Utah can’t close out upset over No. 23 Arizona St.
First Posted:
Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY — All signs pointed to another huge upset victory for Utah entering the fourth quarter against Arizona State.
The Utes smothered the high-powered Sun Devil offense for three quarters. Arizona State could do little to make plays work or generate positive yards against the Utah defense. It appeared Utah was on its way to taking down another ranked Pac-12 foe at home.
Everything fell apart in the final minutes, however, and the Utes came away with another disappointing home loss.
Taylor Kelly ran for a touchdown and threw for another in the fourth quarter and No. 23 Arizona State came from behind to beat Utah 20-19 on Saturday.
“We didn’t finish,” Utah defensive end Trevor Reilly said. “That’s on our defense. We had a 12-point lead, but we didn’t protect it. In the first three quarters we were shutting them down, but we didn’t keep it going in the fourth quarter.”
Kelly finished 19-for-31 passing for 144 yards and Marion Grice rushed 20 times for 136 yards to keep the Sun Devils (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12) in the driver’s seat for the Pac-12 South title. Grice busted through the Utah line and rumbled 38 yards to set up Kelly’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Richard Smith with 2:37 to play to make it 20-19.
Reilly sacked Kelly on the 2-point conversion attempt. But it made little difference with Travis Wilson throwing interceptions on his final two drives.
The second one by All-American defensive tackle Will Sutton sealed the victory when he came down with the ball at the line of scrimmage with 1:01 left at the Utah 25.
“They really forced us to stay home and play at-home defense,” Sutton said. “I’m so happy about this win. We played smart, disciplined football.”
Wilson finished 6-for-21 for 121 yards for Utah (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) – a tough outing punctuated by his interceptions on the Utes’ final two drives.
Wilson hit Sean Fitzgerald for a 12-yard touchdown with 5:19 left in the third quarter to give Utah a 19-7 lead and the Utes appeared headed to delivering another upset win to pair with the one they sprung on Stanford last month.
But Arizona State clamped down in the fourth quarter and Kelly scored on a 2-yard keeper after leading a six-play, 70-yard drive in the fourth quarter to make it 19-14 with 13:12 left.
When it mattered most in the fourth quarter, ASU held the Utes to 17 yards and one first down. Arizona State has won 10 straight against Utah.
