The Utah Utes overcame an early second quarter deficit to defeat the Arizona Wildcats 36-23 . The victory moves the Utes into first place in the Pac-12 South, and makes the team a contender to win the division this fall.
That’s not to say that Utah’s win was perfect. It wasn’t. The Ute offense was clearly out of sync in the first half, committing 10 penalties, which were mostly false starts or snap infractions. In fact, on one drive the Utes failed to score points on first and 10 from the Arizona 13 because it committed four penalties, resulting in a third-and-40 situation from the Arizona 43. Utah actually committed a holding penalty on that play, but the Wildcats declined it, forcing the Utes to punt.
This punt would change the complexion of the contest. Utah downed the ball at the two-yard line, putting the Arizona offense squarely on its heels. Two plays later, the Ute defense would tackle Khalil Tate in the end zone for a safety, cutting the lead to 14-5.
It was all Utah after that. The safety ignited the Ute offense, which scored on four of its next five possessions to take a commanding 29-14 lead. The Arizona defense had absolutely no answers for quarterback Troy Williams, who finished the game with 245 yards passing, 73 yards rushing, and three touchdowns (one passing, two rushing). His ability to stretch the field opened up the running game for Armand Shyne, who ran for a career-high 101 yards before exiting the contest with a knee injury.
This victory makes Utah a contender to win the Pac-12 South. Sure, if you just look at the standings, you’d think, “big deal, the Utes beat a team that’s winless in the Pac-12”. Although that’s true, it’s worth noting that Arizona had won the last four meetings against Utah. If the Utes had beaten the Wildcats in either of the last two seasons, the team would have played in the Pac-12 championship game.
While it’s still too early to tell if the win over Arizona will vault Utah into the league title game, the Utes definitely have to like their chances at this point. After all, they defeated a team that’s had their number over the last four seasons, and did so with a number of their top offensive weapons on the sideline. Assuming that everyone is healthy, Utah will be a very tough team to beat down the stretch.
