Utah football’s Rose Bowl chances take a hit as UCLA overpowers Utes’ defense

Pasadena, Calif. • The University of Utah played at the Rose Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

When it was over, it was difficult to envision the Utes going back there in three months.

A critical game against 18th-ranked UCLA, circled by some as a difficult undercard before hosting USC on Saturday night, was flush with momentum changes, miscues and lost opportunities.

All of that, combined with a subpar defensive showing, led to a 42-32 Bruins win, easily the biggest of Chip Kelly’s four-plus seasons as head coach, in front of an announced crowd of 42,038.

With any legitimate chance at the College Football Playoff already teetering after a season-opening loss at Florida, the 11th-ranked Utes (4-2, 2-1 Pac-12) are effectively eliminated from that discussion thanks to a second loss.

As far as its Pac-12 championship defense and a potential return to the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2, that, too, now faces an uphill climb with the sixth-ranked Trojans and a Nov. 19 trip to No. 12 Oregon still to come. The teams with the two-best conference winning percentages advance to the Pac-12 championship game on Dec. 2 in Las Vegas.

“They’re a good team, they’re 6-0 for a reason, and we’ve got to bounce back,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “This is very reminiscent of last year (after an Oct. 23 loss at Oregon State that left at 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-12). We picked ourselves up off the mat, regrouped and came back focused, and played some really good football, and that’s what we have to do this year.”

Added quarterback Cam Rising, who threw for 287 yards on 23-for-32 passing, while adding another 59 yards and two touchdowns on the ground: “Just bad ball, we put bad ball on film. That’s not really something we’re looking to do. There’s a lot of stuff I need to clean up to make sure we’re rolling as an offense and to be better.”

The game-altering play came late in the third quarter. After Utah’s defense had largely been dominated for most of the middle two quarters — it gave up 212 yards on the ground and 511 total yard — the Utes were about to get off the field when a third-and-6 pass from Dorian Thompson-Robinson intended for Jake Bobo along the left sideline was broken up. As the ball fell incomplete, Utes linebacker Karene Reid was called for a 14-yard roughing the passer penalty, keeping the drive alive.

“That one play didn’t cost us the game,” Whittingham said. “I don’t want to paint that picture, but we had momentum. We had complete momentum there and had we gotten that stop, we would’ve gotten the ball back off a touchdown drive and you never know.

“Did that one play cost us the game? No, it never comes down to one play. It was a myriad of plays in a game that make a difference, but at that point in the game, that was a critical play because, like I said, we had momentum and we lost it just like that.”

Set up with fresh downs at their own 43-yard line after the penalty, UCLA (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) took advantage.

A shovel pass from Thompson-Robinson to Keegan Jones went for 24 yards down to the Utah 12. Three plays later on third-and-8 from the 10, Thompson-Robinson connected with a wide-open Bobo, a fifth-year transfer wide receiver from Duke, on a slant to the end zone for a 28-18 lead with 1:07 left in the third quarter.

Utah got the deficit back to three via a 9-yard touchdown run from Rising, but all that represented was trading scores.

A 70-yard catch-and-run touchdown down the left sideline from Thompson-Robinson extended UCLA back to a 10-point lead at 35-25 with 11:17 to play.

Thompson-Robinson furthered his case as the Pac-12′s best quarterback, finishing 18-for-22 for 299 yards and four touchdowns. The fact Clark Phillips III jumped a route inside the final minute and took an interception back 80 yards for a touchdown to cap the scoring will be reduced to a footnote.

Whether Utah should have been fortunate to trail, 14-10, at halftime, or believing the Utes should have been leading at the break is in the eye of the beholder.

On the Utes’ third drive of the afternoon in a scoreless game, Rising was intercepted by Darius Muasau on a bad throw over the middle into heavy traffic. The ball was intended for tight end Thomas Yassmin, who was lost for the afternoon on the play to an undisclosed injury.

UCLA took that turnover and turned it into a seven-play, 97-yard drive, capped by Thompson-Robinson’s seven-yard scamper to the left pylon for a 7-0 lead.

The Bruins built a 14-3 lead before Utah finally got a drive going. Rising went 6-for-6 for 76 yards on an eight-play, 84-yard drive. After the pass game showed up, a Tavion Thomas five-yard run on first-and-goal brought the Utes to within four at 14-10.

Rising was 11-for-17 for 151 yards in the first half, but the mistakes, not all of which were on him, were glaring.

Aside from the interception, Micah Bernard dropped a first-quarter screen pass on third-and-14 that looked capable of going for a big gain. On Utah’s next drive, Rising allowed a first-and-10 call from the UCLA 39-yard line to develop. He eventually unleashed a long pass to Yassmin, who appeared to be turning upfield before actually catching the ball.

“They didn’t get made, so that’s just the fact of the matter, and we have to be better,” Rising said.

Yassmin, who is seeing increased playing time with Brant Kuithe out for the season with a torn ACL, dropped the ball at the 10. He had enough room to run that the play may have ended in a touchdown. Instead, Rising was intercepted three plays later.