 8 in a brand new showcase campaign but then you feel a cruel opening-game chill blowing down from the AC What do you do? Make Cry about getting repeatedly punched in a personal package marked a couple of seasons back? Whimper about how you come to or you were or you had many or sun was in your or you had or talk afterward about how embarrassed you are because you overlooked the Aggies implying one more time that they are and always will be inferior even though they whipped you What are you supposed to supposed to go play all four said Utah Coach Eon McBride what you Ye supposed to do no secret to football You go out You play hard You win McBride's Utes apparently brought that idea with them to Utah Romney Stadium on Saturday night had it pounded into their consciousness and comprehended it finally The score 20-12 illuminating into the dark Cache Valley sky afterward was hardly overwhelming not much of a statement from a bigger brawnier Utah team but alas it was a victory over the kid-brother Aggies who lost to the Utes for the first time since 1995 What was proved is that Utah can win a game it should Barely For Utah State we found out that it has a gritty little bunch playing football that it could go on to win the Big West such as it is again that quarterback Riley Jensen a refugee from Snow College via BYU can kind of throw the ball and he also can punt it The semor making his first Division 1 start Saturday night covered more than 300 yards on seven punts most of them pooches often effectively backing the Utes deep into the shadow of their own goalposts And that Demano Brown always runs for more than 100 yards against Utah and usually against everyone else too But the Utes managed to do what McBride wanted them to do They went ahead by the Pacific Coast League score of 14-5 in the first half Then hung on by the skin of them molars Brown closed the gap for the Ags scoring midway through the third quarter making it 14-12 But from there the Utes stumbled and bumbled and rumbled to two field goals and a 20-12 lead that held up Ultimately the Utes righted their existence putting their world back on its axis They played enough offense defense to kick their pesky neighborhood trolls the teeth to play four quarters to win that what they were supposed to do? weeks should have won this said quarterback Kevin Feterik But we The Cougars had fought back from a 17-point deficit to tie the game at 24-24 late the third quarter and had seized the momentum early in the fourth by stopping the Tide on three straight possessions But Feterik threw an interception to Fernando Bryant wath 8 03 left then fumbled a snap several minutes later The Tide turned both turnovers into touchdowns by tailback Shaun Alexander who scored five all together to set an Alabama record and help the Tide snap a four-game losing streak been the story of my career at said linebacker Rob Morris "We play with teams and play with teams and play with teams and boom1 boom1 they score BYU managed a last-minute touchdown hut could not recover an onside kick with 12 seconds left That the Cougars even had a chance was a virtual miracle considering they began the game as if they had just stumbled out of the woods and onto a football field The Crimson Alabama on Saturday night any easier to take "We kind of let one get away from said Coach LaVell Edwards had a Yes they did In spite of an inspired comeback amid horribly hot weather and a sellout crowd of 83818 Crimson Tide fans at renovated Bryant-Denny Stadium the Alabama 38 BYU 31 Fast Fact: BYU 0-2 lifetime vs SEC teams Next: Saturday Arizona State at BYU 7pm Cougars committed two fatal turnovers the final eight minutes that cost them the game Now the Cougars face the specter of an 0-3 start what with No 8 Arizona State and No 18 Washington on the schedule in the next two Dave Martin 1 he Associated Press Alabama quarterback John David Phillips scrambles for extra yardage past BYU defender Rob Morris on Saturday night See BYU Page C5 BUZZ PLAYOFF CHASE Got You Babe: McGwire Matches Ruth With 60th Homer Costly Loss Time Running Out for Buzz Pacific Coasf League Southern Division Pet GB Fresno Grizzlies 79 61 564 Salt Lake Buzz 78 63 553 Vk Games Iowa 6 Salt Lake 5 Fresno at Tucson ppa rain Cftmfs Remalnlnf! vs towslTodav Mondavi At Tncson ITodav DH Monday) Rote-Buzz own tiebreaker over Fresno More on Cards-fieds Cubs-Pirates C-1 0 BY LAURENCE MTEDEMA THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ST LOUIS With a Ruthian shot Mark McGwire met the Babe McGwire was watching the whole way taking a wide turn while his ejes followed the flight of the ball he launched Saturday And when that high-archmg drive landed in the left field seats home tun No 60 was his McGwire became just the third plaver to hit so many tying mark and moving within one homer of Roger record total he compared with Babe Ruth is just McGwire said Until recently I never thought anj thing like that could happen It take McGwire long to do it either this game or this season A night after appearing anxious at the plate McGwire connected for a two-run shot the first inning against Cincinnati Tookie Dennis Reyes Firewm ks exploded over Busch Stadium and McGwire saluted the sellout crowd of 47994 with a curtain call The home run came the 342nd game including a tie Ruth hit No 4 60 on the final day of a 154-game season in 1927 and Mans hit No 61 on the last day of a 162-game schedule 1961 Now McGwire has 21 games left to beat Mans and hold off Sammy Sosa who has 58 home runs after hitting a dinger Saturday night Pittsburgh McGwire will try to make home run history today against Brett Tomko who recently said he wouldn't mind being the victim capable of doing it Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said could do it in his first few at-bats or it could take him a couple of Even on the first Sunday of the NFL season the whole nation will get a chance to watch the gametime was moved back two hours to 2 10 MDT to let the Fox network televise it play this game and it happens to be he said happening now has put baseball back on there are some guys who would like to be the big leagues right now but we all have a goal of winning this thing long as the running as long as we have a chance the guys will Shave third baseman Corey Koskie outfielders Chris Latham and Torn Hunter and pitcher Benj Sampson are expected to be promoted by the parent Minnesota Twins when Salt season ends That could be Monday night or after the Buzz are eliminated from the PCL playoffs if Salt Lake can catch the Grizzlies Players promoted make at least $1000 per day the majors addition to accumulating service time for their pensions Salt September pursuit of the Fresno Grizzlies has already cost several Buzz players at least $5000 each But the only number Jon Shave is worried about is VAt Salt deficit in the standings with two regular-season games remaining after the Buzz lost 6-5 to Iowa on Saturday night game at Tucson was rained out and the teams will play a double-header today "Personally rather stay here and win a pennant than go sit on the bench in the big the Buzz second baseman said sure See BUZZ Page C-10 See McGWIRE Page C-10.