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SCOUTING REPORT
Versatile quarterback will lead Utah
BY ALICIA JONES
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR'
North Carolina’s running game
might have snagged the win against
N.C. State, but the Tar Heel defense
will be charged with stifling Utah’s
dynamic offense to get the win today.
Utah quarterback Brian Johnson is
working to prove he is worthy of Alex
Smith’s former position —a position
he vacated after he was chosen as the
first pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.
The sophomore passed for 305
yards and two touchdowns and ran for
three scores in a 38-35 win against Air
Force last week.
North Carolina's defensive line
didn't slack on defense as they record
ed six sacks against the Wolfjpack, but
the line will have to gun for Johnson to
stop his effective pass from material
izing so often.
“He’s got the same type of arm
strength (as Smith),” said North
Carolina Coach John Bunting. “He has
got probably a little bit better running
ability. What he doesn’t have is the
experience that Alex Smith has.”
If it's experience that counts,
Johnson is already getting more than
UNC quarterback Matt Baker had
in his sophomore season. Johnson
appeared in 10 games as a freshman
while Baker only saw action in three
at the same point in his career.
BRIAN
JOHNSON
HEIGHT: 6’l"
WEIGHT: 203
SOPHOMORE
QUARTERBACK
And though Baker served as UNC
record-breaker Darian Durant's
understudy for three years, it doesn't
hurt to learn the craft from an All-
American and Heisman TYophy win
ner either.
Inexperienced or not, Johnson has
been a key player in several wins for
the Utes. He passed for 220 yards
and one touchdown in his first start,
which ended in a home win against
Arizona.
And let’s not forget his performance
against Utah State where Johnson
completed 18 of 21 attempts, a com
pletion rate of 85.7 percent, setting a
school record in pass efficiency.
But the lack of experience Bunting
spoke of became apparent in Utah’s
first season loss to TCU when Johnson
threw an interception into double cov
erage that led to a TCU score on the
following possession.
When the Tar Heels met the Utes last
year, Smith threw four touchdown pass
es and ran for one, amassing 341 yards
of total offense in Utah's 46-16 win.
“I didn’t see too many balls on the
ground going into the game (last year)
in terms of the exchanges and the
passes backward, the backward passes
on the pitches,” Bunting said.
“I’ve seen a couple of those hope
fully we can get a couple. That’s a timing
element, that’s an experience element,
SCHEDULE
1
| SEP 2 Utah 27, Arizona 24
t SEP 10 Utah 31, Utah St. 7
I SEP 15 TCU 23, Utah 20
r SEP 22 Utah 38, Air Force 35
OCT 01 at North Carolina
i OCT 08 at Colorado State
I OCT 15 San Diego State
I OCT 22 atUNLV
I NOV 05 Wyoming
I NOV 12 New Mexico
j NOV 19 at Brigham Young
LAST MEETING
| 2004 Utah 46, UNC 16
SPECIAL TEAMS
I PUNTER: Louie Sakoda
KICKER: Dan Beardall
PUNT RTN: Eric Weddle
KICK RTN: Justin Walker
and that’s why a lot of people are trying
to blitz this quarterback some, to try to
force some errant backwards passes.”
And if the Tar Heels can’t stop
Johnson in the air, they will have to
stop him on the ground. He has scored
five touchdowns rushing so far this
season for 169 yards, already estab
lishing himself as more of a runner
than Smith, who only scored 10 rush
ing touchdowns in the 2004 season.
“(Smith and Johnson) have the
same type of physical-type stature,
except one might be a little bit faster,”
Bunting said. “That’s Johnson.”
Smith averaged 298.6 yards of total
offense to Johnson's 23.4 last season,
and Johnson also trailed in average
rushing yards with 9.2 to Smith's
52.6.
But those numbers don't mean
much since Johnson did not start a
game in that season and saw signifi
cantly less playing time, which didn't
allow him to get those longer runs —a
fact that the Tar Heel defensive line is
well aware of.
"He’s a little more mobile than
Alex," said UNC defensive end Tommy
Davis. "He’s a little bit of a runner, so
they’re using him more to run the ball
than pass the ball (this year)."
Johnson has two options for pen
etrating the UNC defense, but the Tar
Heels only have one— stop him.
10/1/05! DTH SPORTSATURDAY
UTAH
MO. MAMK _ _ POS. _ YR.
1 __ Thomas Huff WR So.
2 _ _ Antonio Young DB Sr.
3 _ _ Brian Johnson QB So.
3 __ Brice McCain DB Fr.
4 __ Justin Walker WR Sr.
5 _ _ Ryan Smith DB So.
7 _ _ Bryan Borreson K Sr.
7 _ _ Marquis Wilson WR Fr.
8 _ _ Eugene Oats DB Sr.
9 _ _ Spencer Toone LB Sr.
10 _ Darryl Poston RB Sr.
11 _ Kawika Casco DB Sr.
11 _ Danny Southwick QB Jr.
12 _ Darrell Mack RB Fr.
13 _ Quinton Ganther RB Sr.
13 _ JJ Williams DB Fr.
14 _ Kyle Brady LB So.
14 _ Kevin Dunn QB _ _ Fr.
15 _ Brett Ratliff QB Jr.
15 _ Charlie TeGantvoort LB Sr.
16 _ Brian Hernandez WR Jr.
17 _ Fano Tagovailoa WR Jr.
18 _ Chad Jacobsen TE Sr.
19 _ Stephen Gordon DB Sr.
19 _ Chris Sokugawa QB Jr.
20 _ Mike Liti RB So.
21 _ Shaun Harper DB Jr.
22 _ Malakai Mokofisi LB So.
23 _John Madsen WR Sr.
24 _ Tim Harris DB Sr.
25 _DrewHackett WR Jr.
25 _ Kyler Rushton DB Fr.
26 _ Derrek Richards WR So.
27 _ Sean Smith RB Fr.
28 _ Steve Tate DB So.
29 _EricShyne DB Jr.
30 _ Adarrious Ross DB Fr.
31 _ Casey Evans DB Jr.
32 _ Eric Weddle DB Jr.
33 _ Afa Garrigan LB Fr.*
34 _ Greg Bird. . LB Fr.
35 _ Joe Giuliani DB Fr.
36 _ Billy Kinsey DB jr.
37 _ Loma Olevao LB So.
38 _ Reggie Turner LB _Jr.
39 _ Ray Stowers RB “ Fr.*
40 _ Tyson Dodds DB Fr.
40 _ Andrew Smart LB Fr.
41 _ Grady Marshall ~ LB Sr.
42 _PateMoleni DL Fr.*
43 _ Dymond Unutoa DB _l_Sr.
43 _ Ryan Honea ' WR Sr.
44 _JoeJiannoni LB_I So.
45 _ Alec Puccinelli DL So.
46 _ Matt Mason ~~ DB Fr.*
47 _ Blake Burdette “ TE Sr.
48 _ Dan Beardall K_ __Sr.
49 _ Sean O'Connell TE_I Jr.
50 _ Brock Condie DSI 11 _ Sr.
51 _ Brady Nielson ~ LB Jr.
52 _ Aaron Smith ~ LB Jr.
54 _ Taylor Miller ~ ~ LBl So.
55 _ Andrew Johnson OL_ _ _ Sr.
55 _ Marquess Ledbetter DE ~_~Sr.
56 _ Colt Sampson LB I_Fr.
57 _ Tyler Williams OL Fr.
58 _ Semisi Livai DL Fr.
59 _ Brent Rawlings ~ P So.
60 _ Terrence Apted OL _Fr.*
62 _ Butchie Rowley DS ~_Fr.
63 _ Kyle Gunther OL_ _ I _ So.
66 _ Robert Conley OL Fr.
67 _ Blake Paullin LB Jr.
68 _ Zane Beadles ~ OL Fr.
69 _ Jason Boone OL_ _ So.
71 _ Mitch Arquette oL_l~_Jr.
72 _ Jason Voss OL_II_Jr.
74 _ David Dirkmaat I OL Sr.
75 _ Eric Pettit OL Jr.
81 _ Willie Sao TE Sr.
82 _ John Peel WR Fr.*
83 _ Jordan Johnson._l WR Fr.*
84 _ Lance Bordeleau TE I Fr.
85 _ Rob Gueck WR Jr.
86 _ Cody Sorenson WR Jr.
87 _ Ameen Shaheen ~ TE Jr.
88 _ Travis LaTendresse WR Sr.
89 _NikSonntag DL Jr.
90 _ Tolifili Liufau ~ DL Jr.
91 _ Randy Faletoi__l DL Fr.
93 _ Martail Burnett DE So.
94 _ Steve Fifita I DL ~~_Sr.
95 _ Bryce Scanlon DL I_Fr.*
96 _ Derek Beardall DLI Jr.
97 _ Soli Lefiti DE Jr.
98 _ Kelly Talavou __ DL Jr.
99 _KiteAfeaki ~ DL Sr.