Utah Football Clinches Spot In Pac-12 Championship Game With 45-15 Win Over Colorado

Saturday, November 30

Salt Lake City, Utah

5:30 PM

University of Utah

11-1 , 8-1

Colorado

5-7 , 3-6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Colorado

UTAH

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

Utah Football Clinches Spot In Pac-12 Championship Game With 45-15 Win Over Colorado

11/30/2019 9:22 PM | Football

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SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah football team clinched a spot in the Pac-12 Championship game tonight after winning its second straight and third overall Pac-12 South Title. The Utes put together a dominating performance in front of 46,879 fans in Rice-Eccles Stadium tonight, beating the Colorado Buffaloes 45-15.

The Utes will take on the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 Championship game on Friday, Dec. 6 in Santa Clara, Calif. at Levi's Stadium. The game is set to kick off at 6 p.m. MT on ABC with tickets available here.

The Utes improved to 11-1 overall this season, the third time to have 11 or more wins in program history. Utah also finished with a conference record of 8-1, its best record since joining the league and the first time the Utes have won eight conference games since 2008.

After Colorado would rack up 91 yards of total offense in the first quarter, the Utes only allowed 126 more for the remainder of the game. The Utes would once again keep an opponent to under 100 yards rushing, holding them to 60 yards rushing with the Buffaloes only averaging 1.9 yards per rush.

On offense, Utah finished with 372 yards (165 passing, 207 rushing), averaging 6.4 yards per play while winning the first down battle with 17. Tyler Huntley finished the game with 165 yards on 14-of-17 passing (0 INT) and two touchdowns while Zack Moss led the Utes on the ground with 20 carries for 88 yards and his 15^th rushing touchdown of the season to tie the single-season school record.

Tight end Brant Kuithe would be the star of the offense, scoring three of Utah's five offensive touchdowns, two on receptions and one rushing touchdown. He finished the game with a team-high 122 all-purpose yards that included three catches for 63 yards and two touchdowns, adding two rushes for 59 yards and one rushing score.

Devin Lloyd led the Utes in tackles with nine that included 1.5 sacks for a loss of 12 yards. Jaylon Johnson, Mika Tafua, Julian Blackmon and Bradlee Anae all racked up five tackles each with Anae adding 1.5 sacks to tie the school record for career sacks at 29.5.

On special teams, the Utes recorded four punt returns for 97 yards and one kick return for 22 yards. Demari Simpkins had a career-high three punt returns for 62 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown return in the third quarter.

The Utes trailed to end the first quarter after Colorado converted on a seven-yard passing touchdown to take a 7-0 lead on a 12-play, 62-yard drive with 43 seconds remaining on the clock. The Utes struggled to get going on offense in the first quarter, only gaining 27 yards of offense while only producing one first down.

Utah evened the score to start the second quarter when Huntley broke several tackles to launch a 38-yard passing touchdown to Kuithe in the end zone. It was Kuithe's fifth receiving touchdown of the season and his seventh overall, ending an eight-play, 75-yard drive with 11:21 on the clock.

Utah took the lead with 2:03 remaining in the second quarter when Kuithe's ability to be a dual-threat weapon on offense put the Utes in the end zone once again. Kuithe's 44-yard rush on a third-and-one put the Utes in the red zone and he finished the 84-yard scoring drive with his second touchdown of the game, a seven-yard receiving score to put the Utes up 14-7.

Jadon Redding knocked in his ninth field goal of the season with four seconds left to play in the second quarter, sending the Utes into halftime with a 17-7 lead. The Utes were put in solid field position after Blackmon returned the punt 35 yards to the Colorado 14, but were unable to find the end zone, settling on the 23-yard field goal for the 10-point lead.

The Utes started their next scoring drive in Colorado territory after the Utah defense kept the Buffaloes inside their own 10-yard line, forcing them to punt it away. Utah started on the Colorado 48-yard line, converting on four third downs, including a one-yard rushing touchdown from Devin Brumfield on a third-and-goal to give the Utes a 24-7 advantage.

After the Utah defense forced another punt, the Utes scored its first special teams touchdown of the season and its first punt return touchdown since 2016 when Simpkins blasted past Colorado for a 66-yard return to the end zone. It was Simpkins' first-career punt return score and his longest career punt return, putting the Utes up 31-7 with 56 seconds left in the third quarter.

Colorado got back on the board with 12:51 on the clock in the fourth quarter, connecting on a 27-yard passing touchdown and converting on a two-point conversion to cut the Utah lead to 16 points. It was a 79-yard drive for seven plays, taking 2:59 off the clock to make it 31-15.

The Utes wasted no time in extending its lead back out to 23 points, scoring on the next drive with Moss' 15^th touchdown of the season, tying the school record for single-season touchdowns. Jaylen Dixon and Simpkins combined for 45 of the 47 yards in the drive on a 24 and 21-yard catches respectively with Moss punching in the one-yard rushing score to end the drive and put the Utes up 38-15.

Kuithe put an exclamation point on his outstanding game with 5:12 left to play when he rushed for his third rushing touchdown in the last two games. The scoring drive was 63 yards long, all coming from the ground game, ending with a 15-yard rushing score from the Katy, Texas, native to give Utah its 45-15 win.