SALT LAKE CITY – The Arizona Wildcats lost to Utah 36-23 Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium, ending their four-game winning streak against the Utes.
The loss was Arizona’s third in a row. The UA fell to 2-4, 0-3 in the Pac-12. The Wildcats are in last place in the South Division. Arizona and Oregon are the only teams in the conference that have yet to win a league game.
No. 24 Utah improved to 5-1, 2-1.
Utes quarterback Troy Williams passed for 243 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 73 yards and two scores. Utah tailback Armand Shyne rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown before exiting in the fourth quarter because of an injury.
Quarterback Brandon Dawkins played valiantly for Arizona despite a rib injury, passing for 243 yards, rushing for 49 and accounting for two touchdowns. Dawkins left the game for good late in the third quarter. He also threw two interceptions.
Freshman Khalil Tate entered the game in relief but couldn’t replicate the magic he produced against UCLA last week until it was too late. Tate threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to Samajie Grant with 4:15 remaining to trim the deficit to 13 points.
The subsequent onside kick failed, and Utah ran out the clock.
Banged-up Arizona hosts USC next week before its much-needed bye.
THIRD-QUARTER UPDATE:
SALT LAKE CITY – The game is slipping away from the Arizona Wildcats.
Utah outscored Arizona 17-0 in the third quarter to take a 29-14 lead into the fourth. The Utes are seeking to end a four-game losing streak to the Wildcats in front of an announced crowd of 45,917 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Quarterback Brandon Dawkins played deep into the third quarter and took several big hits before exiting late in the period. The final blow was linebacker Sunia Tauteoli’s helmet shot to the back of Dawkins’ head.
Two plays later, Dawkins threw his second interception of the game. Nate Phillips got drilled by Utah’s Chase Hansen. The ball deflected off Phillips’ leg to the Utes’ other safety, Marcus Williams.
Armand Shyne capped the subsequent 74 yards drive with a 26-yard touchdown run to make it 26-14.
Khalil Tate entered the game in relief of Dawkins for the second time and threw an interception on his second play. That led to a 34-yard Andy Phillips field goal.
HALFTIME UPDATE:
SALT LAKE CITY – The Arizona Wildcats lead Utah 14-12 at the end of a zany first half Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Brandon Dawkins started at quarterback for Arizona and accounted for both of the Wildcats’ touchdowns. He came out of the game for one ill-fated series late in the half. It’s unclear why Dawkins left the game, although he took several hard shots. He was questionable to play because of a rib injury.
Freshman Khalil Tate made his first appearance late in the second quarter with the ball at the Arizona 2-yard line and the Wildcats leading 14-3. On second-and-10, he attempted a quarterback draw. But Pasoni Tasini tackled him in the end zone for a safety.
Utah got the ball back at the UA 47 and scored on a 3-yard pass from Troy Williams to Tyrone Smith with 55 seconds left in the half. Smith made a one-handed grab on a fade pass with cornerback Jace Whittaker draped on him. Whittaker started for DaVonte’ Neal and has five pass breakups.
Dawkins returned for the final possession of the half and helped Arizona reach the Utah 35-yard line. But Josh Pollack’s 52-yard field-goal attempt at the buzzer landed well short.
Dawkins has completed 9 of 12 passes for 194 yards and one touchdown. He has rushed 12 times for 42 yards and a score.
Both teams are missing key starters. Utah lost starting center J.J. Dielman for the season, and the line was out of sorts without him. The Utes were called for eight false-start penalties in the first half. Dielman’s replacement, Nick Nowakowski, also was whistled for a snap infraction.
Arizona lost safety Isaiah Hayes and linebacker Cody Ippolito during the first half. Hayes appeared to get banged up after a hard hit on tight end Harrison Handley in the end zone.
FIRST-QUARTER UPDATE:
SALT LAKE CITY – Brandon Dawkins is playing, and the Arizona Wildcats are winning.
With its starting quarterback back in the lineup, the UA leads Utah 7-3 at the end of one quarter Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Dawkins’ status was in doubt all week because of a rib injury. But he went through warmups without incident and made his fifth straight start.
Arizona couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. On the first play from scrimmage, Dawkins faked a handoff and rolled to his left. The Utah secondary got caught staring at the quarterback, allowing Shun Brown to slip into the clear. Dawkins hit Brown for a 75-yard touchdown.
Utah appeared to be on the brink of tying the game later in the quarter. But a dropped snap on first-and-goal from the 2 led to a DeAndre’ Miller sack. The Utes settled for a 28-yard Andy Phillips field goal.
Miller (ankle) returned to the lineup after missing the past two games. Tailback Nick Wilson (ankle) is dressed but has yet to appear in the game.
