Sunday morning QB: Stars and stats from No. 17 Utah's blowout loss to No. 15 Arizona

SALT LAKE CITY — From the weather to the final score, Saturday was dreadful for Utah football fans. The No. 17 Utes fell to 7-4 on the season and 4-4 in Pac-12 play, losing to No. 15 Arizona 42-10 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Utes will now travel to Colorado to conclude the regular season next week, looking to finish about .500 in conference play for the first time since joining the Pac-12.

Scoring recap: The Wildcats opened the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown rush by quarterback Anu Solomon in the first quarter. Neither team scored again until late in the first half, when Nick Wilson ran a touchdown in from 17 yards out to give Arizona a 14-0 advantage.

Dan Pettinato extended that lead a few minutes later with a 31-yard return on a Bubba Poole fumble for a touchdown. Utah got its answer just before the half, when Travis Wilson found Westlee Tonga on an 11-yard touchdown pass with seven seconds left in the second quarter.

Utah appeared to get back into the game in the second half. Andy Phillips kicked a 28-yard field goal to close the gap to 21-10. Kaelin Clay then returned a punt 87 yards for a score too, but it was called back on a holding penalty. Arizona pulled away shortly after.

Nick Wilson broke out a 75-yard touchdown run with 11:50 left in the game and a 19-yard touchdown run a minute later after a Travis Wilson interception.

Conner Manning replaced Travis Wilson after the second touchdown of the two quick Nick Wilson scores, but threw an interception, which Tra’Mayne Bondurant returned 39 yards for a score to seal the game.

Utah’s 3 stars

Devontae Booker, RB

After being halted from 100 yards the past couple of weeks, Devontae Booker returned to form Saturday with 142 yards on 23 carries (6.2 yards per carry). He broke out a mammoth 61-yard run, which led to Phillips’ field goal and seemed to give Utah some life early in the second half. Thirty-seven percent of Utah’s offensive production came from Booker carrying the ball. He continues to inch closer to the school record in rushing. He’s now 264 yards shy of the school record for rushing yards in a season and, barring injury, will get two games to try to reach the record of 1,519.

Westlee Tonga, TE

The senior said, as most players would admit, the touchdown he caught in his final home game was diminished by the final score. Tonga led all Utes receivers with 68 yards on four catches and the lone touchdown of the night for Utah. He also caught a 35-yard pass, as well, and was productive for the Utes moving the ball on senior day.

Tom Hackett, P

Hackett has been busy kicking bacon the past couple of weeks, punting for more than 800 total yards on 18 punts over the Utes’ past two games — eight football fields worth of yardage. Hackett pinned five of his nine punts Saturday inside the 20-yard line and three of his punts went for 50 or more yards. He has 23 such punts, which is the second most in a season in school history.

He did his job of forcing Arizona to tough spots; however, the Wildcats were up to the challenge on Saturday.

Analyzing the stats

— For the second time in three weeks, Utah turned the ball over four times and the Wildcats made the Utes pay for that. Arizona outscored Utah 21-3 points off turnovers. As head coach Kyle Whittingham noted in the postgame press conference, miscues made the difference. On that note, Utah also had a lengthy punt return touchdown called back on a holding call.

— The 520 total yards allowed by the Utes were the most Utah's defense has allowed this season. Utah drops to 1-4 this season when allowing opponents to rack up more than 400 yards offensively. The Utes have also allowed 1,028 yards of offense over the last two home games combined.

— Nick Wilson ran for 218 yards on 20 carries. The 218 yards were the most an individual has put up for 200 or more yards rushing on the Utes' defense since Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey ran for 232 yards in an Oct. 19, 2013, win over Utah. In fact, since Utah joined the Pac-12, it has allowed an individual to get 200 or more yards just three times — each to Arizona running backs. Only Washington’s Chris Polk and Bishop Sankey have even eclipsed the 150-yard mark in that same four-season span.

Utah has allowed just five 100-yard rushers this season in 11 games, but four of those have occurred in the Utes’ last five games.

— Arizona barely beat Utah in “chunk” plays (plays gaining more than 10 on the ground or more than 15 in the air), 12-10. However, Arizona capitalized on its big plays. The Wildcats scored touchdowns on 25 percent of those chunk plays, while the Utes were scoreless on those types of plays.

— Both teams were efficient in the red zone on Saturday. Utah scored on each of its two red zone opportunities, while Arizona was 3-of-4, with three touchdowns. Arizona’s other three touchdowns came from two defensive scores and Wilson’s 75-yard rush.

Up next: The Utes will close out the regular season next week at Colorado. While Saturday’s loss wasn’t exactly what the Utes hoped for, it doesn’t doom the season by any means. A win next week would give Utah an above .500 record in Pac-12 play for the first time since joining the conference in 2011.

Colorado (2-9, 0-8) sounds like an easy opponent, but the Buffaloes have taken both UCLA and California to double overtime and have been close in several other conference games this season.

The Buffaloes have a pretty solid offensive weapon in Nelson Spruce, too. The junior receiver and Biletnikoff Award semifinalist has 101 catches on the season for 1,107 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has five 100-yard receiving games this season, four multiple touchdown games and four games with double-digit receptions. He entered play Saturday leading the FBS with 9.9 catches per game.

Sophomore Sefo Liufau, Colorado’s top signal-caller, has thrown at least one touchdown now in 19 straight games. He has 27 this season and 14 picks. He has also completed 65 percent of his passes.

The Buffaloes' defense has struggled, though. Colorado entered Saturday 118th out of 126 FBS teams in scoring defense and 103rd in scoring defense.