Utah's home finale was different this time around.

Unlike a year ago, when fans stormed the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium to celebrate a win over BYU, a perfect 11-0 season and inclusion in the Bowl Championship Series, Saturday's 31-27 loss to New Mexico represented a stark contrast.

The stadium was two-thirds empty when the game was complete. No hugs, no high-fives and no smiles. Five turnovers (three fumbles and two interceptions) doomed the Utes.

As if falling to 5-5 wasn't bad enough, they also lost quarterback Brian Johnson and wide receiver John Madsen for the season with injuries. The campaign could very well come to an end Saturday at BYU.

"We're on a different end of the spectrum. There's no doubt about that," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, who reflected on 2004 when the Utes celebrated "Senior Day" by beating their rival and remaining undefeated. "That was a great experience and one that can never be taken away from our players or the coaching staff."

An experience, obviously, that won't be repeated this season.

"It's not the opposite end," Whittingham said. "But it's certainly a dramatic difference from the feeling we had last year."

There was, however, plenty of drama — right down to the final minute or so.

Trailing 31-27 after New Mexico's Cody Kase scooped up a Johnson fumble and ran 2 yards for what proved to be the winning score with 7:07 remaining, Utah embarked upon a heartbreaking conclusion.

It came after a pair of punts that had whittled the clock down to just over three minutes.

That's when Johnson directed the Utes' final drive. On a fourth-and 16 situation with 1:44 left to play, the sophomore scrambled toward midfield. He came up short, but New Mexico was penalized for a personal foul on the play.

The opportunity to continue downfield came with a price, a big one.

Johnson suffered an ACL tear in his left knee and had to be helped off the field — joining Madsen, who broke his ankle in the first quarter, on the sidelines.

Enter backup quarterback Brett Ratliff, a junior college transfer who had thrown just one pass (an incompletion) in his career with the Utes. Taking over at the New Mexico 40, Ratliff came out firing. He completed a 21-yard pass to Travis LaTendresse on first down to set the scene for a dramatic conclusion.

Two incompletions followed before Lobo defensive end Michael Touhy picked off a Ratliff pass with 1:10 on the clock to finish the final chapter — leaving the suddenly shorthanded Utes one win shy of bowl eligibility.

"That's life. Life deals you some tough blows and you've got to get back up, pick yourself up off the mat, move forward and that's that," Whittingham said. "You can't sit here and cry about what's wrong. We've got to worry about what we can do to make it right."

It was nip-and-tuck after a 50-yard touchdown pass from Chris Nelson to Hank Baskett cut Utah's advantage to 27-25 with 3:58 to go in the third quarter.

New Mexico's defense was, however, in the midst of a decisive effort. The Lobos limited the Utes to just eight first downs, 81 yards of offense in the second half and eight sacks.

"They came out blitzing. They had more guys than we could pick up," said Utah running back Quinton Ganther, who noted that New Mexico often sent eight defenders. "When they do things like that we've got to beat them with the ball and sometimes that wasn't happening."

Despite turning the ball over three times, Utah led 27-19 at halftime. The Utes overcame the miscues with back-to-back touchdown passes by Johnson late in the second quarter.

The first was a 51-yarder to LaTendresse that capped a six-play, 80-yard drive. Less than four minutes later, Johnson teamed with Brent Casteel on a 41-yard scoring strike on the first play of Utah's next series.

It followed a loss-on-downs by New Mexico. Ute defender Kawika Casco tackled Lobo punter Tyler Gaus in the backfield on a fake to set up the final score of the half.

Utah had 141 more yards than New Mexico at the break, a deceiving figure considering the short field the Lobos worked from several times over the first two quarters.

Things started off well for the Utes. They drove 80 yards on six plays to score on their opening drive. Before Johnson connected with Derrek Richards on a 26-yard touchdown pass, Utah kept the drive alive on key receptions of 29 and 23 yards by LaTendresse.

Leading 7-0, the Utes exchanged punts with the Lobos. The teams then swapped interceptions.

Three plays after Eric Weddle picked off a pass in the end zone, New Mexico linebacker Quincy Black stepped in front of a Johnson offering intended for LaTendresse and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown.

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With the score knotted at 7-7, Utah fired back. Johnson and Richards linked up on a 52-yard scoring play to put the Utes back on top with 5:34 remaining in the first quarter.

Misfortune, however, was on the horizon.

The next two times Utah had the ball, fumbles followed. New Mexico capitalized on both turnovers to take a 19-14 lead early in the second quarter.


E-mail: dirk@desnews.com

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