Jake Retzlaff led two scoring drives in the fourth quarter and Will Ferrin took a 44-yard field kick with four seconds left to lead No. 9 BYU to a 22-21 win over Utah on Saturday night. Maintained an undefeated season.
The Cougars’ final drive was extended on a defensive holding penalty on fourth down, just when the largest crowd in Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium history (54,383) thought the game was over.
Retzlaff, who went 15 of 33 for 219 yards, had passes to Chase Roberts for 30 yards, Darius Lassiter for 12 yards, and Hinckley Ropati ran for 14 yards for BYU (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) is in position for Ferrin’s kick. .
The Cougars are the last undefeated team in the Big 12 and are in prime position to make it to the conference championship game.
Retzlaff scored on a 1-yard sneak with 12:35 left, capping off a nine-play, 95-yard drive that for the first time looked like a team averaging more than 35 points per game. However, the two-point conversion was intercepted by Cam Calhoun, giving Utah (4-5 Utah, 1-5 Big 12) a 21-19 lead.
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Utah’s third-string quarterback Brandon Rose made his first career start after Cam Rising left the team midway through the season and Isaac Wilson struggled.
Rose ran for two first downs and then completed his first positive pass of the game, a 20-yard touchdown to Brant Kais, completing a six-play, 64-yard drive early in the second quarter. did. Kuis added a 1-yard touchdown run from Wildcat formation with 5:31 left in the half, but then left with a foot injury.
Will Ferrin took advantage of Rose’s interception in the third quarter to make his second of three field goals.
Rose went 12-of-21 for 112 yards, but was limited to 25-of-11 in the second half.
Utah’s Zemaiah Vaughn intercepted Roberts’ 2-yard loss with a swing pass on a fourth-and-1, setting up Rose’s first touchdown pass in seven years to Micah Bernard, making it 21-10 at halftime.
Ferrin made a 23-yard field goal on a Jacob Robinson interception in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, BYU’s Kieran Marion returned the kickoff 96 yards for his second touchdown of the season.
Utah had won nine straight in the series before losing the 2021 game 26-17, but this was the game.
takeout
BYU: BYU’s offense only made two field goals before coming back in the fourth quarter. The Cougars mismanaged the clock by taking their final timeout too early, but then a false start forced a 10-second runoff that ended the first half with them on the edge of field goal range.
Utah: Utah’s lone bright spot on offense before breaking out in the second quarter, Bernard topped 2,000 career rushing yards with 17 carries for 78 yards. Rose had a strong second quarter, but the offense fell apart after that. The Utes have lost five straight games, but have never trailed by more than 13 points.
familiar enemy
Five of BYU’s main coaches have played or coached at Utah, and longtime Ute coach Kyle Whittingham played at BYU in the 1980s.
to the next
BYU hosts Kansas State next Saturday night.
Utah will play No. 21 Colorado next Saturday.
Associated Press reported.
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