SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Sept. 28, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The mood at Rice-Eccles Stadium for much of 10th-ranked Utah‘s late-night showdown with Arizona matched the Utes’ black uniforms.
Utah squandered several opportunities to score points early, and aside from a brief fourth-quarter rally, there wasn’t much for the 52,898 fans — most of whom also were decked out in black for the “dark mode” homecoming game — to cheer about in the 23-10 loss to Arizona on Saturday.
It was the first loss of the season for the Utes, who fell to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 Conference play, in large part due to their inability to convert on key plays in the red zone.
“We were horrible in the red zone — awful,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said after the game. “Until we get that fixed, we’re going to continue to have problems. We couldn’t convert a fourth down. [We were] 0 for 4 on fourth downs. That really was the reason for the outcome.”
Utah again played without starting quarterback Cam Rising, who sat out for the third consecutive game since suffering a hand injury against Balyor on Sept. 7. Rising warmed up before the game with a glove on his throwing hand but again gave way to freshman QB Isaac Wilson.
After the game, Whittingham said Rising was “really close” to being able to play, but he opted to give his senior signal-caller more time to recover. The Utes are entering a bye week and next play at Arizona State on Oct. 11.
“If there is a silver lining here, we’ve got a week off and hopefully he’s ready to go by then,” Whittingham said.
Wilson completed 20 of 40 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw two interceptions in the loss.
“We needed to execute in the red zone,” he said. “I could have put the team in a better situation at some points, but it’s a team game. … We’ve just got to execute.
“I know better on those interceptions; I know better. I shouldn’t put the team in that situation. I felt like we were driving the ball up and down the field the whole time — run game, pass game — but [we struggled in] the red zone.”
Senior stars Micah Bernard and Dorian Singer were bright spots in an otherwise subpar game for the Utah offense. Bernard gained 91 yards on 16 carries — averaging 5.7 yards per carry — and Singer finished with a career-high nine catches for 155 yards.
Defensively, sophomore safety Tao Johnson led the Utes with a career-high nine tackles (six solo) and made his first career interception.
Utah moved the ball well early but failed to put points on the board, as Whittingham twice opted to go for it on fourth down deep in Arizona territory in the first quarter. Despite putting together back-to-back drives of 13 plays for 64 yards and 10 plays for 73 yards, the Utes turned the ball over on downs at the Wildcats’ 11- and 2-yards lines, respectively.
Meanwhile, Arizona took an early lead with a 47-yard field goal from senior kicker Tyler Loop on its first possession.
The Utes settled for a 23-yard field goal from senior kicker Cole Becker on their third trip into the red zone to tie the game at 3-3 with about seven minutes to play in the first half.
Arizona responded with a seven-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Noah Fifita to junior wide receiver Jeremiah Patterson about 3 1/2 minutes before halftime to give the Wildcats a 10-3 lead at the break.
Arizona extended its lead to 13-3 with a 53-yard field goal with 7:36 remaining in the third quarter.
Utah immediately gave the ball back to Arizona when Wilson was intercepted by Wildcats defensive back Genesis Smith at the Utes’ 25-yard line. That set up a 33-yard field goal to push Arizona’s lead to 16-3 with about 6 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
“We should have had 21 points in the first half, and we just squandered those opportunities,” Whittingham said.
Johnson kept the hole from getting any deeper for the Utes with an interception in the end zone on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
Utah capitalized on the miscue with a 6-play, 80-yard drive that took just three minutes and ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to senior tight end Caleb Lohner to cut Arizona’s lead to 16-10. It was the third catch and third TD at Utah for Lohner, who played at Baylor from 2022-23 and BYU from 2020-22.
Arizona reclaimed the game’s momentum and silenced the crowd midway through the fourth quarter when Fifita scrambled away from pressure and found junior tight end Keyan Burnett open in the back of the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown. The eight-play, 87-yard scoring drive extended the Wildcats’ lead to 23-10.
Fifita completed 19 of 31 passes for 197 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Arizona (3-1, 1-0), which was victorious in its Big 12 debut.
The Utes’ final three drives of the game ended in a three-and-out, another turnover on downs and Wilson’s second interception.
Despite the loss, Whittingham remained optimistic about what his team can accomplish this season.
“All is not lost,” he said. “I don’t want to paint the picture that the season is over because we’ve got a good football team. We’ve got a really good football team. We’ve just got to figure out some situational football … and have everybody recommit, rededicate themselves and finish the second half of the season strong.”
