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Utah's Meyer Named MWC Coach Of The Year
12/3/2003 12:00 AM | Football
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-University of Utah football coach Urban Meyer was named the 2003 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year after leading Utah to its first outright conference championship in 46 years. The first-year Ute head coach was elected by vote of the MWC head coaches and a conference-wide media panel.
Meyer is the first Utah football coach selected as conference coach of the year since Wayne Howard in 1978, when Utah competed in the Western Athletic Conference. He is one of just four Ute coaches to win the award in the last 50 years and is the first Ute coach to be so honored by the Mountain West Conference.
Utah's 9-2 record under Meyer is the second most wins ever by a Utah team, a feat achieved just three other times at the U., and he is the only coach in school history to win nine games in his debut season. Picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll, Utah instead went 6-1 in league play and won the conference title outright. The Utes have a chance to tie the school record of 10 wins on Dec. 31 at the AXA Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., where they will meet Conference USA champion Southern Mississippi.
Despite winning the conference, the Utes placed just three players on the all-conference first team: junior wide receiver Paris Warren, senior tight end Ben Moa and senior defensive end Josh Savage. Making the second team were sophomore quarterback Alex Smith, senior running back Brandon Warfield, junior kick returner Bo Nagahi, senior defensive back Dave Revill and junior defensive back Morgan Scalley.
Warren led the league and is ranked No. 9 in the nation in receptions per game (7.1). His 71 receptions are just two shy of the school single-season record-a mark he should break at the Liberty Bowl. He is third in the MWC in receiving yards per game (73.7). Moa was one of eight semi-finalists for the John Mackey Award, which honors the nation's best tight end. He has 25 receptions and 3 touchdown catches and has also scored 3 rushing touchdowns. Savage is Utah's leading tackler on the defensive line with 49 total tackles. The MWC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 6, Savage also has a team-best five pass breakups.
Smith, a strong candidate for MWC Offensive Player of the Year honors, lost out on both that and first-team honors to Colorado State's senior quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt. Smith is 8-1 as Utah's starter and has completed a league-best 67% of his pass attempts. He has passed for 2,123 yards and 15 touchdowns and has been intercepted just twice. He is also Utah's second-leading rusher and has five rushing touchdowns. Warfield was the league's leading rusher before a knee injury prevented him from playing in most of three games. Even with just six rushes against New Mexico, Warfield averaged 98.3 yards per game-third in the MWC. Nagahi's 25.5 yard average on kickoff returns ranks second in the MWC and he has led Utah to a No. 1 national ranking in kick return average. Revill, second-team all-MWC a year ago as well, and Scalley, are widely viewed as the best safety tandem in the league. Revill is Utah's second-leading tackler (85), followed by Scalley (69). The two have combined for 11 tackles for loss and 3 interceptions.
Eight Utes were named to the honorable mention all-MWC team, led by senior linebacker Ray Holdcraft, Utah's leader in tackles and tackles for loss. Also receiving honorable mention recognition were sophomore defensive lineman Steve Fifita, senior offensive lineman Thomas Herrion, junior offensive lineman Chris Kemoeatu, senior defensive back Arnold Parker, junior offensive lineman Max Petersen, freshman wide receiver Steve Savoy and freshman defensive back Eric Weddle.
Players Mentioned
DB
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