False starts took over the first half of the game on both the offensive and defensive sides when Utah took on Arizona on Saturday, Oct. 8. The Utes were credited nine false starts by the time the first half ended, but in the end, Utah came out with a 36-23 win over the Wildcats.

“We had far too many penalties tonight,” said head coach Kyle Whittingham. “There were a lot of false starts. [Arizona] was barking out commands on the defensive line — disconcerting calls — and we need to be able to handle that.”

Within the first quarter, Utah had a back-to-back false start penalties caused by sophomore Raelon Singleton and junior Garett Bolles. Fortunately for the Utes, the drive was not over, and the Utes eventually scored a field goal to get them back into the game. But towards the end of the quarter, senior Sam Tevi was called for a false start, and he cost his team another five-yard penalty.

The Utes added six more false starts to their list in the second quarter. The first play after Utah started its drive senior Isaac Asiata was flagged for a false start. And again when Utah started its second drive in the second quarter, senior Evan Moeai was called for a false start on the first play, and it started a trend within that drive.

After Moeai’s penalty, junior Harrison Handley was called for his own false start, followed by teammates junior Salesi Uhatafe, and Bolles again. But for Utah’s sake, it saw only one more false start of the quarter that was called on senior Nick Nowakowski with a snap infraction.  

“Word got across that Arizona’s [defensive] line was calling out our cadence,” said senior quarterback Troy Williams. “I think that was a big issue. There were a couple of calls that got us jumping off sides, but I think the big issue was their d-line calling out our cadence. We just have to better — more disciplined.”

Whittingham would like to see his offense clean up its play before it takes the field next Saturday.

“If we get some of those things cleaned up, I think we can be pretty good, but we will see,” Whittingham said.

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