Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said last week that the 2013 Utes can go toe-to-toe with the best the Pac-12 has to offer. Saturday versus the No. 6 Oregon Ducks, Utah proved its coach right — for two and a half quarters.
However, the Ducks landed a haymaker in the third quarter with a kickoff return for a touchdown that left the Utes woozy. Oregon then rocked a dazed Utah squad with one devastating blow after another en route to a 44-21 knockout.
Ute quarterback Travis Wilson did not make the trip to Eugene because of a concussion, which left sophomore Adam Schulz fighting out of Utah’s corner in the first start of his career. Although the Ducks got to him early with an interception, Schulz regained his composure and kept the Utes in the game. He finished 13-of-30 pass- ing for 181 yards, a touchdown and the interception. He also rushed for a touchdown.
“I thought he had a courageous effort,” Whittingham said. “He was not perfect by any means … but being thrown into a starting role against a legitimate top 10 team, I thought he handled it pretty well from a mental standpoint.”
After Utah fell behind 10-0 early, Schulz hit tight end Jake Murphy, who was making his return from a broken wrist after a four-game absence, for a 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter. It didn’t faze Oregon.
Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota completed a huge 57-yard pass to Bralon Addison that put Oregon on the Utes’ seven yard line. Just two plays later, Mariota found wide receiver Josh Huff for a touchdown, giving the Ducks a 10-point lead again at 17-7. The teams headed into halftime with that score.
However, the Ducks landed a haymaker in the third quarter with a kickoff return for a touchdown that left the Utes woozy. Oregon then rocked a dazed Utah squad with one devastating blow after another en route to a 44-21 knockout.
Ute quarterback Travis Wilson did not make the trip to Eugene because of a concussion, which left sophomore Adam Schulz fighting out of Utah’s corner in the first start of his career. Although the Ducks got to him early with an interception, Schulz regained his composure and kept the Utes in the game. He finished 13-of-30 pass- ing for 181 yards, a touchdown and the interception. He also rushed for a touchdown.
“I thought he had a courageous effort,” Whittingham said. “He was not perfect by any means … but being thrown into a starting role against a legitimate top 10 team, I thought he handled it pretty well from a mental standpoint.”
After Utah fell behind 10-0 early, Schulz hit tight end Jake Murphy, who was making his return from a broken wrist after a four-game absence, for a 34-yard touchdown in the second quarter. It didn’t faze Oregon.
Ducks quarterback Marcus Mariota completed a huge 57-yard pass to Bralon Addison that put Oregon on the Utes’ seven yard line. Just two plays later, Mariota found wide receiver Josh Huff for a touchdown, giving the Ducks a 10-point lead again at 17-7. The teams headed into halftime with that score.
After receiving the second half kickoff, Utah orchestrated a 74-yard drive that ended with a Schulz rushing touchdown. Down by only three at 14-17, the Utes then let their guard down and got walloped. De’Anthony Thomas took the ensuing kick to the house as Oregon pushed the lead back to nine. By the end of the third quarter, Utah trailed by 23, 37-14.
“The wheels came off today and the wheels come off on a lot of people that Oregon plays,” Whittingham said.
Utes’ linebacker Trevor Reilly once again put the responsibility for Utah’s collapse on his unit.
“We gave them four or five big plays on guys not covering some- body, blown coverage, not gettin’ his gap in the run,” he said. “Those are things we can control and we screwed up.”
After the Utes’ defense had held the Ducks to only eight yards rushing in the first half, they gave up 137 in the second. The Utah secondary also got a beatdown as Mariota continued to land successful jabs. He finished the afternoon 19-of-26 with 288 yards and three touchdowns.
Utes’ linebacker Trevor Reilly once again put the responsibility for Utah’s collapse on his unit.
“We gave them four or five big plays on guys not covering some- body, blown coverage, not gettin’ his gap in the run,” he said. “Those are things we can control and we screwed up.”
After the Utes’ defense had held the Ducks to only eight yards rushing in the first half, they gave up 137 in the second. The Utah secondary also got a beatdown as Mariota continued to land successful jabs. He finished the afternoon 19-of-26 with 288 yards and three touchdowns.
“One of the best quarterbacks in the country,” Whittingham said. “He’s very capable either running or throwing. Today, he wasn’t his usual self running the football … He tore us up in the throw game.”
Trailing by 30 in the fourth quarter, the Utes took one last ditch swing with a 58-yard drive that was punctuated by a Bubba Poole touchdown, but that was far from enough to stop the bleeding as Utah was finally counted out on the turf in Autzen Stadium. “At the end of the day, we’re still 1-6 in the conference and that’s terrible,” Reilly said. “We’ve had what many would say is the toughest schedule in the country, we’ve had some injuries, but at the end of the day nobody cares. We gotta be able to close out games … It’s just one of those things. I don’t know what it is but we have not been able to step on people.”
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