TUCSON, Arizona — The No. 23 Utah Utes held on to 30-24 victory in a close battle down to the wire against Arizona in the Pac-12 season opener for both programs Friday.

It took an interception by Utah’s Corrion Ballard with 1:19 left in the game for Utah to finally breathe easy after allowing the Wildcats back into the game. Arizona scored a late 30-yard touchdown to make it a one-score game and then managed to recover an onside kick.

On the ensuing play, Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins was stripped of the ball on a rushing attempt and Utah recovered the fumble. The Utes, however, would stall on offense and were forced to punt the ball to Arizona with 2:07 left in the game.

Although the Utes come away with a win, the game was not without concern.

Utah lost starting quarterback Tyler Huntley in the second quarter of the game on a rollout sack. Huntley sustained an apparent shoulder injury, leading him to spend much of the game in the locker room before returning to the sidelines with a shoulder brace on his throwing arm.

Utah also lost senior defensive end Kylie Fitts in the second quarter to an apparent ankle injury and junior Marquise Blair in the third quarter to a targeting penalty. Blair was forced to sit out the remainder of the game and will be held out of the first half of Utah’s next game against Stanford.

Utah improves to 4-0 on the season as it enters its bye week. Utah will return to action on Oct. 7 at home against Stanford. The following are three takeaways from Friday night’s game.

Injury bug hurts Utah

As mentioned above, Utah lost two of its biggest playmakers early, setting the tone for the rest of the game. Losing a dynamic, dual-threat quarterback is a major blow to a team that had all the momentum. And it was obvious in the lack of production for the rest of the game.

Huntley started the game throwing for 98 yards and one touchdown on 8-of-9 passing and had a passer rating of 217 — the best of his career. The offense looked fresh and ready to roll over the Wildcats until Huntley was sacked hard.

Troy Williams, who filled in well in the backup role, picked up where Huntley left off and connected with senior receiver Darren Carrington for a 40-yard catch on his first play. The Utes, however, would stall in the red zone after Siaosi Wilson was ruled out of bounds and after Siale Fakailoatonga failed to pull down the ball in the end zone. Both were not Williams’ fault, but were one of few opportunities available to get a touchdown in the game.

Utah’s offense resembled the previous season’s at times, but without a big-time playmaker at running back. Instead, Utah was left to pick up few yards wherever it could. But the offense was nothing brilliant and lacked its regular dynamic, multi-faceted approach. In fact, Carrington, the team’s leading receiver, was only targeted one time in the entire second half. Carrington finished with only four catches for a total of 76 yards.

Williams finished the game throwing for 131 yards on 9-of-18 passing — a massive dropoff in completion percentage to that of Huntley — but managed to score one of Utah’s touchdowns. Williams has shown better than Friday’s performance, but risks becoming a one-dimensional team again.

The bye week will be a telling week for Utah, and most importantly, for Troy Taylor. If Taylor can retool the offense and pick up where it left off with Huntley, the Arizona game will be an anomaly. If not, the season has trouble written all over it.

Stopping the run

Utah knew coming into the game that it was going to be a tall order to stop Arizona’s multi-faceted rushing attack. Not only was Brandon Dawkins incredible with his arm and legs, but he had several players alongside him who could gash Utah’s defense.

The defense gave up 200 rushing yards Friday — the most all season — and struggled to contain players. Sure, Arizona’s athletes were talented and made plays to get open, but the poor tackling allowed for the Wildcats to gain 15 or more yards on a simple short pass or run.

Losing Fitts was an obvious problem, as Utah lost a talented pass rusher, but even established guys like Lowell Lotulelei were getting worked by Arizona’s offense. Arizona is a good test for Utah’s defense to get early in the season, but it’s a concern that the Wildcats were able to pick up extra yards on relatively routine plays.

Not all was bad with the defense, though, as it came up with big stops when it needed to, particularly after giving up big plays earlier in a drive. Some stops may have been fortuitous, like a Javelin Guidry pick-six to give Utah back some momentum, a recovered fumble late in the game or Ballard’s interception to seal the victory, but overall the defense had a knack for turnovers. The defense managed five turnovers against the Wildcats.

Utah’s defense continues to be a big factor in the team staying in close games, but there are obvious areas to clean up on the defensive side of the ball as well.

Special teams praise

Utah’s special teams unit continues to be a spectacle of the team, thanks to it saving a couple of botched snaps on punts, including one that led to a recovered fumble by Arizona. Matt Gay has cemented himself as a viable scorer, making three field goals Friday night, including a 41-yard kick in the first quarter.

Gay remains perfect on the season in field goals and points after touchdown. Although Utah would be much happier to settle for touchdowns, having Gay as a near guarantee in its back pocket is never a bad situation to be in.

Wishnowsky got some work in Friday, punting four times for a total of 180 yards. He averaged 45 yards per punt despite having to deal with poor snaps all night. Wishnowsky managed two punts over 50 yards, including a long of 55 yards. His ability to give Utah good field position can’t be overlooked. Utah, I’m sure, would be pleased to use him less, though.

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