3 takeaways from Utah’s come-from-behind victory over Kansas State

For most of No. 12 Utah’s matchup against Kansas State on Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the Wildcats were poised to spring the upset against a Utes team that entered the game rolling.

Kansas State was .500 on the year entering the game, but with seven minutes left, the Wildcats went up 47-35 after capitalizing on a Utah turnover.

The Utes, though, ended up turning a Kansas State two-point attempt into two points of their own with a Tao Johnson interception return on the play.

That started a crazy rally, as Utah’s offense converted three fourth downs over the game’s final seven minutes and scored twice — once on a 20-yard Larry Simmons touchdown catch and on a Devon Dampier 1-yard run with under a minute to play in a crazy 51-47 victory.

Here are three takeaways from the wild contest on Utah’s Senior Day.

Utah never backed down, even when it was bleak

Utah has made a habit of winning big this season — in their eight victories prior to Saturday, the Utes won by an average margin of victory of 35.3 points.

This particular group had never shown it could rally to win — in Utah’s two losses, the Utes were outplayed down the stretch by Texas Tech and BYU.

The Utes, though, found a way to win when it looked like this would be the Wildcats’ day.

Johnson’s 100-yard interception return on the Kansas State two-point attempt kept hope alive, and on Utah’s next possession, the Utes converted a pair of fourth downs before Dampier hit Simmons for a touchdown with 2:47 to play.

Kansas State, which had run over, around and through the Utah defense all day (more on that in a minute), went three and out on the ensuing possession, and the Utes extinguished their three timeouts to keep the clock from running down.

Utah then started the next drive at its 30 with more than two minutes to play.

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On the first play after the two-minute timeout, Dampier broke off a 59-yard run on fourth and 1 to move the ball to the Kansas State 2.

That explosive play led to the game-winner three plays later, when Dampier scored his second rushing touchdown of the night with 54 seconds remaining, giving Utah the 51-47 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Lander Barton intercepted Avery Johnson at the Kansas State 42, and the Utes — and their fans — celebrated after it looked just minutes earlier like they would be the ones leaving the stadium with sullen faces.

Utah ended up with 551 yards of total offense.

While the early storyline was Byrd Ficklin running for three touchdowns, Dampier’s heroics won out. He ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns while also throwing for 259 yards and two more scores.

Utah ended up with 292 yards on the ground as well, with Wayshawn Parker hitting 100 rushing yards.

Utah’s defense was gashed again and again but came up big late

Kansas State’s offensive line — and running back Joe Jackson — dominated the Utah defense for much of the day.

In the first half, the Wildcats had six runs of 33 yards or more, helping them take a 31-21 lead into the break. That included the following:

• Runs of 44 and 37 yards on Kansas State’s first scoring drive, with the latter a touchdown.
• A run of 33 yards on K State’s next drive to set up the Wildcats’ second touchdown, this one from Johnson.
• A run of 66 yards for Jackson on fourth and 1 wherein he went untouched up the middle for a touchdown to give Kansas State a 21-14 lead.
• A run of 80 yards for Jackson on first down after a rare punt that made it 31-21 with 1:17 until halftime.

Kansas State scored on five straight possessions in the first half, and the Wildcats had 348 rushing yards at the break on their way to 574 total yards, 472 of which were on the ground.

Jackson paced that attack with a career day, as he ran for 293 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries.

Utah was able to turn things around by scoring touchdowns on its first two drives of the second half, then Kansas State responded with 16 straight points before Utah made its rally.

Though it was a tough day for Utah’s defense, it got the stops it needed at the end.

After the Utes cut it to 47-44 on Simmons’ touchdown, Utah forced a three and out and gave the offense the ball back with more than two minutes remaining.

Then, Barton’s interception — Utah’s only turnover forced — sealed it.

And don’t forgot Johnson’s two-point score on the interception on the point-after attempt.

Penalties, penalties, penalties

Like it or not, penalties were a major storyline in the contest.

Kansas State ended up with 10 for 75 yards, while Utah had five for 30 yards.

Utah’s first touchdown drive was aided by four penalties on Kansas State that resulted in 45 yards, including two that netted first downs.

Meanwhile, Kansas State’s field goal drive before halftime was kept alive by a Utah pass interference on third down.

The Utes were also called for an offensive pass interference late in the first half that turned what looked like a first down inside the Kansas State 20 into an eventual punt, and then the Wildcats scored a touchdown on the ensuing possession.

Twice, Kansas State had touchdowns wiped out by penalties, though both times, the Wildcats managed to score touchdowns later on those drives.

The biggest penalty of the night, though, was when Kansas State was flagged for an illegal substitution as Utah faced a fourth-and-short on its second-to-last touchdown drive.

That gave the Utes a first down, and the comeback stayed alive.

Another non-call was big, too. On Johnson’s interception return on the two-point conversion, Smith Snowden tipped Johnson’s pass and Johnson came up with the pick. At that moment, though, a flag hit the ground.

Johnson eventually weaved his way for two points, and the officials picked up the flag, allowing the play to stand.

Turns out, that four-point swing was crucial.