ESPN’s College GameDay came to Sack Lake City for the second year in a row to show the entire nation what the Utah Utes were made of.
With President’s Circle covered in Ute red and crowd signs in every direction, Utah was ready.
Unfortunately, this time that we had GameDay, Corso did not pick the Utes to pull off a win against the number 4 Huskies, like he did last year against Cal.
Regardless of the pick, the Utes were ready to take on the Huskies and strip them of their undefeated title.
Here’s exactly what happened on GameDay week 9 broken down by each half.
FIRST HALF
During the first half, the Huskies were able to score twice. The first time was with only a minute left in the first quarter, Myles Gaskin ran the ball into the end zone for a 6-point lead, and Washington’s kicker, Cameron Van Winkle, added the extra point, Washington 7, Utah 0. With only 3 and a half minutes into the second quarter, Washington’s quarterback and Heisman candidate Jake Browning, throws the ball for a 16-yard pass to John Ross, with the extra point from Van Winkle adding another 7 points to the score board. Washington 14, Utah 0.
Shortly after the 5-minute mark, Joe Williams was able to run the ball into the end zone to give Utah the first touchdown of the game and put the score at 14-7, Andy Phillips giving us the extra point, but before going into the locker room for halftime, Andy Phillips gave us another 3 points from a 29-yard field goal, putting the score at 14-10 going into halftime.
The Washington Huskies have been undefeated, and it goes without saying that there’s a strong reason for that. The Huskies were able to hold off the Utah Offense better than almost any opposing team this year, only allowing one touchdown in the first half.
With the Utes and Huskies back on the field ready to finish the game, and ESPN viewers watching all over the country, the second half was underway.
SECOND HALF
With a little over half of the quarter almost over, the Utes QB Troy Williams, a former Huskie — ironically — throws the ball to Siaosi Wilson for a 6-yard pass into the end zone, and with the extra point being added, the score was then Utah 17, Washington 14, that being Utah’s biggest and only lead of the game.
But just when we thought that we had a good thing going, Washington was able to shut down the lead and add another 7 points themselves shortly after our little celebration. Washington 21, Utah 17.
Fourth quarter had just started, and with Washington already in the lead, they use that adrenaline and send in their kicker to add an additional 3 points to the board with a field goal kick. Washington 24, Utah 17.
Utah answers the cry of all those watching and is able to get a touchdown added to the score. Troy Williams throws the ball to Evan Moeai for a 24-yard pass and Phillips follows the lead by adding the extra point. Washington 24, Utah, 24.
Just when you think this game may go into overtime, the Huskies prepare to run the ball from a punt return, and Washington’s Dante Pettis made sure he ran that ball as far and as long as he could, into the end zone to be exact. So with the Huskies adding 6 points to the score, and the extra point going in, the score was now Washington 31, Utah 24 at the end of the Fourth and final quarter.
Are you feeling blue about the game? So was I, but here’s some key things to remember about the game.
- The Utes went in ranked 17th, but with the effort that the defense was able to put on the Washington offense, the Utes managed to actually move up a spot and were ranked number 16 in the following weeks poll, Washington on the other hand, fell one spot and was ranked 5 going into week 10.
- With Utah having such a great start this season, and only 2 losses, the Utes have managed to stay in the top 25 since week 4, and we are now going into week 11 as the 13th team in the AP poll, after having a BYE this week.
- Utah is still bowl eligible.
The Utah Utes go into week 11 ready to play against the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe, AZ.