No. 11 Utah edges past Colorado to stay undefeated on the season

BOULDER, Colo. — Utah threatened to be a part of a bad statistic Saturday night.

On a day where eight teams inside the Associated Press Top 25 suffered a loss, Utah found itself trailing Colorado late in the third quarter after a series of unfortunate events for the road team. Could Utah be the ninth?

Utah found a familiar face to help them out, though. With Utah controlling a 3-point lead late in the fourth quarter, former Utes quarterback Isaac Wilson tossed an errant pass to defender James Chenault, who picked off the toss and got deep into Colorado territory.

Utah quarterback Devon Dampier then hit Creed Whittemore for a 25-yard sideline catch, which was followed up by a 6-yard touchdown reception from Braden Pegan to give the Utes some breathing room … for a minute.

Wilson followed up the interception with a touchdown drive, capped off with a 2-yard touchdown reception by DeAndre Moore Jr. with 1:21 left. The ensuing onside kick, however, went into Utah's arms, and the Utes escaped with a 27-24 win in Boulder.

Dampier finished an up-and-down night throwing for 278 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on 24-of-41 passing in the win.

His counterpart and former teammate, Wilson, ended the night throwing for 221 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions on 15-of-24 passing.

Colorado opened up the second half with a 68-yard touchdown pass, in which Utah narrowly missed out on sacking Isaac Wilson before he connected with a wide open JaQuail Smith, to get their first points of the game. The three-play, 75-yard drive accounted for more yards than Colorado's entire first half.

But the Buffaloes weren't done there.

Colorado forced Utah into a three-and-out series on the ensuing possession, before driving the field for the second time. Wilson capped off the drive with a pitch to DeKalon Taylor, who went 18 yards into the end zone to take a 14-13 lead over Utah with 9:45 left in the third quarter. The Buffaloes later added a 32-yard field goal to control a 4-point lead.

Utah, however, fought back near the end of the third quarter to take a 20-17 lead, with Dampier connecting deep with Creed Whittemore for a 43-yard gain and then a 16-yard touchdown pass to Braden Pegan.

This story will be updated.

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