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Ratliff, Weddle lead Utah to sixth straight bowl win

Dec 24, 2006 - 7:43 AM FORT WORTH, Texas (Ticker) -- Utah coach Kyle Whittingham pulled some razzle-dazzle out of his bag of tricks in the season finale.

Brett Ratliff completed 23-of-34 passes for 240 yards and Louis Sakoda booted four field goals as Utah won its sixth consecutive bowl game with a 25-13 victory over Tulsa at the Armed Forces Bowl.

After yielding 19 fourth-quarter points in a loss to BYU on November 25, Utah (8-5) won for the fourth time in five outings and raised its all-time bowl record to 9-4.

"I was really pleased with the way our offense came out in the second half and stuck the ball into the end zone for a touchdown," Whittingham said. "Our defense played the run really tough and we did a great job on third downs."

"Our receivers made some great catches and ran some great routes tonight," Ratliff said. "We were close on a lot of interceptions and things could have gone the other way. It was just our night tonight in big situations."

Leading 9-7, the Utes surprised the Golden Hurricane early in the third quarter when Ratliff hit Brian Hernandez, who turned a four-yard loss into a 14-yard touchdown by flipping a lateral to Brent Casteel on a hook-and-ladder play.

"We practice that a lot, but we had never run it in a game this season," Whittingham said. "We saved it for the bowl game. And if we go to another bowl next year, you might see it again."

Tulsa defensive back Bobby Blackshire intercepted Ratliff early in the fourth quarter, leading to quarterback Paul Smith's one-yard TD run to cap an eight-play, 37-yard drive that cut the deficit to 19-13.

However, Utah put the game out of reach with 1:05 to play as two-time Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year Eric Weddle scored his ninth touchdown of the season by taking a direct snap on offense and turned the left corner for a four-yard score.

"Our coaching staff gives me great directions on where I can go and which areas I can attack," Weddle said. "There was one play where I saw the middle stacking up, so I cut it to the outside and got a first down."

Weddle, who scored three touchdowns against San Diego State - including two on interception returns - finished with 10 carries for 56 yards and picked off Smith on the game's final play.

In addition to his time on offense, Weddle had six tackles and recovered a fumble.

"Give a lot of credit to an outstanding Utah team," Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "I'm very proud of my team, though. Our seniors have put Tulsa football back on the map. They've continued to battle and persevere though a lot of challenges over the last four years."

Smith was 20-of-27 yards for 158 yards and scored a one-yard TD run in the second quarter to cap a 10-play, 85-yard drive to give Tulsa a 7-6 lead.

"We were pretty positive going in at halftime," Smith said. "We had been in that kind of situation before, so being down by two at halftime, we were not concerned at all. I was confident all game, especially when the momentum shifted and we got the ball back."

The game's Most Valuable Player, Sakoda kicked three of his four field goals in the first half, including a career-best 45-yarder halfway through the first quarter.

"This feels great," Sakoda said. "Kickers usually don't get recognition like this. My first punt almost got blocked, but after that, I settled down and got off some good kicks."