Utah's 30-24 win at Arizona leaves Wildcats in frustration


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

TUCSON, Arizona — The 23rd-ranked Utah football team escaped the desert with a 30-24 win against Pac-12 South rival Arizona on Friday.

The Utes (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) came into Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) territory knowing it’d be a physical game. They haven’t won in Tucson since 2011, but now hold the series advantage with a 22-19-2 record.

The game left Arizona frustrated from its turnovers, missed field goals and other costly mistakes.

“It’s pretty frustrating in a lot of areas, a lot of ways,” Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “We competed enough to win, we just made some key mistakes. We’re going to watch the film and be sick over some of the mistakes we made and the missed opportunities. That probably bothers us players and coaches more than anything.”

Arizona’s five turnovers yielded 10 points for Utah — an interception return and field goal. The Utes came into the game tied for first in the league and third in the nation in turnovers gained.

“Hats off to Utah. They played excellent on defense,” said Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins.

Arizona rallied after trailing 30-17 with less than 5 minutes left in the game. The Wildcats moved 75 yards in seven plays to score a 30-yard touchdown, then recovered an onside kick. On the following play, Dawkins was stripped of the ball on a rushing attempt. Utah defensive end Chris Hart recovered it, giving the Utes’ sideline a sigh of relief.

“I didn’t think it was a fumble,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t know how they called it a fumble from the start.”

Dawkins agreed with his coach that he was down before the ball came out and took the blame that he “shouldn’t have made it close.”

“I should’ve held the ball a little tighter and not let them get a late strip there. That’s on me regardless,” Dawkins said.

But Utah’s offense stalled and was forced to punt with 2:07 left in the game. Down by a score, Dawkins tried to lead the Wildcats to the end zone. However, Utah’s defense had a different idea in mind. On third-and-6, Utah safety Corrion Ballard made his first career interception to seal the win.

“It’s a throw you wish you could get back,” Dawkins said.

Utah had some lows on the night, too. The Utes were forced to play without defensive end Kylie Fitts, who suffered an apparent ankle injury, and defensive back Marquise Blair, who was ejected from the game after committing a targeting penalty. Starting quarterback Tyler Huntley also left the game in the second quarter with an apparent shoulder injury.

“It made a big momentum shift with their starting quarterback out of the game,” said Arizona linebacker Tony Fields II. “They have a very good backup and it was the same thing. We just had to make plays.”

As Troy Williams took the field for Utah, it appeared the Utes wouldn’t miss a beat as he connected with receiver Darren Carrington II for 40 yards. The drive didn’t end in a touchdown, but Utah settled for a field goal to add points to its score.

To start the third quarter, Williams found receiver Demari Simpkins for a huge 37-yard gain on third-and-18. The play set up a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Williams to boost Utah to a 10-point advantage.

“It was just a bad play, bad ball, bad everything,” said Fields of giving up nearly 40 yards on third down. “That’s what got us right there.”

Dawkins said that though Arizona lost, he’s proud that his team stayed in the game throughout all four quarters.

“A couple plays didn’t go our way, but if they did the outcome would’ve been different,” Dawkins said.

“Losing is always a lot of frustration, but it’s how you take the loss not how it happened,” said Fields. “If we dwell on it, we can become a worse team. If we take the loss and try to do our best next week in preparation, we’ll be better.”

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

Sports

ARE YOU GAME?

From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast