SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The weather in and around the Salt Lake City area was not the only thing that dampened the mood around the Sun Devil Football program as the Utah Utes spoiled Arizona State’s trip to the Beehive State, where the Sun Devils fell to the Utes 42-10.
Despite a weather cell moving through the area that nearly threatened the start of Saturday evening’s contest, both teams embraced the storm. They played a first quarter featuring 128 offensive yards and 10 points, with the Utes taking a 7-3 lead into the second 15-minute stanza.
From there, Utah (5-1, 2-1) took control of the game by outscoring Arizona State, 14-0, during the second quarter, while outgaining the Sun Devils, who were playing without starting quarterback Sam Leavitt for the duration of the contest, 134-73, even though ASU held the ball for 9 minutes, 54 seconds of the 15-minute quarter.
Arizona State, which had not lost a Big 12 contest in 358 days, attempted to rally from its 21-3 halftime deficit, but Utah took its first offensive possession of the second half - an offensive series that followed ASU (4-2, 2-1) punting after receiving the second half kickoff - and marched 68 yards in five plays to extend its lead out to 28-3.
Jordyn Tyson, who caught a team-high eight of Jeff Sims’ 18 completions on the night, cut Arizona State’s deficit seven minutes later when he scored the Sun Devils’ lone touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run to cap a 13-play, 75-yard drive that took 6 minutes, 28 seconds off the game clock.
Utah, though, countered three minutes later with its fifth rushing touchdown of the evening to extend its lead back out to 35-10 in the closing seconds of the third quarter. The Utes capped the night with their sixth rushing score in the game with 10 minutes remaining in regulation to seal the contest.
ASU Head Coach Kenny Dillingham
Opening remarks
“They just dominated the football game. You’ve got to give credit to them. I believe in seven possessions, six touchdowns. In the first half, we shortened the game, which was kind of our plan going into it. Offense had four real drives, which is good when you play a game like that. But we couldn’t finish in the red zone again, which was catastrophic, and then they did, and they finished with scores. That just can’t happen against a team that is good with the lead, right? So we just can’t give up leads to teams that are good with the lead. We played into their hand.”
On facing the Utah offensive line
“Yeah, 42 rushes, 276 yards, pretty good. When Coach Whittingham says that’s the best offensive line he’s seen or had, that tells you all you need to know. We’ve played them all, but that was a good one [offensive line]. This scheme suits them, with the triple option and the plus one runs, they’re a hard team to stop, and we’re really impressed with how they played. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit, I mean, that’s a real, outstanding football team.”
On Utah’s specific brand of football
“We were not the most physical football team, and it wasn’t even close tonight… they were. They [Utah] play a brand of football that if you’re not going to match their physicality, if you’re not going to be able to tackle, you have no chance… It’s amazing how simple the game is, but that’s why they’ve won for a long time here, they have a culture where they block and tackle at a high level. They blocked and tackled way better than us tonight and coached way better than us."
On if Utah’s blocked field goal was a turning point in the game
“Yeah, it was a turning point 100%. I mean, we’re about to go down eight, we’re about to kick the ball off in a one-score game if we hit that [field goal], and [then] hopefully get a stop, even if we don’t, we’re only down two possessions going into the half from that perspective. So yeah,that was absolutely catastrophic, changed the game and flipped everything.”
Junior Defensive Lineman C.J. Fite
On Utah’s physicality
“Yeah, they got us physically. They out-physicaled us. We weren’t making tackles, and we were overthinking. Once you start doing all that, it just throws off the game. Now we’ve just got to go back to the drawing board, keep doing what we’re doing, get back to the process.”
On whether the loss is more disappointing after a bye week
“I’d say so. Regardless of whether you have a bye week or not, a loss like this is not good.
On ASU’s struggles against Utah’s highly-ranked offensive line
“They’re a good group, but we’re also good. It’s just a matter of execution, being more physical upfront and disruptive. They got us today, so we must be better.”