Last year, turnovers led to Utah’s demise against Oregon State. On Saturday night, turnovers haunted the Utes again as they dropped a 51-48 heartbreaker to the Beavers at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Utah quarterback Travis Wilson threw three interceptions while Oregon State didn’t cough up the ball once.
“The biggest problem we have as a football team is our lack of takeaways,” said Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham. “We couldn’t find a takeaway tonight.”
Despite the 3-0 turnover disparity, Utah was never out of the game, as it outgained OSU by 48 yards after getting off to a sluggish start on offense.
“We had three three-and-outs,” Wilson said of the Utes first three drives of the contest. “Mostly my turnovers were to blame. I made bad reads and need to correct those this week.”
While Wilson seemed to bear the weight of the loss on his shoulders, he was the player who kept Utah close with stellar play. After throwing his third pick, he began to rely more heavily on his legs than his arm and finished with a career-high 142 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Down by as many as 17 points, the Utes controlled the clock and had a potent running attack that got them back in the game time after time.
“When we were down 27-10, the look in their eyes was that they still believed,” Whittingham said of his players. “That is a great thing to have in a team.”
James “Bubba” Poole believed his way to a career day. At halftime, he only had six yards rushing, but finished with 117 on the ground in addition to 70 receiving yards and a touchdown. But his efforts and Utah’s determination weren’t enough to outscore the Oregon State offense, led by quarterback Sean Mannion.
Mannion torched the Utes through the air, passing for 443 yards and five touchdowns. He was most lethal on fourth down, converting two do-or-die situations in the final quarter.
Rice-Eccles Stadium ballooned with raucous noise on fourth and inches early in the frame before Mannion deflated the atmosphere with a 48-yard strike to wide receiver Brandin Cooks on a trick play.
“I thought that was crunch time in the game the way they were playing,” Oregon State head coach Mike Riley said. “…I thought, ‘Let’s go for it,’ so away we went. The kids executed it really well.”
Then again on fourth and nine with the clock winding down, a stop for Utah would have sealed the game, as it led by one point, 38-37. But Mannion converted again and the Beavers eventually scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to go back up by seven.
Still, the Utes never quit. They penetrated Beaver territory behind yet another drive fueled by Poole and Wilson’s rushing. Wilson dove for his second touchdown of the quarter with 21 seconds remaining, forcing overtime. That’s when the offense stalled.
Utah took the ball first in extra time and was held to a 41-yard field goal by Andy Phillips. Then OSU put it in the end zone for six to finish off the resilient Utes.
“It’s a challenge when you put that much effort and get that heartbreaking loss,” Utah tight end Jake Murphy said. “That is part of sports and we need to have a short term memory and move on.”