The Arizona State Sun Devils (2-7, 1-5 Pac-12) looked to start a winning streak against the Utah Utes (7-2, 4-2 Pac-12) after a 34-28 win against Washington State (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) but could not make it happen as the Utes offense gained momentum early with a 55-3 win.
Utah stunned on offense with 14 total drives, nine of which were scoring drives for the Utes. Utah had two touchdowns of over 50 yards, with a 59-yarder from redshirt freshman quarterback Nate Johnson in the second drive of the fourth quarter and a 54-yarder from sophomore running back Ja’Quinden Jackson in their first drive of the second half.
Both players had the top rushing yards for Utah, with 111 for Jackson and 79 for Johnson.
Jackson and Johnson were not the only shining players for the Utes as junior wide receiver Devaughn Vele rushed for two touchdowns, each in the first two drives of the game. Vele set the tone early against the Sun Devils that this would not be an easy game for the defense.
Utah’s 55 points were made up by seven touchdowns and two field goals. The scores included a 20-yard touchdown from junior wide receiver Munir McClain and a 22-yard touchdown from junior running back Charlie Vincent, their season’s firsts.
Although the Sun Devil defense continued to show its power against the strong Utes with 91 total tackles compared to Utah’s 60, the Utes were just a better team in the matchup.
The Utes’ biggest offensive asset was their ability to perform on third down, standing at 10 at 16 compared to ASU’s third down completions at 1 of 15. Because of their third-down struggles, the Sun Devils only reached the red zone once, resulting in their field goal from graduate student placekicker Dario Longhetto.
The Sun Devils had many chances to score against the Utes and came close to decreasing their trail numerous times. ASU had two major plays by graduate student wide receiver Melquan Stovall that were called back by officials.
In the fourth quarter, Stovall returned a punt from Utah’s sophomore punter Jack Bouwmeester for 72 yards for an ASU touchdown. What would have been their first of the game was called back due to a holding penalty on freshman defensive lineman John Butler III, enforcing a dead spot on the Utah 10.
This wasn’t the only failed major play by Stovall. In the second quarter, with 27 seconds left, Stovall had a great catch for the Sun Devils for 23 yards onto the Utes 38. But after the catch, Stovall failed to retain control of the ball, leading to an incomplete pass call. This could’ve been a crucial play to bring the Devils into the red zone or into field goal range.
Despite their struggles, the Sun Devils had shining moments from redshirt junior Elijhah Badger. Badger had the biggest play of the game for ASU with a 79-yard kick return midway through the first quarter. He had 96 total yards in kick returns, more than the yardage combined of ASUs passing and rushing yards at 73.
The Sun Devils have struggled with offensive injuries throughout the season and have not been able to get their offensive line healthy again. Going into the game against the Utes, the Sun Devils were missing six of their nine top offensive players.
Their injury misfortune continued as their third-string redshirt junior quarterback Trenton Bourguet went down during ASU’s first drive of the game, forcing the Sun Devils to bring in redshirt sophomore quarterback Jacob Conover. He returned for ASU’s third drive in the second quarter but was replaced again by Conover.
The fourth-string quarterback struggled to keep up with Utah’s junior quarterback Bryson Barnes, who nearly quadrupled his passing yardage at 161 compared to 41. Barnes was the key to success for Utah with his 19-28 completion rate, paving the way for a win for the Utes.
The Arizona State Sun Devils will try for their third win of the season in their last away game against the UCLA Bruins (6-2, 3-2 Pac-12) Nov. 11. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. MST.
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