Utah Utes' ability to overcome adversity falls short in Pac-12 championship game

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Uncomfortably quiet, littered with bits of tape and discarded towels, the pain in the Utah locker room was palpable.

Consistently underestimated, written off after early season losses and decimated by injuries, the Utah football team managed to earn a historic opportunity Friday night in its first Pac-12 championship game.

But in a game that was, in so many ways, indicative of both the best and worst moments of the Utes’ marvelous, maddening season, the Utes let that moment slip through their grasp in a 10-3 loss to No. 11 Washington.

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“This team is resilient,” said senior Jackson Barton, his voice wavering with emotion as his teammates dressed and packed their belongings around him. “You talk about a team that has had a lot of games from first quarter, first half and come back and ended up winning most of the games. I’m really proud of this team. We’re a good football team, but we couldn’t pull it out tonight. It hurts, but I’m really proud of this team and what we accomplished so far.”

With just 188 total offensive yards, Utah’s anemic offense couldn’t manage much more than a valiant effort against Washington’s top-ranked defense.

The loss, the players said, was a gut-punch, no matter what was on the line because they wanted to earn the Pac-12 championship.

“I mean I think he was gonna hurt either,” said senior linebacker Chase Hansen, whose effort was evident in the grass stains that covered his body and uniform — head to toe. “There are things we could have done to get off the field more quickly, things we could have done to get us better field position. I don't know. … It hurts; it hurts bad. But I’m proud of the way we fought. You look at this game (and) you can’t say that everyone wasn’t fighting for it.”

Utah’s defense spent 38:32 minutes on the field, while the offense ran just 52 plays (to Washington’s 73) with just 21:28 minutes on the field.

Most painfully, Utah had three interceptions — one of those the only touchdown of the game.

“That’s a great football team,” Hansen said. “Great defense, great offense, and I felt like we fought. There’s a lot of things we could have done better, things I could have done better, a lot of mistakes, but it's just how it goes sometimes.”

Quarterback Jason Shelley, who took over for junior Tyler Huntley in the Utes’ loss to Arizona State four weeks ago, said it was painful not to be able to deliver for the defense that played so well Friday.

“Everybody’s kind of hurt,” Shelley said. “We were lucky to have a blocked kick and a stop by the defense because they played a perfect game. We figured maybe we could drive and get some points.”

As to why the offense couldn’t get any momentum in the game, Shelley was matter-of-fact.

“We just weren’t executing,” he said.. “We weren’t doing our part. That’s about it.”

Barton said it was difficult to watch the defense get stops and not be able to make anything happen offensively.

“It was just frustrating because I put that loss on us,” he said. “The defense played their butts off. … (Washington) made some plays, we missed some opportunities.”

Utah was defying odds most of the season.

This year’s team didn’t just earn the first trip to the Pac-12 championship. It did it without its two best offensive players in quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Zack Moss.

Utah started conference play with back-to-back losses, making just about every game a must-win. Playing with a redshirt freshman at quarterback, and without their leading receiver Britain Covey, who may have sustained a serious knee injury, the Utes still found themselves putting together what could have been a game-tying (or winning) drive with about three minutes left in the game.

Head coach Kyle Whittingham summed up the season — and the game — in a word — bittersweet.

“I’m very proud of what they accomplished in winning the Pac-12 South,” he said. “That’s not easy to do. I was proud of them for that. You always want more. You’re never satisfied. … That’s one of the tough things about this business, once you get something, you want more.”

Both he and Barton said they’ll do what they can to rally the team for whatever bowl game offers them the chance at a 10th win.

“They’re a tough group,” Whittingham said of his team and whether or not they could rebound before their bowl game. “They’ve had to move on from a lot of stuff this season, and they just continue to come back after it. We have a pretty good history in bowl games. Our guys take bowl prep pretty serious. I don’t expect this year to be any different.”

Added Barton, “I have one more game with this team, and it’s my last game ever being a Utah Ute. So I’m going to do whatever I can to rally these guys and go out on top.”