Utah kind of wins over Arizona, 30-24, while losing Huntley, Fitts and others

Well, I mean, the scoreboard says it’s a win, with Utah getting the 30-24 victory over Arizona in Tucson, but I don’t feel so great about the win. Not necessarily how Utah performed on the night, it was up and down, but with the names that left the game due to injury. Namely Tyler Huntley went out with a right shoulder injury and Kylie Fitts went out with what looks like an ankle injury. Bradley Anae also went out with an injury, as did Kavika Luafatasaga, not to mention Blair missed the 2nd half of the game due to a targeting ejection. It just seemed that guy after guy just kept dropping. The ironic thing is that Huntley went down on a passing play, where most people were concerned about his getting hurt running the ball.

On offense, the Utes started off the game really well, with Huntley leading the offense down the field with a great TD to Samson Nacua. Utah did a really nice job marching up and down the field with Huntley in that first half, but they left some points on the field.

When Troy Williams came onto the field, they were in the process of a 96 yard march down the field that almost resulted in an awesome touchdown pass to Siaosi Wilson that was eventually overturned. Troy actually came out on fire, playing really well, but things really ground to the halt late in the 2nd half. Huntley ended the night with 8-of-9 passing and 98 yards, while Williams was 9-of-18 for 131. The run game wasn’t great, but there were some highlights. Zack Moss had 73 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry, something I didn’t realize while watching the game. Devonta’e Henry-Cole got more reps, and looked pretty good overall with 43 yards on 11 carries. The offense is just a different beast with Huntley as opposed to Williams. Huntley provides an extra spark and makes the offense so wide open. With Williams, it is much more constricted, the field seems so much smaller. Williams is a good QB, but it obvious this offense has a governor on it with him at the helm.

On defense, they had some kill shots, with 5 turnovers and a pair of sacks. They did give up 200 yards rushing, which isn’t too bad considering it’s Arizona. It’s a bit high, but this team just runs and runs and runs. They did struggle at times getting off the field on third or fourth down. Arizona was 8 of 19 on third down, which is too high for this defense. They also converted 2 of 3 fourth downs. Fortunately, the Utes did enough to get a stop, and actually scored themselves with a pick six from Javelin Guidry. Guidry did a great job jumping a curl route and took it to the house. Dawkins had 248 yards on the night though the air, but did take 42 attempts to get there. I don’t love that high number, but the one that bothered me was the last TD for Arizona. That TD pass was too easy, and it seemed like Utah had some 2s (for sure) and maybe a couple of 3s on the field during that play.

Matt Gay continued being a stud, he went 3-of-3 on the night, remaining perfect on the season. Boobie Hobbs had another nice night, and probably should of housed a punt but got caught. Mitch Wishnowsky had a good night, but the snaps were not good for the big guy. He had to chase one near the end of the game, and one of the snaps hit one of the blockers resulting in a turnover. Fortunately, Utah blocked the ensuing FG before the half.

You’re going to hear it a lot this week, but boy, this BYE week is needed after tonight. Hopefully some of these big names can bounce back and get back on the field, because they need them.