Utah Football suffered a heartbreaking loss against the Florida Gators on Saturday night. It was a slugfest all night long.

The Utes had multiple chances to pull this one off. There were at least four snapshot moments in this game where, had they gone the other way, we’d be looking at a Utah victory. This game, this loss, will sting them all season, as they felt they should have had it.

Utah, up 10-7 in the 2nd quarter, had a 4th and 3 at the Gators’ 8-yard line. The Utes chose to kick the field goal on the doorstep of the goal line to go up 13-7. The differential being six points threw off all decision-making all night long, as the Gators would go on to score and bring it to 14-13 at the half.

On their 2nd-quarter-opening drive, the Utes found themselves on the one yard line with three chances to score. They tried multiple times to punch it in, but could not quite get across the line. No replay review was able to overturn things for Utah, despite Cameron Rising and Tavion Thomas both appearing to potentially have broken the plane of the goal line. No dice on scoring there, and Florida took over on downs.

A stop and a touchdown later in the 3rd quarter put the Utes up 19-14. The choice to go for the two-point conversion there put the Utes in a rough spot, as the attempt never really got off the ground thanks to a missed handoff. Instead of being up seven, it was just five, and the ensuing Florida touchdown put the score to 22-19.

Football math put both Kyle Whittingham and Billy Napier through the wringer tonight. The Utes scored again to go up 26-22, forcing the Gators into touchdown-or-bust mode with just a few minutes left. Anthony Richardson was dominant on the drive, as he had been all night, and punched Florida into the end zone for a 29-26 lead.

Enter Rising. Utah’s quarterback led them down the field and into scoring position on the 6-yard line. With time running out, they figured to have a few shots at the end zone to win the game, and at the very worst, have a chip shot field goal for overtime.

Instead, Rising threw an ill-advised pass right into the arms of a diving Amari Burney. The worst case scenario happened, as the interception sealed the game with no chance at a win for the Utes. By the thinnest of margins, the Gators pulled it off.

This one will sting all season long. With multiple chances to win their season opening game, instead Utah will start at 0-1. Their No. 7 ranking will suffer, and their hopes at the College Football Playoff are now on life support.

They’ll have to run the table for any shot to get in, and the high expectations for this year have now taken a big hit. Thankfully, it’s not a conference loss, and Utah’s chances to win the Pac-12 are still amazing.

Certainly, Commissioner George Kliavkoff and the rest of the Pac-12 cannot be happy to see this outcome. A Utah trip to the CFP could do wonders for the conference’s long-term outlook. Nothing is off the table after tonight, but it certainly amounts to a cold reality check for the Utes. It’s disappointing, but they’ll move on to next week after battling hard tonight. There’s still a lot of season left, and a ton to play for for Utah.

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