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CORVALLIS, Ore. — Utah hadn't had much luck this year against the Pac-12. The Utes entered Saturday night's game on a three-game losing streak which began when conference play began against Arizona State back on Sept. 22. The Utes looked to turn around that luck against No. 8 Oregon State.
Utah kept it tight all game long but repeatedly shot itself in the foot with penalties and turnovers. At the end of the day, it was Oregon State that came away with the hard-fought 21-7 victory.
This is how Utah played against the Beavers by position:
Quarterback: C
Travis Wilson had a shaky start with an interception and a fumble but once he settled down, he had a decent game. He threw one touchdown, but had only 172 yards. These numbers won't win football games against top 10 teams though. Unfortunately for Wilson, he was involved in all three turnovers (two fumbles, one interception) of the game, in which two of them led to a Beaver touchdown.
Running Back: C+
John White needed to rush for 100+ yards. At least that's what everyone on Twitter believed and wanted. Unfortunately for Utah, the running game was held to only 135 yards with White picking up 68 of them. Kelvin York added 52 rushing yards of his own.
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends: B-
The wide receivers were there, but there wasn't much else to that. There were no big plays, no big receptions. Nothing notable. Jake Murphy had a touchdown reception. That's about it.
Offensive Line: C
Wilson was doing his best impression of a hip-hop dance in the backfield, or so it seemed. The offensive line let the OSU defense get through it too many times which caused Wilson to make a couple of bad calls early on. One time, Wilson was sacked so hard, he fumbled the ball and it led to a touchdown by Oregon State. Wilson was also sacked on their best chance to score near the end of the game to seal their fate.The O-line did not protect the quarterback well enough and didn't make enough openings for the running game.
Offense: C
The couldn't get a rhythm going, and when they did, they turned the ball over. Wilson did what he could when he marched his team down the field but three red zone turnovers (field goal miss, fumble, turnover on downs) were what decided the game for the Utes.
Defensive Line: B+
Although the running game was stalled by the Utah defense, OSU quarterback Cody Vaz had too much time in the pocket and was not pressured enough. Yes, they held the running game to only 52 yards, but Vaz set up a couple touchdowns, which turned out to be just enough for the Beavers.
Linebackers/Secondary: B+
The defense allowed three touchdowns, and unfortunately for the Utes, they allowed enough yardage to set up rushing touchdowns in the red zone. OSU quarterback Cody Vaz passed for 174 yards on 16 completions.
Defense: B+
Competing against the No. 8 team in the nation, the Utes held the Beavers to 21 points, which is a feat in itself. The Utes only allowed 229 yards in total offense.
Special Teams: C
The Utes attempted a field goal from 43 yards out and missed it. They dropped a kick off return and a punt return, but were able to recover quickly enough to avoid more damage.
Offensive Coordinator: F
With a slant running play in the red zone that resulted in a fumble and a 3rd-and-10 running play that had a gain of zero yards, it is hard to overlook the bad play calling. They had some decent plays that clearly kept them in the game but the red zone was not a happy place for Utah Saturday night.
Alex Rivera is the assistant sports editor of the UVU Review. You can contact him at arivera.2011@hotmail.com or through his Twitter account @A_River_Uh.
