The Utes (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) blew a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Sun Devils (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12) in a 20-19 defeat Saturday afternoon. (Photo by Diana Lustig)Utah had the lead for most of the game against ASU, but they couldn’t protect it when they needed to most.
The Utes (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) blew a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Sun Devils (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12) in a 20-19 defeat Saturday afternoon.
“To play the type of defense we did was encouraging but that last series was on our offense,” coach Kyle Whittingham said. “We couldn’t protect a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and that was really disappointing.”
The Utes found themselves in an early 7-0 hole after the Sun Devils marched 71 yards on 10 plays, capped off by a 10-yard rushing touchdown by ASU redshirt junior quarterback Taylor Kelly.
After a first drive that lost 18 yards, Utah would score on an eight-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Travis Wilson to junior wide receiver Dres Anderson. The score came on a drive where the Utes converted twice on fourth-and-one but Utah couldn’t convert on a fake extra point and the score was 7-6.
The Utes' plan on offense was simple: run the ball at ASU.
But it only had limited success as a team as the Utes rushed 46 times for 126 yards. Wilson led the team in rushing with 17 attempts for 44 yards. However, Wilson struggled throwing the ball against the ASU secondary, finishing 6-of-21 for 121 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Utah would extend its lead to 19-7 when Wilson connected on a 12-yard touchdown strike to Sean Fitzgerald that was set up by a 55-yard catch from Anderson two plays before.
The Utah defense managed to stifle Kelly, who finished 19-of-31 for 144 yards and one touchdown passing, by getting in his face early and often and sacking him six times. ASU only managed 293 yards of offense as a whole.
As well as the defense played, it still wasn’t good enough for the Utes.
“We didn’t finish, that’s on our defense” senior defensive end Trevor Reilly said. “We had a 12-point lead but we didn’t protect it. In the first three quarters we were shutting them down but we didn’t keep it going in the fourth quarter.”
With 2:37 to play, the Sun Devils would take the lead 20-19 after a six-play, 81-yard drive that ended when Rick Smith caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Kelly.
The door shut on the Utes when Wilson threw an interception to ASU redshirt senior cornerback Robert Nelson with 2:26 to play, but it wouldn’t be his only interception in the final two and a half minutes.
Wilson would be intercepted again by redshirt senior defensive tackle Will Sutton with 1:01 left to play.
“Arizona State is a good football program and I give them a lot credit,” Whittingham said. “They made a lot of plays down the stretch and we did not.”
Reach the reporter at ejsmith7@asu.edu or follow him on twitter @EricSmith_SP
