The scene was eerily familiar. Utah held a skimpy second-half lead over its Mountain West Conference nemesis New Mexico in Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night, and suddenly the Lobos made a push.
Memories of 2005 and 2006, along with the accompanying theme song from “The Twilight Zone,” came rushing back for the Utah faithful after New Mexico started the second half off with 10 unanswered points to whittle Utah’s 14 point lead down to four.
But this year, Utah got the break it needed to hang on.
Louie Sakoda’s punt midway through the third quarter sailed toward the patiently waiting arms of New Mexico return man Ian Clark. Clark muffed the punt, and Utah linebacker and special teams guru Kepa Gaison recovered the ball for Utah on the Lobos’ 24-yard line, reviving the reeling Utes.
“That was the turning point in the game,” Utah quarterback Brian Johnson said. “We’ve been up at halftime in the past, and those guys have come back and beat us.”
This time was different for Utah. It took the Utes three plays to put another touchdown on the scoreboard. Johnson hooked up with Derrek Richards in the back of the end zone for a seven-yard score that put the game back in hand for Utah.
“Things got a little tight there,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “That (botched punt return) seized the momentum there in the third quarter.”
Utah had a similar opportunity in the fourth quarter. New Mexico again stopped the Utah offense and forced it to punt. DeAndre Wright muffed the ensuing Sakoda punt, and Utah’s R.J. Rice pounced on the loose ball.
However, New Mexico forced Johnson to fumble on the next play and recovered possession.
The crucial plays kept rolling out for the Utes. With little more than seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter, New Mexico retained possession with an opportunity to cut into the 21-10 Utah lead.
The Ute defense, however, forced yet another turnover, and Utah extended Whittingham’s longest winning streak as head coach to seven games.
“We won the turnover battle today, which is always a big value,” Whittingham said.
Tyler CobbZane Taylor dives after a New Mexico fumble. A number of New Mexico turnovers helped seal a Ute victory.