Utah at Arizona
In spite of giving eveything they had and coming way closer than the experts expected, the Wildcats couldn’t survive the one-two punch of Utah’s QB Cameron Rising and RB TJ Pledger who combined for 435 yards and 5 TD’s in a hard fought 38-29 win on the road against Arizona in Tucson. The Wildcats were up 14-7 at the end of the 1st Qtr and still led 17-14 in the 2nd until Rising threw a TD pass to Brant Kuithe with just two seconds left before the break to go up 21-17. The second half was just as close but with the same result as Utah outscored the Wildcats 17-12 to seal the win.
Freshman QB Will Plummer was the sole source of scoring for the Wildcats in this one while connecting on 19-of-34 for 223 yards and 1 TD while also rushing 10 times for about half of Arizona’s total yards and the only rushing TD as well. Utah continues to spread the ball around in their passing game with six players picking up multiple receptions with the RB’s and TE’s picking up just as many catches and yards as the WR’s. Sophomore Place Kicker Jadon Redding was perfect on the night connecting on five extra point and one field goal as were his Arizona counterparts who combined for three field goals of their own and two extra points. On the defensive side of the ball for the Utes Freshmen DT Junior Tafuna and Safety Cole Bishop, Junior DE Mika Tafua and Senior Safety Vonte Davis accounted for 30 of Utah’s 57 tackles as well as all three sacks and half of the 7 tackles for loss.
With the score 31-23 Arizona got really close to taking the lead again early in the fourth quarter as described by the AP for ESPN; “the Wildcats scored again when Nazar Bombata blocked a Utah punt that Rhedi Short recovered before scoring a 3-yard touchdown to pull within 31-29 with about 10:30 left. The Wildcats’ two-point conversion to tie was unsuccessful.” Utah’s ensuing long drive culminating in the 2nd of TJ Pledger’s TD’s, that took the clock down to the 2 minute mark, combined with a sack of Arizona QB Will Plummer put an end to the hard fought contest on a failed 4th and 12 and turnover on downs with just a minute left.
Arizona hits the road to the Palouse to take on the Washington State Cougars this coming Saturday and while Oregon State’s win prevented the Duck’s from claiming the PAC-12 North, just yet, we’ll be getting a preview this next weekend of what most likely will be the PAC-12 Conference Championship match-up as Utah hosts Oregon. Utah can lose this game and still win the South. For Oregon, still in line for a final four national playoff spot, losing is not an option.
Colorado at UCLA
It certainly started out slow for the Bruins who were down 7-0 at the end of the 1st Qtr and 20-10 at the break. But In the second half they held Colorado scoreless while scoring 20 in the 3rd and another 14 in the 4th to win going away 44-20–becoming bowl eligible for the first time in four years. Moving forward keep an eye on their rushing yards because UCLA is now 6-0 when they run for 200 or more. On Saturday they not only rushed for more than 200 they amassed a season record 502 yards of total offense in an almost perfectly balanced attack of 257 yards in the air and 245 yards on the ground with five rushing TD’s—three of those picked up by Junior RB Zach Charbonnet and one each by Bruin QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Senior RB Brittain Brown.
With their passing and running game on track and UCLA turning the ball over twice on downs, missing a field goal and throwing an interception I imagine Colorado made very few adjustments at halftime. But after the break UCLA broke loose like they were shot out of a cannon with four straight TD drives as well as another score on an 82 yard punt return–going from 10 points down at the half to 24 points up with ten minutes left to play in the 4th Qtr. It was all over as Colorado turned the ball back over to the Bruins on their ensuing possession and fumbled on their next. By then there was less than four minutes left and the Bruins ate up almost all of that before the Buffaloes got it back with just 21 seconds left—still down by 24.
There was a certain irony as Chip Kelly and his Bruins finally got that sixth win needed for bowl eligibility against a team coached by UCLA’s former Head Coach from 2003 to 2007, Karl Dorrell. The Bruins have a good chance at picking up another couple of wins with their cross town rivalry game against USC up next followed by Cal. As the AP noted in their Takeaway for ESPN; “The Buffaloes are guaranteed a losing season for the ninth time since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, which is disappointing after they went 4-2 during last year’s shortened season and made the Alamo Bowl.” Colorado goes back home to host a Washington team in total disarray but needing to win their last two games against the Buffaloes and the Cougars in the Apple Cup to become bowl eligible.