After getting an extra week to prepare for an Air Force team that had lost five of its last six games and suspended 12 of its players for curfew violations, things were supposed to be easy for the Utah football team on Saturday.
But after struggling with the Falcons’ option, falling behind by 17, committing three turnovers that led to AFA touchdowns, missing an extra point, and finally blowing it all on a coaching miscommunication on the last play of the game, the Utes found themselves on the wrong side of a 38-37 score, and losers of their second straight game to end the regular season.
Utah (7-4) had little success early on in stopping the Falcons’ vaunted option rush attack. AFA (6-6) came into the contest ranked third in the nation with 276.4 rush yards per game, and quarterback Keith Boyea picked up 104 on 12 carries in the opening half alone.
Meanwhile, a muffed punt by Utah’s Morgan Scalley on the U 9-yard line allowed Boyea to score, a whiffed Brian Lewis punt led to a 45-yard field goal by the Falcons’ Brooks Walters, and a Justin Pendry interception of a Lance Rice screen pass at the 6 gave Boyea another scoring run two plays later. All that turned a 14-14 first quarter tie into a 17-point, third-quarter Falcon lead.
The Utes came roaring back, though, with a 23-point surge of their own.
Senior halfback Dameon Hunter (who finished with a career-high 226 rushing yards, and moved to No. 2 on Utah’s single-season rush list, with 1,396 yards) punched it in from two yards out.
The Falcons followed by snapping a punt out of the back of their end zone for a safety four plays later, and the Utes capped the ensuing drive with a 19-yard Rice-to Cliff Russell TD strike.
When senior halfback Adam Tate (who amassed 140 rush yards of his own) scored from 3 yards out with 8:43 to go, it appeared the comeback was complete.
Things seemed especially promising when the Ute defense caught on and held Boyea to just 6 second-half rush yards, and Utah as a whole outgained the Falcons by a 543-274 margin.
However, three more miscues wound up costing the Utes dearly.
First, Ryan Kaneshiro kicked low on the PAT of Tate’s score, and it was blocked Air Force’s Zach Johnson.
Then, Rice’s second interception of the day (by sophomore linebacker Marchello Graddy) set up a 19 yard scoring strike from Boyea to Kevin Runyon with 4:25 left.
Finally, the Utes had one more chance, having driven to the Air Force 12 with eight seconds left. But when the sideline coaches called for Rice to spike a pass and set up a field goal try, and the coaches in the box told him to try and throw for the end zone, Rice went with the latter option, found no one open, attempted to scramble and was tackled at the 4-yard line by freshman linebacker Anthony Schlegel as time expired.
Utah will now end its year on Dec. 25 in the Las Vegas Bowl versus 6-5 USC of the Pac-10 Conference.