Behind an opportunistic defense and a powerful running game, Utah defeated California, 30-24, to run its record to 5-0.
Make no mistake about it: this was not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination. The Utes failed to capitalize on turnovers early in the contest, coming away with only three points off the first three Bear turnovers. In addition, Utah’s offense struggled mightily on third down, converting just 4 of 17 opportunities — its worst showing since the season opener against Michigan.
Although these numbers are certainly cause for concern, they don’t paint an accurate picture of what happened on the gridiron. Despite what the talking heads at ESPN are saying, Saturday’s win over California speaks volumes about how good Utah is.
As with any conversation about the Utes, it all starts on defense. Sure, it gave up its share of yardage, but the Utah D held the Bear offense — which came into Saturday’s action ranked ninth nationally it total offense — to its lowest output of the season. The Ute defensive line got pressure on Jared Goff all night, recording one sack and forcing him to get rid of the ball much quicker than he wanted to on a number of throws. The added pressure caused all sorts of problems for Goff, who three a career-high five interceptions.
In all, the Utah defense turned in another solid — if not spectacular — effort, forcing a six turnovers. It also came up big at the end of the game, stopping Cal on downs with less than a minute to play.
On the other side of the ball, it’s hard not to be impressed with the Utah running game. Even though everyone in Rice-Eccles Stadium knew that he was going to get the ball, Devontae Booker still cranked out 222 yards on 34 carries, including a highlight-reel 40-yard run that put the Utes back ahead 10-7. He was running so well in the fourth quarter that ESPN commentator Dave Pasch (correctly) wondered why Utah threw the ball on second and eight late in the game instead of letting Booker tote the rock to burn some clock.
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So, what does Saturday night’s contest mean in the grand scheme of things?
Quite honestly, it proves that the Utes are still the front-runner to win the Pac-12 championship, as well as a prime candidate to make the College Football Playoff. Regardless of what a certain play-by-play analyst wants to say about style points, the fact of the matter is that Utah beat a previously undefeated team by forcing an efficient offense into making mistakes it simply does not make.
That sounds an awful lot like a team that split the national championship in 1997 — doesn’t it, Brian Griese?
Does this mean that the Utes will win the College Football Playoff?
It’s tough to say. However, given that defense wins championships, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they do.
Jared Goff wouldn’t be surprised, either.
