In Corvallis, the Utes were looking to get their first Pac-12 road win, and they did. Utah beat Oregon State 19-14, and it was partially thanks to a player the Utes didn’t think they would be calling ever again.
Earlier this week, head coach Kyle Whittingham called Joe Williams, and asked if Williams would return to the Utah football program. Zack Moss isn’t entirely healthy, Armand Shyne suffered a season ending injury last week against Arizona, and the Utes were desperate for someone to step up and fill in that gap at running back.
A near month off of football seemed to do Williams good, and he finished with 179 yards on 24 carries with one touchdown. Cory Butler-Byrd followed with 54 yards on 10 carries.
Elsewhere for the offense, quarterback Troy Williams was 4-of-13 for 42 yards, and he also had one rushing touchdown.
Chase Hansen sacked the Oregon State quarterback on its first series to force the Beavers to a quick three-and-out.
Several times this season Utah has faced a fourth-and-short on its first drive. On Saturday against OSU, Whittingham left his offense on the field, which moved the chains after Troy Williams rushed for 12 yards to the Oregon State 29-yard line. However, he fumbled the ball on the next play, and Oregon State recovered.
The Beavers eventually punted the ball back to the Utes, and Joe Williams scored the first touchdown of the game to put Utah up 6-0.
On OSU’s next drive, Hansen came away with an interception, and he returned it to Oregon State’s 14-yard line, but the Utes were unable to get any points from this. Facing another fourth-and-short, Utah left its offense on the field. However, Troy Williams fumbled the ball for the second time in the first quarter, and as a result he wasn’t in a good position to get the first down, and OSU got the ball.
The Beavers couldn’t do anything with this turnover, and they were going to punt the ball back. But a bad snap landed in the endzone, and the Utes got a safety to go up 9-0.
The Utes drove all the way down the field, but facing another fourth-and-short close to the endzone the Utes were called for a delay of game, and they settled for a field goal.
The Utes ended the half with that 12-0 advantage.
Utah wasn’t able to score on its opening second half drive, Oregon State on the other hand came out of the locker room with a renewed focus. Artavis Pierce broke away from the Utah defense, and he rushed for 22 yards, and then again for 18 yards to score the Beavers first touchdown of the game to make the score 12-7.
Neither team would score in the rest of the third quarter, and in the fourth Oregon State looked poised to take the lead. However the Utah defense held a stiff front, and it forced the Beavers to attempt a field goal, which they missed.
With about five minutes left to play Utah punted the ball back to OSU, and the Beavers looked like they could have one final drive left in them. However, they fumbled the ball on a third down, and the Utes fell on top of it. As a result Troy Williams would go on to score an eight yard rushing touchdown, and Utah went on top 19-7, but Oregon State wasn’t done.
The Beavers drove 65 yards to score one more touchdown, and they only took 1:38 off the clock. It was to no avail though, because Oregon State’s onside kick didn’t go the full 10 yards, and Utah got the ball with decent field position.
The Utes could not convert a fourth down to run out the clock, and OSU got the ball back with 37 seconds left in the game. However, Oregon State was unable to come up with anything, and the Utes got the win.
The Utes will travel to Los Angeles next weekend to take on the UCLA Bruins at 1:00 p.m. PT.
@kbrenneisen