In a state where God, Jerry Hughes and football are one and the same, the defending Mountain West Conference champion Utes were handed their first conference loss of the season. TCU’s plan for keeping its undefeated season alive against the Utes was clear from the beginning: There would be no mercy, there would be no exceptions.
The charismatically un-Christian attack was headed by relentless All-American defensive end Jerry Hughes, who was let out of his pen charging.
The Utes were given a painful Hughes welcome in the first quarter and endured hits and pressure all night from the Rotary Lombardi Award semifinalist. Hughes ended the night witheight tackles, including 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for losses in TCU’s 55-28 win over the Utes.
“That’s a great player, right there,” said Utah freshman quarterback Jordan Wynn. “(Hughes will) definitely be playing on Sundays. That whole defense is a great defense.”
The relentless defensive attack broke down Utah’s most dangerous area of offense, stunting the Utes’ total rushing yardage to just 65. The total was anything but ordinary, as running back Eddie Wide accumulated more than 100 yards in the Utes’ previous six games alone. TCU’s defense broke Wide’s record-setting streak, limiting him to just 25 yards with a season-low average of 1.8 yards per carry.
“It was probably me,” Wide said. “I didn’t hit the hole right. I was trying to do too much at a time, so I just need to go back and calm down…and just play my game.”
Each of Utah’s top four rushers ended the night with less than five yards per carry; all the while the Horned Frogs’ offense was running wild on the Utes’ defense.
Working as a complete unit, TCU’s precise and powerful offense capitalized on opportunities provided by their defense, proving to be too much for Utah’s normally resilient protection early in the game.
The Horned Frogs piled a 35-7 lead on the Utes before ending the first half up 38-14. Utah’s defense has been known to save the Utes from losses late in the game in previous matchups this season, but it was unable to pull off the upset against a bigger, more aggressive TCU offense.
“I don’t ever remember us performing and making as many mental mistakes as we made that first half,” said senior linebacker Stevenson Sylvester. “We wanted to win. Believe that. There’s no doubt, but just mistakes…going against a top five team, they’ll come out (and capitalize on them).”
Rush after rush from Dalton and three different running backs, TCU tallied up 342 yards on the ground against Utah’s defense–123 more yards than Utah’s total offense.
Dalton and company pushed tirelessly through Utah’s defensive line, ending the game with each rusher averaging at least 5.3 yards per carry with the high average of 11.4 coming from freshman Ed Wesley.
“We didn’t play good defense tonight,” said head coach Kyle Whittingham. “It’s tough to play defense without some field position. Against a team like this…you have to have some good field position situations in order to succeed.”
The Utes’ struggles gaining ground against TCU’s third-ranked defense were further enhanced by consistent penalties, amassing 14 on the night for a loss of 110 yards.
In spite of numerous unproductive drives and lost yards, Utah managed to put 28 points on the board against TCU, and didn’t have a bad passing night with Wynn ending at 219 yards on 32 attempts withone touchdown andone interception. Wide receiver Shaky Smithson scored his first two career touchdowns for Utah, accompanied by another score from Wide on a 1-yard run with a minute left in the third.
“We put up the most points that anyone’s put up on them, so I guess that’s somewhat of a consolation, but that is absolutely the best defense we’ve seen all year,” Whittingham said. “They are as advertised.”
Sylvester said TCU’s undefeated team deserves even more credit than they’re getting.
“They’re performing like the No. 1 team in the nation,” Sylvester said. “They’re playing great in all areas–special teams, offense and defense. They’re a train that can’t be stopped right now.”
With the pressures of their biggest game of the season behind them and their conference title likely lost, Whittingham said the only thing to do is move on.
“The whole key now is how we respond. We’re 8-2, we’ve got two football games left in the regular season, and we’ve got San Diego State coming in next week, who’s a much-improved team,” Whittingham said. “We gotta get ourselves…right back in the grind.”
Mike Mangum