On Saturday night, Utah saw first hand what Heisman front-runner Marcus Mariota was capable of. The Oregon quarterback finished with 481 yards of total offense and led the Ducks to 24 fourth quarter points, including 21 unanswered to end the game, as Oregon ran away from the Utes 51-27.
He was the reason the Ducks won the game. It just took some time to realize it.
In the first quarter a string of bad luck – and that’s underselling it – hit the Utes. First, quarterback Kendal Thompson, after breathing life into the Utes recent stagnant offense, went down with a season-ending knee injury. Then in the first moments of the second quarter Kaelin Clay made the play he will be remembered for, for a long time – and not in a good way.
Thompson’s replacement, Travis Wilson, hit Clay in stride on a deep crossing route that had Clay running free for the end zone. As he got near the end zone, Clay inexplicably dropped the ball before crossing the plane. Assuming he just scored, Clay and the Utes started celebrating, all while the Ducks picked up the ball and ran their way to a house call in the other end zone.
A 14-0 Utah lead turned into 7-7 tie in an instant. The once ruckus filled Rice-Eccles Stadium fell silent and the energetic, Ute sideline changed to stunned disbelief.
“It really seemed to take the winds out of our said and take the air out of things for us,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said.
The Ducks took advantage of the deflated Utes squad, scoring three more times in the quarter and took a 24-10 lead in the half.
“I know how important points are, so I take full responsibility for what just happened, because that shifted the whole game,” Clay said. “We would have went up 14-0, so criticism and blame, whatever you want to throw out, I’ll take full credit for it, I don’t even care. I place it all on my shoulders, I take it all.”
It changed the whole game, yes, but the Utes changed it again in the second half. A week after only throwing for 57 yards against Arizona State, the Utah passing attack reemerged from its slumber.
Wilson connected on 18-of-28 passes for 297 yards and 2 touchdowns and the Utes had two players (Clay and running back Devontae Booker) eclipse the 100-yard receiving mark. With the passing game clicking, Utah battled back and when Wilson hit tight end Westlee Tonga for a 13-yard scoring strike with 11:48 remaining in the game, the Utes found themselves down just three points, 30-27.
There was plenty of time to complete the comeback, plenty of time for Clay’s now infamous play to be forgotten, but also plenty of time for what may be the best player in college football to turn a close game into a rout. Unfortunately for the Utes, Mariota did just that.
On the next Oregon possession, Mariota hit passes of 23 and 18 yards before finding D. Stanford for a 34-yard scoring strike.
The next time he saw the ball, he threw for 59 yards and finished off the Duck’s drive with a touchdown run to make it 44-27.
Just like that, the rally was done and the comeback dreams were dashed. When the Ducks needed him to, Mariota stepped up and took the game over.
In the end, the Utes had no answer for the one of the top players in the nation and the best playmaker in the conference. Mariota dashed Utah for 239 yards through the air with 3 touchdowns and added 152 more on the ground with a score.
He was not to be stopped on this night.
“It was Mariota that did most of the damage,” Whittingham said. “The guy is really fast, and he’s really smart and I don’t see anyone in the country better than him.”
Whittingham and his squad got to see it up close Saturday night.
 
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