The U football team has been shooting itself in the foot all season. On Saturday, it nearly cost itself more than a limb.
Darrell Mack had 101 yards and three touchdowns and Matt Asiata added another 116 as the Utes overcame three Brian Johnson turnovers in the second quarter to hand Air Force (3-1) a 30-23 loss in a battle of unbeaten MWC teams. It’s Utah’s first 4-0 start since 2004.
“They have both humbled themselves to help us,” Utah quarterback Brian Johnson said of his running back tandem. “They’ve done an unbelievable job.”
All three of Mack’s scores came in the second half, where Utah beat Air Force at its own game and exhibited a furious comeback on the ground to overcome Johnson’s early mistakes.
“I told them I’d get it corrected,” said Johnson, who went 7-for-8 in the second half. “I told them to keep the faith.”
Utah started the second half down 16-9, but quickly tied the score on an efficient 8-play, 69-yard drive. Mack carried the ball four times for 29 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown run, where Mack went untouched on a sweep to the right side.
“A sign of a good football team is when you don’t play your best football and still get a win,” Johnson said.
Utah, which has allowed each of its first three opponents to take an early 7-0 lead, mostly because of poor punt returning, jumped on Air Force 9-0 after Johnson connected with David Reed on a 47-yard touchdown pass. Utah picked up two more points when the Falcons botched a punt while pinned deep in their own end zone.
But just as things started to look promising for the Utes, Air Force capitalized on a rash of turnovers from Utah’s veteran quarterback.
Johnson threw an interception in the end zone with Utah looking to go up 16-0 in the first quarter. After Air Force handed the ball back on an interception three plays later, Johnson’s fumble led to a Falcon field goal that made the score 9-3.
After Air Force made the score 10-9 following a missed 48-yard field goal by Louie Sakoda, who was kicking into a stiff wind, Johnson made his most costly turnover of the game.
With Utah staring at a 1st-and-10 from midfield, Air Force blitzed and Johnson tried to elude the oncoming pass rush. Johnson failed to secure the ball and as a result, Rick Ricketts punched the ball loose some 20 yards down the field in the direction of his own end zone, which Jake Paulson scooped up for an easy score.
“This was a gut-check game for us,” said Johnson, who was sacked five times that afternoon. “It’s not always going to be as clean and perfect as you’d like. There’s going to be some adversity. We battled through some things.”
Had Utah’s defense not done what it does best, there might have been little for Utah to battle for after the half.
The Falcons came into the game with the No. 2 rushing offensive in the country, averaging more than 300 yards per game on the ground and rarely passing. Utah’s run defense came into the game ranked No. 15 in the country. The Falcons finished with 53 yards rushing total.
“Our (run defense) was awesome,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Fifty-three yards rushing for an Air Force team? That says it all. There’s no further explanation needed.”
For those who like explanations, one minor change to the Utes’ defensive front seven is a start. Nai Fotu, who normally lines up as an outside linebacker, moved down to the defensive end, allowing Utah’s typical end, Koa Misi, to shift inside to defensive lineman. The shift made Utah’s line faster and also filled the spot that has been thinned by numerous injuries this year.
Misi finished with nine tackles, including two for negative yardage. Utah’s other defensive end, Paul Kruger, finished with five tackles, 2.5 went for a loss.
Even with the defensive firing on all cylinders and Utah’s tailback tandem running at full force, it was Johnson’s arm and Freddie Brown’s hands in the fourth quarter that kept Utah’s BCS hopes alive.
With less than five minutes to go and the score tied at 23-23, Utah faced a 3rd-and-8 from its own 36-yard line. Johnson zipped a 12-yard laser into Brown’s hands, who had been draped by defensive back Hunter Altman in the process. Following the first down, Asiata and Mack took over from there, with Mack earning every inch of the last nine yards to put Utah up for good. Joe Dale’s interception on the first ensuing play from Air Force nailed the lid shut on Utah’s toughest win of the season.
“Utah is really, really good,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. “They are strong at every position. They have tremendous quickness. They are certainly a squad that deserves to be in the top 15.”
Despite escaping from Colorado Springs, Colo. with the win, Utah did not help shed its image as one of the most undisciplined teams in the country. Utah was penalized seven times for 40 yards The Utes came into the game second in the country in total yards penalized at 284 total. The Utes had averaged 10 penalties per game, which was good for 117th out of 119 FBS schools.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.