It wasn’t pretty, but in the end, Utah took a commanding two-game lead in the Pac-12 South thanks to an outstanding effort from the Ute defense and the precision passing of Travis Wilson.
Make no mistake about it: Utah’s defense was outstanding against the Sun Devils. Sure, the scoreboard says the team gave up 18 points, but the numbers fail to tell the entire story. After all, Arizona State’s only touchdown of the evening came on a 100-yard kickoff return from Tim White. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Sun Devils got a 48-yard punt return to give the Sun Devils first and 10 at the Utah 13, which resulted in three points.
Those miscues accounted for 12 of the Devils’ 18 points.
Special teams blunders were about the only way that Arizona State was going to reach the end zone, given how well Utah’s defense was playing. The Ute defensive line dominated the game all night long, limiting the Sun Devil rushing offense to just 15 yards on 28 carries. The pass rush was equally impressive, recording five sacks and forcing a number of errant throws. As a result of this pressure, ASU completed just 20 of 42 passes, which was the first time it had failed to complete at least 50% of its passes this season.
More importantly, the Utes’ defense came up with a critical stop early in the fourth quarter which turned the tide in this contest. After an offsides penalty gave Arizona State first and five at its own 10-yard line, Utah forced a three and out. The Sun Devil punter hit one off the side of his foot, which gave the Utes the ball at the ASU 32.
That led to what would eventually be the game-winning score. Devontae Booker reached the end zone three plays later, giving Utah a lead, 21-18, which it would not relinquish.
Of course, the game ball should probably go to quarterback Travis Wilson. Sure, Booker ran for 118 yards, but 62 of those came after the issue was no longer in doubt. With the Sun Devils doing their best to take Booker out of the contest (which they did for the most part), Wilson had to carry the load for the Ute offense. He responded by completing 26 of 36 passes for 297 and two touchdowns.
While those numbers are impressive enough by themselves, its worth noting that he compiled them against an aggressive Sun Devil defense that brought pressure on almost every down. There aren’t many signal callers that can take that type of pounding (five sacks and a few additional knockdowns) and continue to crank out those type of stats.
So, what does tonight’s game mean in the grand scheme of things?
Honestly, it puts Utah in the driver’s seat to win the Pac-12. Although there’s still a lot that can happen over the next seven or eight weeks given the number of quality teams in the conference, the fact remains that the Utes have the equivalent of a two-game lead in the South division. Considering how well the Utah defense has played this season, it’s tough envision any scenario in which the Utes don’t play in the Pac-12 Championship Game.
