Yergensen Having a Foot Ball

Utah kicker Chris Yergensen has noticed a change in his lifestyle in the past week and a half. He suddenly is a celebrity to the man who changes his car’s oil. Strangers recognize him when he goes out for dinner.

Winter in Salt Lake City will be a little warmer for Yergensen after his 55-yard field goal lifted Utah to a 34-31 victory over bitter rival Brigham Young, the Utes’ first victory over the Cougars since 1971.

His teammates don’t treat him any differently, though. They still give his ego a drop kick.

“A kicker is still a kicker and I’m still something for my teammates to step on,” said the senior from Antelope Valley High. “But other people recognize me from TV and they sort of go out of their way for you. It’s nice but, basically, you’re noticed more when you’re doing crappy.”

Last season, Yergensen wasn’t the beloved Ute he is today. In the Copper Bowl game, he missed a 20-yard field goal with 3 minutes 19 seconds left and Utah lost to Washington State, 31-28.

It looked like Yergensen would be the goat again before he boomed the second-longest field goal in Utah history with 25 seconds left to beat BYU on Nov. 20. Earlier in the game, Yergensen missed two easy chances.

But in the end, rabid Utah fans poured onto the field from a crowd of 65,894 in Provo. More than two decades of frustration were put to rest and life has been good for Yergensen in the aftermath.

Chris drove back to Lancaster after the game for Thanksgiving weekend and found he was a also a celebrity back home.

“I left (Utah) with the greatest feeling, and I was going home to see my family for the first time in eight months,” Yergensen said. “I hooked up with a lot of old friends. I ended up going to (Las) Vegas. It’s been a never-ending roll. It’s just tumbling. I just got back here and got an A on a mid-term. It’s like I’m sort of invincible right now.”

Yergensen came down to earth when he learned that Fresno State’s Derek Mahoney was picked over him as the first-team All-Western Athletic Conference kicker.

Yergensen, a second-team selection, not only had the longest field goal of any WAC kicker, he led the conference with 17. But the nod went to Mahoney, who set an NCAA record with 216 conversion kicks in his career.

“I don’t understand how they picked him--his longest field goal is only 35 yards,” Yergensen said. “Going into the last game, I had made six field goals in a row. Heck, if I attempted 60 extra points a year, I would have had it.”

But that disappointment faded when Yergensen returned to Salt Lake City on Monday to discover the season had one more game: Utah will play USC in the Freedom Bowl on Dec. 29 in Anaheim.

Said Yergensen: “That’s exactly what I wanted. That tops it all off for me.”

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Footnotes: San Diego State’s Peter Holt (Antelope Valley) finished tied with Mahoney with the second-most field goals in the WAC with 14. Holt, a freshman, learned to kick from Yergensen.

Yergensen’s tutoring was a pay-back of sorts, because Yergensen learned to swim in the Holts’ pool.

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Checking the fax: After Utah switched to a one-back set, senior fullback Jamal Anderson (El Camino Real) rushed for more than 140 yards in three of the Utes’ final four games. His 146 rushing yards, 21 yards on three receptions and two touchdowns helped Utah beat Brigham Young. . . .

In water polo, Stanford goalie Larry Bercutt (Harvard) had 19 saves in three games to help lead the Cardinal to the NCAA championship. He had six saves in the title game against USC last week.