Patrick Kinahan: Utah silences critics by finally beating ranked team
by Patrick Kinahan ksl · KSL.comSALT LAKE CITY — After a prolonged series of quizzes, which each produced sufficient results, Utah's football team finally faced a recognizable test.
In compiling six consecutive wins to start Morgan Scalley's rookie season as the head coach, the knock against the Utes was all the success came against inferior competition. Valid point, considering none of those six teams has a winning record.
Collectively, the talent-challenged six are a combined 16-27. To make the numbers look even worse, a last-second incompletion by fellow Big 12 member Colorado prevented an embarrassing Utah loss one week ago.
Still, partly due to a solid program reputation, the pollsters had no reservations in vaulting Utah up the rankings each week. They began the week at No. 10, the lowest of the undefeated Power Four teams.
Enter the Houston Cougars, a formidable opponent that came into Rice-Eccles Stadium harboring hopes of contending for the Big 12 championship. Their only blemish had come four weeks ago against defending champion Texas Tech when quarterback Conner Weigman fell inches short of a game-tying two-point conversion in the final seconds.
Turns out, the naysayers were wrong all along. Devoid of the typical offensive artistry the Utes have shown this season, they made a host of clutch plays to beat the 14th-ranked Cougars 21-13 in another late Saturday night affair.
Led by Devon Dampier's shifty legs and timely passing, Utah scored all three touchdowns in the second half after going scoreless in the first two quarters. The senior quarterback when it mattered the most, rushing for 152 yards and two scores to go along with throwing for 204 yards.
The defense also kept Houston's high-powered offense in check, allowing only one touchdown. With the Cougars having a chance to score the winning points in the final three minutes, safety Jackson Bennee pressured Weigman into a turnover to set up Dampier's 9-yard touchdown run on the next play.
As the conference heads into the final five games, Utah sits alone at the top at 4-0 (7-0) overall. Four teams are one game back, each with a lone conference loss.
Good luck handicapping the Big 12 over the second half of the season. As Saturday showed, the conference race is wide open with up to six teams remaining in contention.
Texas Tech and BYU, last season's two finalists, fell from the ranks of the unbeaten by losing on the road to Cincinnati and Central Florida, respectively. Both losses further muddled the conference, opening a clearer path to the championship game for one-loss Arizona and Oklahoma State along with BYU and Texas Tech.
For the Utes, the notion of beating up on weak teams has ended. The back half of the schedule turns significantly tougher, starting next week with a trip to Cincinnati.
The tough stretch continues with games against BYU and Arizona the following two weeks. The dangerous Wildcats have flown under the radar after suffering a loss to BYU last month but are playing as well as any team in the conference.
The Bearcats, who had lost two consecutive games, handled Texas Tech on Saturday with relative ease. The 37 points Cincinnati scored was the most against the Red Raiders this season.
The result prompted Texas Tech mega-booster to post on social media: "There is no excuse or reason to lose a game like this. We have to be better."
Given the high cost of Tech's roster, any loss is practically considered a program failure that demands drastic change. According to Campbell, the Red Raiders were supposed to make the other Big 12 teams pay for strongly opposing quarterback Branden Sorsby playing this season after his gambling issues became public.
After the Cincinnati transfer dropped attempts to play, Campbell took to social media to post the following threat to the Big 12's pushback: "We're not going to forget about that. And I don't think they'll forget about it either. When we're up by 40 and still throwing the ball in the fourth quarter, that's where the retribution will come."
As it stands, Texas Tech could fall out of the race with a second loss next week to Arizona. The Red Raiders also have a trip in three weeks to play resurgent Oklahoma State, whose one conference loss came by three points to Houston.
For all the tests that await, the two teams to play for the conference championship may not be decided until the final exams.