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The University of Utah Athletics
Football Loses in Final Minute
6/21/1999 12:00 AM | Football
Sept. 27, 1998
Stats
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Backup quarterback Nate Sparks threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Smith with 45 seconds to play, capping a 99-yard drive and giving Boise State a 31-28 victory over previously undefeated Utah on Saturday night.
The Utes (3-1) took a 28-24 lead on Mike Anderson's 21-yard touchdown run with 7:34 to play. Chris Hunter's 44-yard punt with 2:08 left stranded the Broncos (3-1) at their own 1.
But Sparks, who was playing in his only series of the game because coach Dirk Koetter said he wanted to shake up the offense, completed six passes for 93 yards in 1:13. Smith snatched the ball away from two Utah defenders in the end zone for the winning score.
Starter Bart Hendricks threw three touchdown passes for Boise State, which was held to just 38 yards rushing but registered 371 yards passing, the most allowed by Utah this season.
Utah quarterback Jonathan Crosswhite threw for 195 yards and had three touchdown passes, two to Donny Utu. Crosswhite hit Daniel Jones with a 50-yard pass with three seconds to play that would have put Utah in field goal range, but the back judge ruled Jones was out of bounds.
The Utes had their five-game winning streak snapped, while Boise State beat a non-Big West Conference Division I team on the road for the first time since 1995.
The Broncos scored two touchdowns in the game's first 7:20 before Utah's offense even touched the football. Smith caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Hendricks that gave Boise State a 24-14 lead with 10:01 left in the third quarter.
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