Sakoda gets kick out of being MVP

FORT WORTH, Texas — When it was announced at the end of Saturday's 2006 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl, the game's MVP couldn't believe his ears.

"No, no way," said University of Utah sophomore kicker/punter Louie Sakoda. "That's the last thing I expected, just being a kicker. Usually you get a quarterback or running back."

He says he never really has studied the history of Utah's formerly sorry placekicking history, the doinks and the never-got-theres that plagued the program for years.

But Sakoda at least knew it was way out of the ordinary for any kicker to be named the top player in any bowl game — this one a 25-13 Ute win over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

"It's good to come in here and do well for these fans," said the slight young man from San Jose, Calif., who had a personal high of 13 points scored — which was also a record for this bowl game, as were his four field goals of 45, 39, 41 and 34 yards. The 13 points were also a bowl record for points by any kind of player, offensive or kicker or Eric Weddle.

"It was a bowl record? It's just awesome," Sakoda said. "It's all because of my snapper, Clint Mower." And his holder, Weddle.

"This is a blast getting this," said Sakoda, saying he was feeling "euphoria."

And tired.

"I'm just going to go back on the plane, take a nap and head home for Christmas," he said, verifying that it would be no problem for him to sleep after the game of his life, beating the 12 points he scored against Utah State earlier this season.

He also punted three times averaging 47.3 yards, and he said he hoped that would be good enough to keep the Utes No. 1 in the country in net punting yards.

No one watching would likely have known it, but Sakoda said, "I miss-hit a couple punts, but I had some lucky bounces."

He also said his field goals weren't all perfect. "A couple of them came off my toe a little bit, but the last one felt really good. Great snaps every time, great holds. Can't ask for much more," said the youngster who is revising Ute placekicking history and planning to do more weight work and growing and getting stronger before next season.

He said much of his kicking ability comes from upstairs. "A lot of it's mental. I don't have the strongest leg, but if you can focus in, you don't need to boot them 60 yards every time."

He kicks some that are "55-ish" in practice. "I'm up there, but I'm still working on the leg strength," he said.

While Saturday was a trophy-winner for Sakoda, his winning field goal that ended and won the game 17-14 for Utah at Air Force Nov. 18 was "probably the highlight of the year" for him.

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E-mail: lham@desnews.com