Utah left to carry the torch for Pac-12 after two results in the desert Saturday night

TUCSON, Ariz. — So now it’s all up to Utah to carry the torch for the Pac-12 Conference after a pair of football games in the Arizona desert Saturday night.

The No. 7-ranked Utes took care of business at Arizona Stadium, handily defeating Arizona 35-7, while up the road in Tempe, the Arizona State Sun Devils knocked No. 6 Oregon out of the national championship picture with a 31-28 upset victory.

While the Ducks’ loss hurts the conference, Utah’s hopes for a spot in the playoffs are still on the hotplate, though less so than if the Ducks had won; if the Utes get to the Pac-12 title game and beat the Ducks, it won’t be quite as impressive. 

Many Utah fans, not to mention Pac-12 administrators, were disappointed by the Oregon defeat, but Utah coach Kyle Whittingham claimed afterward he couldn’t care less.

Before a reporter’s question about the Oregon loss was out of his mouth, Whittingham pounced with his answer.

“Don’t care, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “Whatever else is happening is none of our business and no concern of ours.” 

There was little doubt that Utah was the far superior team Saturday night before a spotty and unenthusiastic crowd. The Wildcats, after a solid start to the season, had come into the game on a five-game losing streak, ranking 126th in the nation in total defense — that’s fifth from the bottom — and 123rd in scoring defense. 

Things became so bad that Arizona fired three defensive coaches this season, the latest being defensive line coach Iona Uiagalelei, who was let go Thursday after the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach were fired earlier this season.

“Every game we try to make every team one-dimensional and then not a lot of teams can beat us.” — Utah linebacker Francis Bernard

So there was little question that the Utes’ offense, which came in ranked 24th in the nation in total offense, would be able to move the ball on the Wildcats, which they did in the first half when they piled up 290 yards to Arizona’s 56. The problem was the scoreboard didn’t reflect the domination.

The Utes twice failed on fourth-down plays deep in Arizona territory, including one from the 1-yard line when Zack Moss, who finished with 203 yards on the night, couldn’t score against the dreadful Arizona defense and led just 14-0 at the break.

That was about the only thing that went wrong for the Utes Saturday night except perhaps for their 11 penalties for 110 yards.

The Utes took over the game in the third quarter with two quick scores, added another early in the fourth, and would have pitched their third shutout of the year except that the reserves gave up an 85-yard drive in the final minutes.

Before that, the total yardage was an astounding 509 for Utah to 111 for Arizona.

1 of 40

2 of 40

3 of 40

4 of 40

5 of 40

6 of 40

7 of 40

8 of 40

9 of 40

10 of 40

11 of 40

12 of 40

13 of 40

14 of 40

15 of 40

16 of 40

17 of 40

18 of 40

19 of 40

20 of 40

21 of 40

22 of 40

23 of 40

24 of 40

25 of 40

26 of 40

27 of 40

28 of 40

29 of 40

30 of 40

31 of 40

32 of 40

33 of 40

34 of 40

35 of 40

36 of 40

37 of 40

38 of 40

39 of 40

40 of 40

Once again the Utes shut down their opponents’ rushing game as the No. 1 rushing defense in the country held Arizona to just 61 net yards. As bad as the Wildcats were overall on Saturday, they entered the game as the second-best rushing team in the Pac-12.  

“Every game we try to make every team one-dimensional and then not a lot of teams can beat us,” said Ute linebacker Francis Bernard, who led the defense with eight tackles. “When we take one thing away they have to resort to something they’re not comfortable with and it’s not that hard after that.”

On the other side of the ball, the Utes can run it or pass it as they’ve been doing all season. After rushing for 297 yards and passing for 220, the Utes are now at 2,368 rushing yards and 2,703 passing yards for the season, making them one of the better balanced teams in the country.

As Tyler Huntley pointed out after the game, speaking of the Utes’ balance, “Teams don’t know what we’re doing — they don’t have a bead on how we’re coming at them.”

The Utes could have probably won this one 50-0 if they’d wanted to, but they’re happy to be moving into their regular-season finale against Colorado at 10-1 overall and 7-1 in the Pac-12. 

It will all on the line Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, where the Utes have a chance to clinch their second straight Pac-12 South title. All this other talk about playoffs and Rose Bowls is just a distraction to Utah right now. 

To Whittingham, it’s simple.

“We’ve got our hands full with Colorado and have got to figure out a way to make a first down next week. That’s our objective.”