FOOTBALL
KU
SECTION B
KANSAS
42
UTAH
45
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30.1996
USA Today/CNN Top 25
The Kansas Jayhawks out of out of both of the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today/CNN posts following Saturday's 45-42 loss to Utah.
The 25 top teams in USA Today-CNN college football球, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 29, total points on 25 based on first a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and last week's ranking.
| | Record | Pts | Pvs |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1. Florida (48) | 4-0 | 1,533 | 1 |
| 2. Florida St. (9) | 3-0 | 1,453 | 2 |
| 3. Ohio St. (5) | 3-0 | 1,429 | 4 |
| 4. Penn St. | 5-0 | 1,361 | 3 |
| 5. Michigan | 4-0 | 1,281 | 6 |
| 6. Nebraska | 2-1 | 1,145 | 7 |
| 7. Arizona St. | 4-0 | 1,101 | 12 |
| 8. Miami | 4-0 | 1,086 | 9 |
| 9. Tennessee | 2-1 | 1,001 | 8 |
| 10. Alabama | 4-0 | 940 | 10 |
| 11. Virginia | 4-0 | 863 | 17 |
| 12. Kansas St. | 4-0 | 841 | 13 |
| 13. Colorado | 4-0 | 840 | 15 |
| 14. Notre Dame | 3-1 | 784 | 5 |
| 15. Louisiana St. | 3-1 | 702 | 19 |
| 16. Southern Cal | 3-1 | 660 | 18 |
| 17. North Carolina | 3-1 | 585 | 11 |
| 18. Washington | 2-1 | 387 | 21 |
| 19. West Virginia | 5-1 | 383 | 23 |
| 20. Auburn | 3-1 | 348 | 22 |
| 21. Brigham Young | 4-1 | 299 | 24 |
| 22. Virginia Tech | 3-1 | 223 | 16 |
| 23. Texas | 2-2 | 157 | 14 |
| 24. Utah | 4-1 | 124 NR |
| 25. Wyoming | 4-1 | 106 NR |
Others receiving votes: Northwestern 103, Kansas 88, Iowa 59, Syracuse 50, Georgia Tech 32, Wisconsin 32, Baylor 31, Minnesota 26, California 24, East Carolina 17, Washington State 15, Texas Tech 14, San Diego State 9, Air Force 6, Michigan State 5, Southern Mississippi 5, Tulsa 2.
The Top 25 by the Associated Press
Kansas junior quarterback Matt Johner throws for one of his 12 completions, adding to a career-high 210 yards and four touchdowns. Utah defeated Kansas 45-42 Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sept. 28, total points on 25 points for a first-plACE vote through one point for a 25th-plACE vote, and last week's ranking:
| | Record | Pts | Pv |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1. Florida (57) | 4-0 | 1,664 | 1 |
| 2. Florida St. (8) | 3-0 | 1,586 | 2 |
| 3. Ohio St. (1) | 3-0 | 1,533 | 4 |
| 4. Penn St. | 5-0 | 1,459 | 3 |
| 5. Arizona St. (1) | 4-0 | 1,389 | 6 |
| 6. Michigan | 4-0 | 1,330 | 7 |
| 7. Nebraska | 2-1 | 1,242 | 8 |
| 8. Miami | 4-0 | 1,198 | 10 |
| 9. Tennessee | 2-1 | 1,132 | 9 |
| 10. Colorado | 3-1 | 981 | 12 |
| 11. Notre Dame | 3-1 | 900 | 15 |
| 12. Virginia | 4-0 | 874 | 19 |
| 13. Alabama | 4-0 | 836 | 14 |
| 14. LSU | 3-0 | 770 | 17 |
| 15. North Carolina | 3-1 | 767 | 11 |
| 16. Kansas St. | 4-0 | 754 | 16 |
| 17. Southern Cal | 3-1 | 753 | 15 |
| 18. Washington | 2-1 | 515 | 21 |
| 19. West Virginia | 5-0 | 418 | 23 |
| 20. Auburn | 3-1 | 410 | 22 |
| 21. Brigham Young | 4-1 | 268 | 24 |
| 22. Northwestern | 3-2 | 201 | 25 |
| 23. Texas | 2-2 | 145 | 13 |
| 24. Utah | 4-1 | 101 | — |
| 25. Wyoming | 5-0 | 98 | — |
Kansas senior linebacker and co-captain Ronnie Ward did not play. Ward sprained his ankle in the Texas Christian game two weeks ago. Redshirt freshman Tyrus Fontenot and sophomore Steve Rostevich split time at the position
Other receiving votes: Virginia Tech 94,
Kansas 89, Wisconsin 51, Southern Miss 47.
East Carolina 44, Baylor 42, Georgia Tech 19,
California 13, Iowa 12, Syracuse 12, Minnesota
10, Washington St. 10, Texas Tech 5, Oregon
1.
Game Notes:
Just happen to the public.
Kansas senior running back and co-captain Mark Sanders, who did not play the first two games of the season because of a twisted ankle, played on Saturday, but did not carry the ball.
Kenas junior defensive backs Jason Harris and Tony Blewina each had an interception. Harris' pick set up the Jawhaws' fake field goal touchdown. The interceptions were the only turnovers of the game.
SPORTS INDEX
INSIDE
Edmée Rodriguez/KANSAP
Scoreboard ... 2B
Horoscopes ... 4B
Soccer ... 3B
College football
roundup ... 6B
Utah passes by Jayhawks
Henley catches trick touchdown, rushes for two
By Dan Gelston Kansan sportswriter
SALT LAKE CITY — Kansas coach Glen Mason had nothing to smile about after the former No. 20 Jayhawks' 45-42 loss to unranked Utah on Saturday. But he had to laugh when it was suggested to him that the game was one of 1996's best in college football.
"I guess from a spectator's standpoint, especially if you're a Utah fan, it was a great game. But it was a heartbreaker for us to lose," he said.
In the home of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the 2-1 Jayhawks were singing the blues in their first loss of the season to Utah (4-1) in front of 32,519 at Rice.Field.
The game was a tale of two ways to have a scoring drive with almost equal results. The Jayhawks methodically devoured more than 36 minutes of the game clock, thanks largely to their ground attack, while Utah was able to score with relative ease with its passing game and a 23:17 time of possession mark.
That was because Utah, specifically quarterback Mike Fouts, just picked apart the Kansas secondary.
Fouts was 21-of-35 for 476 yards and four touchdowns while Utah racked up 579 total yards.
"Obviously they ripped us pretty good from a defensive perspective," Mason said. "When you live by the sword, you die by the sword. We played that bump-and-run coverage."
The Jayhawks, who came back from a 21-7 deficit in the second quarter, appeared to have won the game with a trick play that could have killed the Utes' momentum.
Kansas lined up for a field goal attempt by junior Jeff McCord with 4:09 left in the game. McCord proceeded to wave senior running back June Henley off the field and as he trotted down the line of scrimmage,
junior holder and starting quarterback Matt Johner connected with a wide-open Henley for a 20-yard touchdown pass and a 42-88 Javahawk lead.
"I thought it was the right situation to go with it," Mason said. "I knew when we scored that it wasn't over yet."
Johner finished 12-of-25 for 210 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, but he couldn't lead the Jayhawks on the late-game scoring drives they needed.
Fouts did the job for the Utes, but not before he gave Kansas one more chance to score.
junior defensive back Tony Blevins intercepted Fouts' first pass of the series. But Kansas botched its opportunity to put the game away by gaining one yard in a four-and-out series.
On the Utes' next possession,
"When we got that interception, we'd have liked to move the ball down and not give Utah another chance to score because obviously, if you watched the game, we had trouble stopping them all night," Mason said.
True to Mason's word, the Jayhawks couldn't stop Fouts again. Utah took over on its 18 yardline and went 82 yards on a sixplay drive in 1:35.
Fouts hit wide receiver Rocky
Henry for the game-winning score with 1:39 left.
"This was great," Fouts said. "The guys did a great job blocking for us."
Kansas had one last shot at a win, but a four-and-out series in which Johner nearly got picked off and an incompletion to Andre Carter ended any chance the Jayhawks had at another come-from-behind score.
"It's almost like whoever got the ball last was winner, win." Mason said. "We got the ball last and didn't do too much with it."
Henley had what is becoming a typical night for him with 216 yards on 41carries, his second
straight 200-plus-yards performance, and two touchdowns.
Henley's counterpart, Utah sophomore Chris Fujatamu-ma'afal, gained 103 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns.
Fuamatu-Ma'afaL scored his two touchdowns in first half, helping Utah to a 21-14 halftime lead.
Mason said he was truly disappointed with the loss.
"The Jayhawks play to win, and tonight we lost," Mason said. "The key is how you bounce back next week."
"I wouldn't have come if I'd known this was gonna happen," he said.
Kansas can't match Utes' final touchdown
Edmée Rodriguez/KANSAN
Edmee Rodriguez/KANSAN Kansas senior running back June Henley hands the ball to Junior running back Eric Vann on a reverse play in the first quarter.
By Dan Gelston
SALT LAKE CITY — If the Jayhawks learned one thing in their 45-42 loss to unranked Utah Saturday night, it was that not everything is better with salt.
Kansan sportswriter
Although the Jayhawks ran up 456 yards of total offense and junior quarterback Matt Johner threw for a career-high four touchdowns, it was not enough as quarterback Mike Fouts, running back Chris Fuamatu Ma'afala and Utah had one more act left in the offensive show.
The two teams combined for 1,035 yards of total offense.
Fouts threw for 476 yards, — the most ever allowed by a Kansas defense — four touchdowns and two interceptions.
"I don't know if that was the best game I ever had," said Fouts, the nephew of NF Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts. "It was one of them, though."
Mason couldn't say enough about Fouts' performance.
"Pouts just had to have a career day," he said. "Somebody told me he didn't even start in high school and I find that hard to believe, if that's accurate. He's a heck of a competitor. He made the proper decisions, he threw the ball right on the money. A number of times he delivered the ball right on the money when I thought we had somebody right in his face. He did a heck of a job and deserves all the credit."
Three of Fouts' four touchdown passes were for more than 30 yards, and the total vardage for the passes was 139.
Fouts connected with seven different receivers, but his two favorite targets
were the wide receivers Kevin Dyson and Rocky Henry. Dyson had seven receptions for 172 yards and Henry caught five for 129 yards.
Then there was Fuamatu-Ma'afala
Then there was Fauantah-ma klala. His name is hard to say and his game is hard to stop, as the Kansas defense found out.
Fuamatu-Ma'a-falaf carried 17 times for 103 yards and his two first-half touchdowns helped Utah jump out to an early lead. His performance garnered a rave
"He's a nice running back," he said. "He's big and physical. I thought he looked pretty good."
revue from Kansas senior running back June Henley.
Henley proved the eye-popping offensive numbers didn't stop with Utah. He had his second straight 200-yard rushing game with 216 yards on 41 carries and two touchdowns.
henley went up with one of Kansas' greatest trick plays in recent history
when a fake field goal turned into a 20-yard touchdown pass from Johner to Henley.
"We made it look like we had too many men on the field," Johner said. "I told June to get out. If they had a guy run with June, we would have called a time out and kicked the field goal."
But despite Henley's numbers, he didn't carry the ball on the Jahawks' final drive.
"We had a couple of plays and didn't execute right and we had to punt the ball," Henley said. "They came back to win."
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Johner had his career-best game for the Jayhawks with 210 yards passing and four touchdowns on a 12-of-25 performance.
it was an up-and-down game for me," he said. "There were a couple of key plays where I threw a couple of bad balls. After the interception when we got the ball back, we had the tight end slanting over. It was an easy pass. If I complete that, who knows what happens. That might have been the biggest part right there. They rose to the challenge offensively after that."
The scoring came to a crescendo when the two teams combined for three touchdowns in the game's final eight minutes, two of which were from Henley, one rushing and one receiving.
Junior running back Eric Vann also got into the mix with two catches for 79 yards and three rushes for 17 yards.
"We can say June did this or me and Matt did that, but we lost and that's all that counts," Vann said. "We scored a lot of points and did a lot of good things, but we didn't score enough. We've just got to put this behind us and get ready for Oklahoma."
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