Sack Lake City has reappeared. The Utes sacked the Spartans 10 times Saturday night, and the Utah defense seems to have find their groove before Pac-12 play. Utah finished its nonconference schedule with a 3-0 record after a 34-17 win over San Jose State.
Troy Williams was 20-of-28 for 257 yards, and he threw for one touchdown, but he had one end zone interception. Tim Patrick was on the receiving end on a lot of Williams’ deep passes, and he finished with six catches for 121 yards. Zack Moss finished with 95 yards on 12 carries and one touchdown, and Armand Shyne had 12 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown. Troy McCormick pitched in with seven rushes for 61 yards, and head coach Kyle Whittingham likes where his running backs are heading.
“It was nice to see us get some efficiency in the run game,” Whittingham said.
Utah was coming off of a close a 20-19 win over BYU last weekend where it turned the ball over six times, and the BYU hangover seemed to be in full effect at the start of the game.
San Jose State got in the red zone in its first drive of the game, but the Utah defense put a halt to the Spartans’ momentum and held them to a field goal.
In his first game back after returning from two-game suspension, Cory Butler-Byrd had a catch for 45 yards on Utah’s opening drive. However, after taking a hit, Butler-Byrd was a little too eager to get back on the field, and the Utes mistakenly had 12 men on the field, resulting in a penalty. The Utes eventually settled for a field goal.
The Spartans didn’t get anything offensively on its next drive, but they followed with stiff defense against the Utes. However, the Spartans muffed a punt, and Jason Thompson recovered a fumble on the 17 yard line. Even with the ball deep into Spartan territory, the Utes settled for another field goal, and they took a 6-3 lead.
The Utah defense couldn’t keep up with the San Jose State offense, and the Spartans completed an 84 yard drive to score the first touchdown of the game, and they took a 10-6 lead.
Moss picked up where he left off against BYU, and he had a 51 yard rush. McCormick finished the job with a 16 yard rushing touchdown, and he put the Utes back on top 13-10, and the Utah defense was ready to shine.
The Utes sacked San Jose State quarterback Kenny Potter two times on its next set of downs, and after the Utah offense couldn’t get anything going, the defense sacked Potter another two times. Then it was san Jose State’s defense’s turn to step up.
The Spartans caused the Utes to lose 26 yards on its next offensive series, and they looked as if they could get one more score in before the half. But Reggie Porter intercepted Potter to give possession back to the Utes.
Williams got a deep shot to go, and he found Patrick for a 53 yard gain. Soon after that, the duo connected again, but this time for a five yard touchdown to give the Utes a 10 point lead at the half.
With a 20-10 advantage, Utah looked to build on its lead in the third quarter. The Utes had a first and goal from the two yard line, but for the second game in a row Williams threw an interception in the end zone.
But San Jose State couldn’t do anything with the turnover. Williams recovered from that interception and hit Patrick for a 28 yard gain. Moss would find his way into the end zone for a touchdown, and Utah went up 27-10.
In the fourth quarter, McCormick and Williams connected for a 31 yard pass, but McCormick coughed up the ball, and San Jose State recovered the fumble.
The Spartans didn’t do any better as they threw an interception on the following offensive series, and Shyne would eventually rush for a nine yard touchdown.
The Spartans scored one final touchdown towards the end of the game to bring the final score to 34-17.
“We didn’t finish those first couple drives, but we ended up finishing much better than we started — just better execution,” Whittingham said.
Utah will open up Pac-12 play at home against USC on Friday night at 7:00 p.m.
@kbrenneisen