‘This one definitely hurts’: Utah Utes flattened by Oregon Ducks in Pac-12 Championship Game

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It was fun while it lasted.

It was Tyler Huntley scrambling, zipping passes and efficiently running the offense fun. It was Zack Moss punishing defenders en route to becoming Utah’s all-time rushing leader fun. It was Brant Kuithe flying by defenders fun, the Utes’ defensive line dominating the trenches and stuffing run attempts fun, one of the stingiest defenses in the nation fun, Jaylon Johnson shutting down top receivers fun and beating eight straight conference opponents by an average of 29 points fun.

It was far from fun — more like frustrating and flabbergasting — when and how it ended, though.

The Ute football team’s run to the Rose Bowl, hopes of earning a first-ever Pac-12 championship and its even higher hopes of receiving an invitation to the College Football Playoff all came down harder than the rain that soaked Levi’s Stadium on Friday night.

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Instead of watching the other Power Five conference championship games on Saturday and eagerly waiting for Sunday’s CFP selection show to see if they’d be included in the semifinals, the Utes will be left wondering “What if?” and “What happened?” after being hammered by Oregon 37-15 in the Pac-12 title game.

“This one definitely hurts,” Utah senior running back Zack Moss said. “But we got another game, so shift our focus there.”

Instead of planning a trip to Pasadena to play in the Grandaddy of Them All or to one of the two CFP semifinal bowls — Fiesta or Peach — the Utes’ final game of the 2019 season is unknown for now. The Alamo Bowl is one possibility, but it could possibly be the Holiday Bowl or Cotton Bowl.

Thanks to a stronger-than-expected showing by the 13th-ranked Ducks, it just won’t be where the fifth-ranked Utes’ hearts were set after tearing it up following a conference-opening loss to USC and securing a second straight South Division championship. Last year, the Utes ended up in the Holiday Bowl following their 10-3 loss to Washington in the conference championship.

Utah will take an 11-2 record, arguably its greatest senior class ever and some fun memories of a special season into whatever bowl it’s invited to play in later this month, and the Utes’ coach couldn’t be prouder.

“First of all, proud of this football team for the season they’ve had overall,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Obviously tonight was a huge disappointment. But (that) doesn’t detract from the fact that we won 11 football games and were South champions two consecutive years in a row.”

That might be easier to swallow after this painful loss is digested — or, better yet, completely forgotten.

Oregon jumped out to a shocking 20-0 halftime lead, withstood a comeback attempt from a Utah team that has responded well to adversity all season, and rode running back CJ Verdell (208 yards rushing, three touchdowns) to a huge victory a couple of weeks after being stunned and eliminated from playoff contention by Arizona State.

“I believe they outwork everybody. They are made of the right stuff,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said after his team improved to 11-2. “They’ve created a culture that is second to none. A night like tonight validates all their hard work. Certainly honored to represent the Pac-12 North and extremely excited about winning the Pac-12 championship tonight.”

With so much on the line for the Utes — who captured the attention of the college sports world with their strong surge and possible playoff inclusion — they uncharacteristically lost the battle on the line en route to this disappointing finish.

“Unfortunately we came up short tonight. Disappointing thing is we lost in the one area we’ve been undefeated this year: line of scrimmage,” Whittingham said. “We didn’t win the line of scrimmage for the first time all season, which is, like I say, disappointing. Surprising really. Credit Oregon. They were good up front.”

On its first possession — after a rough start by Utah — Oregon marched up the field like its offense belonged in an NFL stadium. Verdell put the Ducks up 7-0 with his first TD from 3 yards out.

It wasn’t a great beginning for the Ute defense, but it didn’t seem too bad. Colorado did the same thing last week before Utah scored 31 straight points and won going away.

The Ducks then went up by double digits on their second drive after a field goal put them up 10-0.

This wasn’t ideal, of course. But it wasn’t unfamiliar territory for the Utes, who trailed 14-3 in the second quarter at Washington before rallying for a 33-28 win.

It wasn’t until they trailed 20-0 after halftime — a score that some might recall from last year’s come-from-behind win over BYU — that the Utes finally managed to do some damage past the Oregon 40-yard line.

Moss, who finished with 113 yards rushing on 19 carries, put Utah on the 49ers’ scoreboard with a 24-yard touchdown reception from Huntley. Oregon responded with a field goal, but that was a minor victory for the Utes who then pulled even closer on a 25-yard TD strike from Huntley to Samson Nacua.

With just over a quarter remaining, the Utes found themselves trailing just 23-15. It seemed like the stage was set for a stirring comeback that just might give them their first-ever Pac-12 championship and be convincing enough to keep Oklahoma or Baylor from leapfrogging them into a potential playoff spot.

The Utes, despite going 0 for 4 on fourth-down conversions and being intercepted in the end zone and allowing an uncharacteristic 239 yards rushing (and 432 yards of total offense), even got the ball back with a chance to tie it, trailing by a touchdown and two-point conversion.

But Oregon stiffened up its defense a la Utah and forced the Utes to punt. Still, the U. seemed to be in a good spot as the Ducks were pinned back on their own 10-yard line.

Utah’s hopes were quickly shattered.

Verdell earned his MVP award and then some in the fourth quarter — first by bursting through the gut of Utah’s stellar defense and scoring on a 70-yard touchdown run, the longest in Pac-12 Championship Game history, and then by earning Oregon some style points of their own with a 31-yard TD jaunt on his next carry.

“That’s something we’ve been doing well all year. We just didn’t do it well,” Utah defensive back Terrell Burgess said of the porous rush defense. “I mean, there were some gaps that were there. We didn’t make tackles, we didn’t hold them to what we thought we should have.”

And, ultimately, that cost them a dream ending to a dream season.