Boulder, Colo. • With 3:42 remaining in the third quarter, Colorado kicker Elliot Arnold hit a 32-yard field goal to give the Buffaloes a 17-13 lead over Utah.

At that point, the Utes were officially on upset watch. A dangerous place to be on a Saturday when five of the top seven teams in the AP poll lost.

The field goal had been set up when quarterback Devon Dampier threw an ill-advised interception while rolling right on Utah’s previous offensive possession.

But it wasn’t just Dampier who was struggling.

The Utes’ defense had just watched old friend Isaac Wilson lead Colorado on two scoring drives in the third quarter, accounting for 14 points.

It was the first time Utah had trailed all season.

The Utes found some answers — and had one Colorado Hail Mary prayer go unanswered — to escape Boulder with a 27-24 win.

Wilson’s Hail Mary attempt in the final seconds came up empty, and Utah stayed perfect at 6-0 on the season.

Despite the win, Utah head coach Morgan Scalley said his team was “not good enough.”

“There’s a lot to correct on film,” Scalley said. “We have to be able to score touchdowns in the red zone when we get there. ... Not good enough on third downs. Not good enough passing efficiency. Not good enough running the ball.”

Is this the wake-up call Utah needed midway through the season?

“Well, I’d rather lead the entire time,” he said. “We’ve had gut punches before, but there’s reasons you win and lose games. The key metrics that we look at — we weren’t good enough at in this game, and that’s why there at the end of it, we are potentially losing this game.”

Here are three takeaways from the win.

Devon Dampier overcomes struggles

Dampier struggled against Colorado’s secondary.

He threw two interceptions in the game, but he delivered when his team needed him most.

Down 17-13, Dampier and Utah’s offense had their backs against the wall on third-and-10 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.

Dampier connected with a streaking Creed Whittemore down the left sideline for a 43-yard gain, breathing new life into the U.’s offense.

Utah was trying to connect on the deep ball plenty on Saturday because of Colorado’s man coverage looks.

“When teams play man, especially press man, and they have no help behind them — we like our odds against those,” Dampier said. “We take those deep shots when we think they’re there.”

He found Braden Pegan a few plays later for a 16-yard touchdown, bouncing back from his interception on the previous drive.

Then, late in the fourth quarter, Dampier dropped a ball into Whittemore for a 25-yard gain that set up another touchdown pass to Pegan.

Pegan finished with eight receptions, 86 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

“I just think it’s a little bit of a wake-up call,” Pegan said. “It was close. There’s a lot of work to be done, just like any week. If we smoke a team, or we beat a team barely, or we lose, there’s a lot of work to be done each week, and it just shows that we have stuff to do.”

Utah’s offense struggles to find pay dirt in the red zone

Utah’s offense had five possessions in the first half, controlling the ball for more than 22 minutes

But the Utes entered halftime with only a 13-0 lead. As Scalley has said all season, “the burden of execution” is on the offense.

Well, in the first half, the Utes just weren’t executing — at least not in the red zone.

“Execution, that’s what’s going to get us touchdowns. That’s what’s going to move the ball,” Dampier said. “We’re lacking execution. We put ourselves in a tough spot to be able to score in those situations.”

Utah’s lone touchdown of the half came on its opening drive, when Dampier connected with tight end Hunter Andrews for an 8-yard score.

But then came the struggles.

On their second possession of the night, the Utes and Dampier went on a 17-play drive that ended in a field goal.

Utah then went on a nine-play, 72-yard drive, but Dampier threw an interception on a shovel pass.

After safety Rabbit Evans came up with an interception before halftime, Dampier was sacked, and Utah had to settle for a field goal.

“I think we hold ourselves to a very high standard every single game, every single week,” Dampier said. “Right now, obviously, we’re not the happiest people in the world because we know what we’re capable of. But man, it’s tough to get wins, and I’m proud we walked out with it.”

Utah’s defense dominates ... then falls apart

Utah’s defense was awfully rude to its former quarterback.

Well, at least in the first half.

Colorado’s offense only generated 70 yards of total offense in the first half. The Buffs were also 0-for-3 on third downs at the break.

Their fortunes changed on the opening possession of the second half, when Wilson found his footing and connected with halfback JaQuail Smith for a 68-yard score.

CU continued its momentum, scoring again on a 19-yard rushing touchdown before adding a field goal two possessions later.

Utah cornerback Bobo Chenault chalked up the secondary breakdowns to communication errors.

“I will just say that [it was about] communication,” Chenault said. “We were not making sure we got one call to another person, or making sure this part of communication got to the next person, so just making sure we’re hitting on all cylinders, especially communication.”

Wilson nearly completed the comeback, too, leading a long touchdown drive in the final minutes before getting a chance to win the game with a Hail Mary.

Scalley felt like his team was “fortunate” to walk away with the win, but he knows his Utes have a lot to work on, especially with games against Houston, Cincinnati and BYU coming in the next three weeks.

“We have to play much cleaner,” Scalley said. “We won’t win many games doing what we did [tonight], turning the ball over, not scoring in the red zone, pass efficiency not being what it needed to be, and defensively, giving up chunk-yard plays.

“You’re just not going to win very many games [like that].”

Next up: The Utes will return home to take on No. 20 Houston (5-1) next Saturday in Salt Lake City.