3 takeaways from Utah’s loss to Northwestern in the Las Vegas Bowl

A defensive struggle ended in Utah’s fifth straight bowl loss on Saturday as the Utes fell 14-7 to Northwestern in the Las Vegas Bowl at Allegiant Stadium.

Here are three takeaways from a loss that dropped the Utes to 8-5:

Utah’s offense had a forgettable night

For quarterback Bryson Barnes, one of the heroes against USC and Florida earlier this season who entered the NCAA transfer portal but chose to play in the bowl, it was a long night.

Barnes completed just 8 of 13 passes for 55 yards and threw two first-half interceptions. At halftime, he had thrown for 10 yards and had a 10.5 QB rating. He also had minus-2 rushing yards on 16 carries as Northwestern sacked him five times.

Utah turned the ball over three times, including a Jaylon Glover fumble in the third quarter, and put up only 211 yards of total offense.

The Utes managed to tie the game early in the fourth when they drove 60 yards in eight plays and Micah Bernard scored on a 6-yard run but they just never got on track offensively. 

The Utes were 5 of 15 on third down and failed to convert two critical fourth downs in the fourth quarter, the last of which ended their final drive when Barnes’ pass on fourth-and-3 was knocked away.

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Utah’s defense did make some plays, but not the ones it needed late

Utah gave up 291 yards to Northwestern and never trailed by more than a score thanks to its defense. 

The Utes made a goal-line stand in the second quarter after Barnes’ second interception — and a long return — gave Northwestern possession inside the Utah 10.

Utah also held after Northwestern recovered a fumble in Utes territory in the third quarter — Utah’s D allowed only one yard and forced a Wildcats punt.

On Northwestern’s final two drives, though, the Wildcats made the plays to win.

After Ben Bryant returned to the game after going through concussion protocol, he completed a 34-yard pass to a diving A.J. Henning, setting up the game-winner — an impressive 19-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Kirtz with 6:19 to play to put Northwestern ahead 14-7.

After Utah’s failed fourth-down attempt with 1:55 to play, Bryant — who threw for 222 yards and two scores — picked up 10 yards on the ground on a third-and-7, allowing Northwestern to run out the clock.

A long and frustrating season is now over

Injuries defined much of the 2023 season for Utah. Cam Rising and Brant Kuithe were forced to miss the entire year and various ailments caused both sides of the ball to deal with a long list of missing players.

Utah was also down guys such as Sione Vaki and Cole Bishop in the bowl game after both safeties declared for the NFL draft, and had several players enter the transfer portal.

On Saturday, all of that left an already shorthanded Utah team digging even deeper into its lineup, and the Utes simply didn’t have the horses to make enough plays for a win.

The ray of hope is that Rising has announced he will return for the 2024 season, giving something for Utah fans to watch for as the program enters the Big 12 next year.