The nation’s longest bowl-winning streak ended Wednesday with little more than a fizzle as the Utes failed to score a touchdown against the Boise State Broncos in the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, losing 26-3.
In a game pitted as a battle of the two original Bowl Championship Series busters, the Utes continuously shot themselves in the foot by turning the ball over four times—one interception and three fumbles—and racking up more penalties (10) than first downs (8).
“In order to win a game like this, we had to be opportunistic and we had to make plays, and we weren’t able to do that,” said head coach Kyle Whittingham. “When you play a team of the caliber of Boise State, you have to be much better than we were tonight.”
Utah had success early on the defensive side of the ball. On the third play of the game, senior nickel back Lamar Chapman sacked Boise State’s Kellen Moore and forced a fumble that lineman Neli A’asa landed on to give the Utes the ball on BSU’s 20-yard line. However, they weren’t able to capitalize on the mistake, as the offense gained no yardage, and Joe Philips missed the 39-yard field goal attempt.
Utah did strike first on a 44-yarder by Phillips with 56 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. The scoring drive was set up by a Chaz Walker interception and 24-yard return to BSU’s 32-yard line.
This was the first time the Broncos had been shut out in the first quarter since Oct. 3, 2009, against UC Davis. However, that wouldn’t be enough for the Utes, as Moore and the BSU offense started to find their stride.
In the opening drive of the second quarter, Walker again came up big again, forcing a fumble by tight end Kyle Efaw that was recovered by Chad Manis. A false start on first down and a holding call on second killed the Utes’ drive and they were forced to punt.
It was BSU’s running back Doug Martin who wasted no time in taking the lead for the Broncos. Martin broke away for an 84-yard touchdown—the longest play in the bowl’s history—for a one-play scoring drive.
Whittingham said after the game that he had considered running a fake punt on the play before Martin’s run. He said the quick-strike was a back-breaker for the team.
The Broncos scored a field goal on their proceeding drive and drove 54 yards down the field in three plays to end the first half to make the score 16-3 after a failed two-point attempt.
“We wanted to start out fast, and we didn’t want to get down big, and once it happened, it kept on going,” said freshman safety Brian Blechen.
The Utes started the third quarter with the ball, and the struggles continued as Terrance Cain, who started in place of the injured Jordan Wynn, was sacked for a loss of six yards on first down.
Two plays later, things looked to be turning around when Cain completed a pass to Shaky Smithson for 23 yards. However, Smithson lost control of the ball when he was hit by Boise defensive back Jeron Johnson and the Broncos recovered.
The Utes got lucky on the proceeding drive when BSU wideout Austin Pettis fumbled a would-be 46-yard touchdown out the back of the end zone for a touchback. The joy was to be short-lived, as Cain again was sacked on first down, this time by Winston Venable, leading to another three-and-out. Pettis redeemed himself on the next drive, catching two passes for 39 yards, including an 18-yard score to put the Broncos up 23-3.
The Utes’ last sign of life ended after Cain completed what appeared to be a 30-yard touchdown to Jereme Brooks, but the play was called back on a holding call by senior captain Zane Taylor. Taylor said this play as well as other mistakes in the end proved to be too much for his team to overcome.
“I’m not going to take anything away from Boise State, but most of what we did on offense was just us hurting ourselves,” he said. “The hard part with a game like this is you starting playing with questions of what if. I know I am. I got a holding call on that touchdown pass. That’s going to haunt me for the rest of my life, and that’s the part that hurts the most.”
The Utes finished with just 200 yards of total offense—game MVP Moore alone threw for 319 yards—and finished 2-for-13 on third-down conversions. Whittingham spoke highly of BSU’s job on the defensive end, calling the Broncos unit very underrated.
“I know their offense gets a lot of accolades and is very good, but I believe that the strong suit of that football team is their defense,” he said.
On the topic of the now-broken bowl streak, the coach focused on the positive side of it, saying that years from now, the streak—second longest of all time—will be something for everyone involved to take pride in.
“Nothing goes on forever,” he said. “We had a nine-game run over an 11-year period of time. Our players and program is very proud of that.”