by Scott Funk (@scottfunk0)
Salt Lake City – It was close game throughout, but two drives in the final minutes of the game proved to be exactly what Washington (9-2,6-2) needed as the Huskies would top Utah (5-6,2-6) 33-30 on a 38-yard field goal as time expired.
Washington got on the board first on a nine-yard rush from Myles Gaskin with 7:11 left in the first quarter, but would miss the ensuing PAT to make the score 6-0.
On the following drive for the Utes, Huntley connected with Raelon Singleton and after a couple of broken tackles, Singleton found his way to a 40-yard touchdown to make the score 7-6 with 3:04 to play in the first.
On the following kickoff, the Utes opened up the playbook with a special teams trick play and attempted an onside kick. Kicker Mitch Wishnowsky recovered his own kick to give the ball back to the Utes on their own 48-yard line. 10 plays later, Matt Gay kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 10-6 with 12:47 to play in the first half.
Washington then scored 10 unanswered points on two seven-play drives. The first one going for 65 yards and ending on a Jake Browning six-yard touchdown pass to Lavon Coleman with 9:45 to play in the half, and the second going for 34 yards and ending with a 34-yard field goal to make it 16-10 with 1:58 to play.
Then it was Utah’s turn to score some unanswered points. On the Utes final drive of the first half, the two-minute offense was in play. They went 49 yards on 8 plays and finished with a 44-yard field goal from Gay to make it 16-13 at halftime.
The Utes opened the second half with a 59 yard drive that went for eight plays and ended with a 25-yard field goal from Gay to make it 16-16 with 11:53 to play in the third.
After exchanging blows on defense from both teams, Utah would put together a 10 play drive that went 80 yards ending with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Singleton, his second TD reception of the night, making it 23-16 for the Utes with 1:37 to play in the third quarter.
The lead was short-lived however as Washington would strike right back two plays later with a 76-yard touchdown pass to Gaskin, tying the game up at 23 with :42 remaining in the third quarter.
The Utes again brought out the trick plays in the fourth quarter, starting off their first drive with a fake punt that Wishnowsky ran 19 yards for a first down. Later in the drive, Huntley found Jake Jackson for 39 yards down the field, and then finished the drive himself on a five-yard rushing touchdown to make it 30-23 with 10:52 to play.
After making huge stops on defense, including stuffing the huskies on fourth down in Utah territory, the Utes got the ball back with just over four minutes to play and a chance to ice the game. But the Washington defense held strong, forcing Utah to punt with 2:03 to play.
On their ensuing drive, the Huskies went 61 yards on 9 plays, ending with a Gaskin two-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 30 with :58 to play.
On the Utes next possession they were unable to get anything going and went just 9 yards on three plays and took only 29 seconds off the clock before having to punt again.
Washington took over at their own 28 and on their first play, ran the ball for two yards, but Utah would call a timeout to stop the clock with :23 to play. On the next play, Browning found Dante Pettis for 18 yards down to the Washington 48.
Browning then connected with Andre Baccellia for 31 yards down to the Utah 21 with :08 to play. Two plays later, the Huskies would kick the game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired to give the Utes a 33-30 loss.
The Utes had 410 yards of total offense, with 117 coming on the ground and 293 through the air.
The Huskies were able to put up 477 yards of total offense, with 123 on the ground and 354 through the air.
Tyler Huntley was 19-27 for 293 yards, with one interception and two touchdowns. Huntley also had 25 carries for 48 yards and one touchdown.
Zack Moss led the rushing unit for the Utes with 55 yards on 17 carries.
Reason Singleton led the receiving unit on five receptions for 81 yards and two touchdowns. Darren Carrington, originally ruled out before the game, played but was held to just two receptions for 24 yards.
The Utes will have one last chance to get their sixth win on the year and become bowl eligible. That will come next week when they welcome Colorado (5-6,2-6), who will also be looking for that coveted sixth win and bowl eligibility, on Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium for senior night. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:00 MT. The game will be televised on FS1 and can be heard on ESPN700.
