3 takeaways from No. 13 Utah’s road win at Kansas

When Utah and Kansas confronted off on Black Friday, it appeared like each had been coping with a little bit of a food-induced lull from Thanksgiving Day the morning after.

There was sloppy play on either side of the ball, however the No. 13 Utes had been those who confirmed psychological fortitude after they wanted it probably the most.

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As a consequence, Utah pulled out a 31-21 win at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium to earn its tenth win of the season.

That’s value celebrating, after the Utes received simply 5 video games a 12 months in the past.

Here are three takeaways from the sport that leaves Utah with slim hopes of slipping into subsequent week’s Big 12 championship sport.

Both groups made loads of errors, however Utah made Kansas pay for theirs

Mistakes had been made Friday in Lawrence, Kansas, by each groups.

Utah allowed the sub-.500 Jayhawks to place up 477 yards of offense whereas eight of Kansas’ 11 drives resulted in Utes territory.

The Jayhawks, although, had been simply 2 of 5 on red-zone alternatives and Jalon Daniels threw three interceptions — all contained in the Utah 20.

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Both groups had been 0 of two on fourth-down makes an attempt, and every group missed prime alternatives so as to add factors when these fourth downs failed.

The Utes, whereas far from good, had been significantly better at turning errors into huge performs.

None was greater than Scooby Davis’ 97-yard pick-six halfway by the fourth quarter when Kansas, trailing 17-14, confronted a third-and-goal and threatened to retake the lead.

That defensive rating, mixed with Utah’s offense placing up 414 yards of offense whereas mixing up the move and run, had been sufficient for the Utes to beat the Jayhawks.

Kansas appeared prefer it was on the cusp of a two-score lead early within the fourth when the Jayhawks had a second-and-goal from the 12. But Daniels’ second interception of the day, an ill-advised move the place he was attempting to throw it away out the again of the tip zone however Jackson Bennee reeled within the under-thrown ball, squashed that chance.

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Utah wanted simply 4 performs to recapture the lead after that mistake, as Larry Simmons caught the primary of two fourth-quarter touchdowns on a 28-yard move to make it 17-14 with 12:26 to play.

The Utes turned the Jayhawks’ three turnovers into 16 factors.

Devon Dampier, whereas he struggled within the passing sport at instances, made huge performs as effectively. Twice, he used QB keeper fakes to hit wide-open receivers for lengthy touchdowns for Utah’s first and final touchdowns. He threw for 253 yards and three touchdowns, whereas additionally speeding for 50 yards.

Wayshawn Parker had a number of huge runs, and whereas his streak of 100-yard video games ended, he ended up with 95 hard-fought yards on the bottom on simply 12 carries.

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Meanwhile, Simmons had three catches for a team-high 97 yards and two touchdowns, together with a 48-yarder with simply over two minutes to play to make it a 10-point sport.

What has occurred to Utah’s rush protection?

The largest cause why Kansas was in a position to cling round within the sport was that Utah’s rush protection once more struggled.

One week after the Utes allowed Kansas State to roll up a whopping 472 yards on the bottom, the Jayhawks typically gashed the Utah protection.

Daniel Hishaw Jr. led the bottom assault for Kansas, as he completed with 107 yards and a landing. Leshon Williams added 104 speeding yards and averaged 6.9 yards per carry.

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On the day, Kansas rolled up 290 speeding yards and had eight carries of 10-plus yards. Their longest run of the day was 33 yards by Williams within the fourth quarter, and it arrange the Jayhawks within the crimson zone.

When Kansas was pressured to move the ball after Utah took the 10-point lead on Davis’ pick-six, the Jayhawks nonetheless discovered a strategy to rating as soon as extra, on a 21-yard Leyton Cure TD catch.

It was a tough day for Utah’s protection, however the bend-don’t-break D philosophy labored sufficient instances and compelled sufficient errors when the Jayhawks went to their passing sport that Utah nonetheless earned the win.

Now, Utah waits to seek out out the place it’s headed subsequent

The almost definitely state of affairs for the Utes is that they’ll be headed to a non-playoff bowl sport.

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Utah nonetheless has a slim hope of sneaking into the Big 12 championship and incomes an computerized College Football Playoff bid with a win there.

For the Utes to make it to the Big 12 title sport, although, these three issues need to occur:

1. An Arizona State win over Arizona (Friday night time)

2. A Texas Tech loss to West Virginia (Saturday morning)

3. A BYU win over UCF (Saturday morning)

If all the pieces breaks Utah’s approach, the Utes would have a rivalry rematch with the Cougars within the Big 12 championship in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 6.

Otherwise, Utah will discover out its bowl vacation spot on Dec. 7.

The odds of the Utes incomes an at-large CFP bid went down additional after one other closer-than-expected win, and because the CFP committee confirmed final week after dropping Utah one spot after the comeback win over Kansas State, an at-large bid simply isn’t probably.