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Utah Football Embarrassed by Arizona in a 42-18 Trouncing

Arizona dominated the Utes in Tucson in a full-fledged walloping that saw the Utes questioning every aspect of their game

Austin Eames

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Utah looked completely lost in their humiliating 42-18 defeat at the mercy of the Arizona Wildcats. On both offense and defense, the Utes had no answers for an Arizona team that looked like it was shot straight out of a cannon with momentum. 

The Utes' terrible day saw no delay, as the team went down 21-0 before the end of the first quarter. All three phases of the game stalled for Utah, as the team’s offense, defense, and special teams couldn’t get anything to go their way.

Arizona’s first score of the game came from a Tetairoa McMillan trick-play pass touchdown to Michael Wiley for the score. The touchdown capped off an eight-play 75-yard drive that saw an injury-depleted Utah defense get cooked by the Arizona offense led by Noah Fifita.

Speaking on an injury-depleted lineup, it’s no secret that Utah hasn’t had the best luck with injuries this season. That bad luck continued, as before the game, the Utah defense suffered even more losses from the likes of Jonah Elliss, Caleb Bishop, and Karene Reid, who were all declared out with an injury before the game’s first snap. 

 Back to the game, momentum significantly shifted in the Wildcat's favor after Utah’s special teams unit gave up a blocked punt touchdown after the team’s first offensive drive of the game. The special teams gaffe made the score 14-0 in favor of Arizona, only seven minutes into the game. 

 To make matters even worse, Arizona tacked on their final touchdown of the first quarter with a 32-yard Noah Fifita passing touchdown to make the score 21-0. 

 The second quarter didn't start any better for the Utes, as Arizona put the nail in the coffin with a 31-yard screen pass for the score, that put them up 28-0. 

Shortly after, Bryson Barnes led the Utes on a long drive that looked like it could result in Utah’s first score of the game but was picked off by Arizona defensive back Jacob Manu in the red zone. 

As a heavy squall began to downpour in Tucson, the Utes put together their first impressive drive of the game near the end of the first half. The team’s 10-play 92-yard drive ended in a 20-yard Barnes passing touchdown to Devaughn Vele. 

After a relatively quiet third quarter that saw no scoring except an Utah field goal that made the game’s score 28-10, Arizona put down the hammer in the fourth.

After being stopped by the Utah defense on four straight drives, two of which ended on missed field goals, Arizona capitalized on Bryson Barnes’ second interception of the game with a quick score to put the Utes' hope of a comeback firmly out of reach. It was Jonah Colman who added the touchdown to Arizona’s onslaught of offense. Coleman ran all over the Utes in a day that included 90 yards for the sophomore running back. 

Utah added a final touchdown in garbage time on a Barnes passing touchdown to Munir McClain that accomplished little, besides salvaging a small amount of pride after the Utes' lethargic loss. 

Arizona wasn't a fan of the Utes' attempt to make the final score more appealing and scored one last touchdown on a Jayden de Laura deep-shot with :32 left to capitalize on their blowout victory. 

With a final score of 42-18 Arizona successfully demolished the back-to-back Pac-12 Champion’s hopes of a “three-peat”. With the season coming to an end at the perfect time, the Utes need to get healthy in the looming offseason. 

However, before then, Utah must complete their final regular season game in a home contest against Colorado. The game which occurs on Nov. 25, will pin two teams coming off blowout losses against each other.  

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Austin Eames
AUSTIN EAMES

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