Utah Falls In Defensive Battle To Washington, 10-3

Friday, November 30

Santa Clara, CA

6:00 PM

University of Utah

9-4 , 6-3

Washington

10-3 , 7-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Utah

Washington

Utah Falls In Defensive Battle To Washington, 10-3

11/30/2018 9:41 PM | Football

Box Score Postgame Notes

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The University of Utah football team came up short against the Washington Huskies in the Pac-12 Championship game on Friday night, falling 10-3 in a defensive battle. The Utes are 9-4 this season.

With zero offensive touchdowns in the game for either team, the game came down to a pick-six in the third quarter for Washington, giving them the seven-point edge. The Huskies came into the game averaging 421 yards of total offense with the Utes holding them to 306 tonight, but were only able to put up 188 themselves.

Jason Shelley finished the game 17-of-27 passing for 137 yards, but had three interceptions against a smothering Washington defense. Armand Shyne had 11 carries for 37 yards while Jaylen Dixon recorded a career-high seven receptions for 68 yards.

Chase Hansen once again tied his career-high in tackles, racking up 13. Corrion Ballard and Cody Barton added 12 each with Ballard tying his career-high and Barton tying his season-best.

For the first time in Pac-12 Championship game history, the first quarter was scoreless with it quickly becoming a defensive battle. Both Utah and Washington were shut down in the red zone in the first half with Utah even coming away with an interception by Javelin K. Guidry on Utah's 18-yard-line on the first play of the second quarter.

Washington was able to muster a field goal with 3:08 left in the second quarter to get on the scoreboard, scoring the only points of the first half. The 29-yard field goal ended a 12-play, 44-yard drive that took 6:12 off the clock to give them the 3-0 lead.

Matt Gay evened the score with 11:17 left in the third quarter with the longest field goal in Pac-12 Championship game history, powering a 53-yard field goal through the uprights to tie the game 3-3. Big plays from Dixon and Demari Simpkins put the Utes within scoring range with Gay ending the 10-play, 46-yard drive.

The first touchdown of the game came on a pick-six play for the Huskies after the ball bounced off a Utah player's leg into Byron Murphy's hands. The 66-yard return gave Washington a 10-3 lead with 1:05 remaining in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter started with a Washington drive that ended in a blocked field goal by John Penisini, giving the Utes the ball back their own 21-yard-line. Utah's offense continued to struggle though, throwing an interception on the next drive to give Washington the ball back with less than five minutes to go in the game.

It was the Utah defense coming up big again on Washington's last drive of the game, forcing them to punt after a big play on third down by Bradlee Anae. Utah drove down field with key catches from Dixon to get to the Washington 41, but were unable to convert and turned the ball over on downs with the Huskies running out the final 30 seconds of the game.

Bowl game selections will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 2. Updates will be available on UtahUtes.com.