EMERALD BOWL Utah rolls over Georgia Tech

Travis LaTendresse was the MVP in the 38-10 victory.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Travis LaTendresse felt all alone at times during the Emerald Bowl, catching pass after pass without a Georgia Tech defender anywhere near him.
The sixth-year Utah senior wasn't lonely afterward. He got a ride on his fans' shoulders following another blowout bowl victory for the Utes and their phenomenal offense.
Four touchdown catches
LaTendresse caught 16 passes for 214 yards and an NCAA bowl record-tying four touchdowns, Brett Ratliff passed for 381 yards and Utah rolled up 550 total yards in a 38-10 victory over No. 24 Georgia Tech on Thursday.
Quinton Ganther ran for 120 yards and added a 41-yard TD romp in the fourth quarter for the Utes (7-5), who finished their follow-up season to their 12-0 run through the Bowl Championship Series in 2004 with an offensive performance more than worthy of former coach Urban Meyer's sublime team.
Though the prize was smaller and the stars have changed, the result was the same as last year's Fiesta Bowl win over Pittsburgh: a comfortable victory and countless style points for the exciting Utes.
"I don't think the ACC has seen a passing attack like the ones in the Mountain West," said LaTendresse, a Northern California native with 100 friends and relatives in the stands. "We came out with a chip on our shoulders. That was an ACC team which said they didn't belong here. We took it personally that they don't respect us."
Disappointed Yellow Jackets
Reggie Ball passed for 258 yards for the Yellow Jackets, who were disappointed to be so far from Atlanta for the postseason -- and it showed. Georgia Tech's vaunted defense, ranked among the nation's leaders entering the game, was shredded and stomped by a backup quarterback and his speedy receivers for its season-high in yards allowed.
"They quit on themselves," said LaTendresse, the game's offensive MVP. "Slowly but surely, they gave up. That first quarter, they had a lot of fight, and they were talking. But slowly their talk diminished, and their heads went down. That's what you have to do: make them quit."
Open all day
LaTendresse, who missed three late-season games with an ankle injury, seemed to be open all day while the Utes ruined the favored Yellow Jackets' (7-5) ninth straight bowl appearance. Each of his four TD catches of 14, 23, 25 and 16 yards came on simple post patterns down the middle.
Ratliff, who went 30-of-41 in his second career start, and LaTendresse both set Utah bowl records with a superb afternoon of pitch-and-catch against the Yellow Jackets' bewildered secondary.
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