Saturday was a bleak night for Utah fans — the fourth largest crowd in Utah Football history watched as the Utes nearly went scoreless against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, losing 7-13.
Recap
The first quarter started promisingly for the red and white, after TCU fumbled the ball with nearly 11 minutes left to go. Unfortunately the Utes didn’t make good on the opportunity, only moving the ball a total of six yards.
Later on in the quarter, the Horned Frogs found themselves attempting a 23 yard field goal, only to be blocked by Tao Johnson. The blocked score boosted morale throughout the stadium, but momentum was quickly lost.
Early in the second quarter, TCU clinched the first points of the match. A second 23 yard field goal found the back of the net, putting the Horned Frogs up on Utah 0-3. A few minutes later, TCU worked their way up to the Utah 21 yard line, before a short pass earned them the first touchdown of the night.
The third quarter didn’t see many improvements from the Utah defensive line, but the Utes found a brief opening to prevent a completely scoreless night. After a second field goal from the Horned Frogs, Isaac Wilson sent a deep pass to Money Parks, covering 71 yards and snagging a Utah touchdown to make it 7-13.
The fourth quarter brought reminders of Utah’s past few games, as the team pulled a handful of stops and created very few opportunities for scoring. The whistle blew with no change on the board, handing Utah an unranked loss at 7-13.
Analysis
Wilson struggled to get comfortable in the offense tonight, throwing for 199 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked four times, continually leaving Utah behind schedule. With a young quarterback leading the offense, the Utes did not do themselves any favors playing behind the sticks for the majority of this game.
Despite the tough loss, Wilson’s primary targets all played big parts in the offense, as Brant Kuithe finished with 6 catches for 56 yards, Money Parks had 3 catches for 79 yards, including the 71-yard touchdown and Dorian Singer helped round out the majority of the receiving core with 3 catches for 52 yards.
On a more positive note, early on in the game, Johnson recorded a blocked field goal, becoming the first player in FBS since 2012 to record a field goal block and a blocked field goal return for a touchdown in the same season.
Defensively, Utah was locked in all night, holding TCU to just 13 points and only 3 second half points while forcing 8 punts throughout the game. Unfortunately for defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley, the Utes offense was unable to take advantage of stellar defensive play en route to the 13-7 loss.
The Utes will head to Houston next week to take on the Cougars and look to stop the bleeding after dropping their third straight game this evening.
