The No.7 ranked Utah Utes lost a back-and-forth 29-26 thriller to the Florida Gators in Gainesville on Saturday night, bringing Utah’s record versus SEC teams down to an abysmal 1-7.
First half
Despite opening strong with a forced fumble followed by a 7-yard touchdown pass from Cam Rising to Brant Kuithe, the Utes didn’t maintain momentum for long. A rushing touchdown from Florida QB Anthony Richardson tied the game at the end of the first quarter and was a harbinger for things to come later in the game. The Utes followed with a pair of field goals, and a 45-yard run from Richardson ended off the half with the Gators leading 14-13.
Second half
During the first drive of the second half, the Utes found themselves down one at the Florida 1-yard line on second and goal. Three plays later, the Gators had the ball back, still up a point after three unsuccessful rushing attempts and a turnover on downs for Utah. And although the following Florida drive ended in a punt, the Utes surely had a bad taste in their mouth after three failed rushes at the goal line.
The Utes scored a touchdown with 12 seconds left in the third quarter, and to try and tie things up with the Gators, went for a two-point conversion. This attempt failed, leaving the score 19-14 for Utah.
After a quick touchdown to begin the fourth quarter, Florida head coach Billy Napier went for a two-point conversion, the first of many gutsy plays for the Gators. The try was converted, giving the Gators a field goal lead at 22-19. The Utes and Gators then proceeded to trade touchdowns, leaving the game in Utah’s hands trailing 29-26 with 1:25 on the clock and two timeouts.
Final drive
The Utes got off to a hot start on their final drive of the game, reaching midfield in three plays and using under half a minute.
The Utes then made their first mistake. On first and ten from their own 49, Cam Rising threw a check down to Micah Bernard for three yards, costing the Utes their second timeout of the half. After a first down and advancing the ball to the Florida 19-yard line, Rising made a second mistake on the drive. Not learning from his first error, Rising threw a four-yard check down to Money Parks on first down, leading to the Utes losing their third and final timeout.
Rising then recorded a first down to tight end Dalton Kincaid, bringing the Utes to the Florida six-yard line and down a field goal, with just under half a minute left and no timeouts remaining.
With the game on the line and coming fresh off of a Florida timeout, the Utes offense trotted onto the field hoping to put them on the right track to start what they hoped to be an incredible season. And, on first and goal, Cam Rising threw the game away, in the most literal sense. He targeted Dalton Kincaid on a goal-line bound pass in triple coverage, leading to an interception and the Utes starting the season 0-1.
FLORIDA SEALS THE WIN OVER NO. 7 UTAH WITH THIS INT IN THE END ZONE 🤯 pic.twitter.com/KmwtccmWcp
— ESPN (@espn) September 4, 2022
Final thoughts
One can only wonder if the Utes would have made a different call on that final play if their timeouts weren’t used earlier in the drive. Maybe Tavion Thomas could have made up for his missed goal-line opportunity in the second quarter. But, what’s done is done, and the Utes are now looking towards a matchup with the SUU Thunderbirds next weekend, hoping to get their season back on track.
Despite the loss, some Utes had a good showing in Gainesville, with Tavion Thomas rushing for 115 yards and a score, as well as Brant Kuithe reeling in nine receptions for 105 yards and a score. Oddly enough, both Kuithe and Thomas didn’t touch the ball on the Utes’ final drive. Despite the strong performances from Thomas and Kuithe, Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson is the one that stole the show. Amassing 168 passing yards – as well as 106 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground – Richardson is earning his No. 13 spot on draft guru Mel Kiper’s preseason big board.
The preseason AP college football poll: Does it actually matter?
On to the next one…
Utah (0-1) heads back to Rice-Eccles Stadium this upcoming Saturday, and in a game in which the Utes have a 99.5 percent chance to win, all they can hope for is a dominant showing against the Thunderbirds to try and salvage their reputation in the AP poll in the upcoming weeks. For now, however, fans are waiting impatiently to see the AP rankings released to see just how far the Utes’ stock has dropped.
Utah faces SUU on Saturday, September 10 at 11:30 a.m. MT. The game can be seen on the Pac-12 Networks.
