Sluggish Finish Against UW Dooms Utes To 0-2 Start For First Time Since 2007
Nov 28, 2020, 9:40 PM | Updated: Nov 29, 2020, 4:07 pm
Dylan Morris #9 celebrates with teammates after throwing a 16 yard touchdown pass to Cade Otton #87 of the Washington Huskies to take a 24-21 lead against the Utah Utes in the fourth quarter at Husky Stadium on November 28, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
(Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, Wash. – After a strong start in the first half, Utah couldn’t get another score in the second half, falling to Washington 24-21.
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Utah dropped to 0-2 for the first time since 2007. The Utes had a strong first half with 21 unanswered points and had a 21-0 lead going into halftime.
Washington made adjustments in the second half and dropped 24 points, while holding the Utes scoreless. Last week against USC, the Utes were shutout in the second half.
Jake Bentley made his first career start with Utah. He went 16-of-23 passing for 144 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a lost fumble. Running back Ty Jordan was outstanding. The true freshman finished with 97 yards on 10 carries, along with 4 catches for 31 yards.
Utah’s defense managed to get three takeaways with interceptions from Vonte Davis, Faybian Marks and Zemaiah Vaughn.
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) November 29, 2020
Utes Defense Was Gassed In Fourth Quarter
Utah had a 21-17 lead entering the fourth quarter. Their offense had many opportunities to put the game away but couldn’t do so. On the first drive of the final period, Utah ran six plays for 32 yards before punting the ball away.
The Utes were able to get an interception as cornerback JaTravis Broughton broke up a pass and the ball landed into the hands of Vonte Davis. On Utah’s next drive off of the turnover, they lost 9 yards on three plays and had to punt the ball back to Washington. After a 12-play, 88 yard drive, Washington scored the go-ahead touchdown. The drive went almost 4 minutes, leaving the defense exhausted.
Turnovers Hurt Utes
The Utes turned the ball over five times in their season opening loss to USC last week. They turned the ball over four more times this week against Washington. Three of those turnovers came in the second half along with a turnover on downs.
Jake Bentley threw both of his interceptions in the second half beginning with their first drive of the third quarter. Then Utah turned the ball over on downs on their next drive, followed by a fumble by true freshman running back Ty Jordan.
The Utes gained 138 yards on 30 plays in the second half.
Utah will be back at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, December 5 when they host the Oregon State Beavers. The kickoff time and broadcast information will likely be released on Sunday.
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.
