Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — For weeks, the Utah Blaze have been sluggish, ineffective and lacking any sort of enthusiasm — leading to three consecutive losses.
On Saturday night, however, they were perfect.
Literally.
Behind the arm of quarterback Tommy Grady, Utah scored on every single offensive possession in the 81-40 rout of the American Conference East Division-leading Pittsburgh Power at EnergySolutions Arena.
"We were methodical on offense and certainly we were very sharp," said Blaze coach Ron James. "That's a good football team. They were a division leader coming in, but we were fighting for our lives. I told the team this is our playoff game — if you have any inkling of playing in the next six weeks, you better show up tonight."
On the opening play of the game, the Blaze blitzed Pittsburgh's backup quarterback Kevin McCabe, slamming him to the ground and eventually pouncing on a loose ball on the Power 8-yard line.
Three snaps later, Grady found Alvance Robinson on a flair route in the right-hand corner of the end zone to put the Blaze up early 7-0.
It was the first of 12 consecutive scoring drives — all resulting in touchdowns. Grady tied his season-high with 10 touchdown tosses while going 31-of-39 for 313 yards.
"I think so — it has to be," said Aaron Lesue when asked if that was the best offensive outing he's ever been a part of. "You can't be much better than that."
After the teams exchanged scores, with Robinson snagging his second TD catch in as many drives, Utah (6-7) extended the lead to 21-6 on the following series with a scoop-and-score resulting from another quarterback sack.
The second fumble forced Pittsburgh (7-6) to reach further into the depth chart and insert its third-string signal-caller. The Power failed to find a flow offensively after the lineup move.
The Blaze clearly reaped the benefits of finally having a healthy receiving corps for the first time in five weeks. With the return of Lesue, Utah's offense was revitalized.
"Our receivers are as good as anybody," said James. "Three out of our four receivers are back this week. That's the first time we've had that in a number of weeks, and it was important for us to get some continuity and some rhythm together."
Utah broke the one-score cushion open late in the second quarter. With one minute remaining until halftime, Grady and Co. milked 58 seconds off the clock with a seven-play, 47-yard drive that culminated with a one-yard dump pass to Lesue.
From that point on, the Blaze reeled off 41 unanswered points to remain in playoff contention.
"It was all the defensive line. We worked all week long on their take-offs and they were a little trigger happy and jumped offsides more than we would have liked," James said of his defense. "That's the product of getting off the ball quickly and getting to the quarterback."
Lesue hauled in five touchdowns — one for every week he missed on injury reserve while providing the highlight of the game by hurdling a would-be defender to set up an eventual touchdown.
"We had a couple of words — he wasn't saying too much after that," Lesue said of his defender. "He was talkin' a lot before, but he didn't say much after."
"When he's fully healthy, we've got an extra weapon out there — we always feel that way," James said of Lesue. "I didn't realize he had five touchdowns and that's a credit to him. He scores in ways that you figure right now are just routine."
Robinson added three scores and was one of six Blaze wideouts to record a catch.
