Ganther tops 1,000-yard mark

PROVO — With 131 yards Saturday, Quinton Ganther became the eighth Ute to run for 1,000 yards in a season.

Ganther hit 1,000 right on the nose after gaining 116 yards in the first half and adding 15 in the second. The BYU defense stuffed Ganther and held him to 15 yards on 10 carries, but all Ganther wanted was the victory. After meeting briefly with coach Kyle Whittingham in the interview room, Ganther preferred not to talk about himself.

"Talk to the offensive linemen. They're the ones who opened up the holes for me," Ganther said as he limped out of the interview room.

When asked about his knee, which had kept him out of the Wyoming game, Ganther replied, "I'm good."

Ganther delivered the hit of the day, when he leveled BYU cornerback Dustin Gabriel on a run up the middle in the second quarter. Gabriel got up wobbly and had to be helped off the field, although he came back to play in the second half.

BEARDALL BOOTS A RECORD: Dan Beardall's 35-yard field goal in the second quarter was his 12th straight, which broke the Ute record of 11 consecutive field goals set by Andre Guardi in 1985.

However, the streak came to an end later in the half when he missed a 49-yarder that was just short. Beardall came back to boot a 44-yarder early in the fourth quarter and had a chance to be the hero with a 51-yard attempt with nine seconds left. However, the BYU line blocked it, sending the game into overtime.

Beardall, who grew up in Utah County, attending American Fork High School, made all five PAT attempts, giving him 37 of 39 on the season. He's 15 of 18 in field goals this year.

JACOBSEN SCORES: Another Utah County native, Chad Jacobsen, had the highlight of his career when he caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Brett Ratliff in the first quarter. Jacobsen, who prepped at Springville High, had caught just two passes all year before his big one Saturday.

"It was great," he said. "They called my number at the first of the game, I found myself wide open and Ratliff threw a great ball. We had a lot of faith in him and he played awesome."

MR. VERSATILE: The Utes used an innovative game plan that featured Ute defensive back Eric Weddle as quarterback for about a half-dozen snaps. Whittingham said he had seen other teams do that and knew it "created an adjustment for the defense."

"He could legitimately play eight positions for us or anyone else in the conference, that's how versatile he is," Whittingham said. "The guy is amazing."

Whittingham mentioned quarterback, wide receiver, safety, cornerback, linebacker as positions he can play and said he already is a vital special teams player as the holder on placekicks, as the punt returner and also sometimes punter.