Utah Clinches 35-27 Comeback Win Over BYU

Saturday, November 24

Salt Lake City, UT

8:00 PM

University of Utah

Brigham Young

Photo by: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

11/24/2018 11:56 PM | Football

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SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah football team overcame a 20-point deficit to win its eighth straight Deseret Duel, defeating the BYU Cougars 35-27 in front of the 57^thstraight sellout crowd in Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night.

The 20-point scoring swing is the second-largest deficit that the Utes have overcome for a win in program history with the school record at 27 points. After only having 86 yards of total offense in the first half, Utah scored 35 unanswered points and held BYU to just 110 yards in the second half for the victory.

Jason Shelley finished the game 19-for-28 passing for 141 yards and a touchdown, adding a career-high 61 yards rushing with a 33-yard rushing touchdown at the end of the game. Armand Shyne was also key in the ground game, notching 15 carries for 47 yards and two touchdowns.

Siaosi Mariner led the Utes through the air with 50 yards on three catches while Samson Nacua scored his fifth receiving touchdown of the season with a 10-yarder in the third quarter.

Chase Hansen once again led the Utes in tackles with a career-high tying 13, including 3.0 tackles for loss. Francis Bernard racked up eight tackles with Julian Blackmon adding five tackles and a pick-six.

On special teams, Mitch Wishnowsky had six punts for 249 yards (41.5 average), landing three inside the 20-yard-line. He also had two 50-plus yard punts, giving him 19 on the season.

After the Utes forced a three-and-out on BYU's first drive of the game, the Cougars got the ball back after a muffed punt by Utah on its own 33-yard-line. BYU went on to score on a 10-yard passing touchdown, but missed the extra point to take a 6-0 lead with 10:55 remaining in the first quarter.

The Utes had zero first downs and just 15 yards of total offense in the first quarter while BYU racked up 153 and two touchdowns. The Cougars took its 13-0 lead after another three-and-out by the Utes with 3:57 left in the first on a 26-yard pass, ending a four-play, 66-yard drive.

Utah was held scoreless in the first half with BYU taking a 20-0 advantage to close out the second quarter. The one-yard rushing touchdown by the Cougars with 25 seconds remaining in the quarter was on the backend of a 14-play, 64-yard drive that burned 6:22 off the clock.

As the third quarter started, it was time for Utah's defense to step up, coming away with a key turnover on BYU's first drive of the quarter. Blackmon notched his first interception of the season and his first-career pick-six with 11:33 on the clock, cutting the Cougar lead to 20-7 on the 27-yard return.

Unfortunately for the Utes, BYU was able to score its fourth touchdown of the game at the 5:28 mark in the third quarter, increasing its lead to 27-7. It was Matt Hadley's second one-yard rushing touchdown of the game, ending an eight-play, 44-yard drive after the Utes still couldn't get going offensively.

Utah's offense got on the board with just 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter on the end of a 14-play, 75-yard drive to cut the BYU lead to 27-14. Nacua scored his fifth receiving touchdown of the season on a 10-yard pass from Shelley, making it a 13-point game heading into the final quarter.

The momentum stayed in Utah's favor after they made it a one-possession game when the Utes were gifted with great field position on a 15-yard punt from the Cougars. The scoring drive that started on the BYU 45 ended with Shyne punching in a two-yard rushing touchdown to make it 27-21 with 10:53 on the clock in the fourth.

The scoring run continued for the Utes with 3:02 remaining in the game when a five-yard rushing touchdown from Shyne gave Utah a 28-27 lead. The touchdown was set up by a 37-yard bomb from Shelley to Mariner to the BYU five-yard-line, putting the Utes in scoring territory to end their 10-play, 70-yard drive.

After a fourth down stuff by the Utah defense with less than two minutes to play, the Utah offense put an exclamation point on its comeback victory with a 33-yard rushing touchdown by Shelley to give them a 35-27 lead. The Cougars had one more chance with less than a minute on the clock, but Utah's defense once again stopped them on fourth down, allowing the Utes to run out the final 30 seconds for the win.

Utah returns to action when they take on the Washington Huskies in the Pac-12 Championship game on Friday, Nov. 30. The game is set for a 6 p.m. MT kick on FOX.