Same old story for Utes as offense struggles in last-second loss at Houston

Jack Martin’s 43-yard field goal attempt sailed through the humid Houston air as the clock struck zero.
As soon as the ball went through the uprights and hit the back of the net, Martin sprinted to the Cougars’ crowd and was lifted into the stands as Houston players spilled out onto the field in celebration of winning their second Big 12 Conference contest.
Meanwhile, all Utah could do was stare in stunned silence.
Martin’s game-winning field goal lifted the Cougars to a 17-14 win over the Utes in an ugly offensive game at TDECU Stadium on Saturday night.
It was the fourth loss in a row for the Utes — their longest losing streak since also losing four consecutive in 2017. During that season, Utah rallied to win two of its next four regular-season games to reach six wins and become bowl eligible, then beat West Virginia in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
With four tough games remaining after next week’s bye — vs. No. 11 BYU, at Colorado, vs. No. 10 Iowa State and at UCF — it’s hard to imagine Utah going .500 the rest of the way.
Incredibly, Utah has gone from the preseason Big 12 favorite and a team many thought could contend for a College Football Playoff spot to a team that could very well miss a bowl game for the first time (in a full-length season) since 2013.
Utah’s 13-7 home loss to TCU was the previous low point of the season, but Saturday night’s performance hit new depths.
Aside from a 71-yard screen pass touchdown to Brant Kuithe on the Utes’ second offensive play of the day, true freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson struggled so much that he was pulled for Brandon Rose midway through the third quarter.
Wilson, who finished the night 13 of 22 for 171 yards and a touchdown, was once again unable to get Utah’s offense going. Interim offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian certainly didn’t work magic, but he tried to give Wilson some quick throws throughout the night.
“He did some good things,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said of Bajakian. “He was put in a tough spot, and if you think he’s going to create a miracle in five days on the job that’s not going to happen, but I thought we added some things to the offense that were helpful.
“The touchdown to Kuithe, the second play of the game, was an addition, and so I think that there was some good added elements to the offense.”
Wilson was shaky throughout the game, missing the mark too often on his passes and either making reads too late or making the wrong ones. Utah’s longtime coach previously said that “unless things go really sideways, Isaac is our guy.”
Against Houston, things went really sideways.
Following two consecutive three-and-outs to open the second half (Wilson completed just one of four passes on the two drives), Whittingham had seen enough and inserted sophomore Rose to finish the remainder of the game.
“Trying to get a spark, trying to create something. We’d only scored one touchdown and just didn’t seem to be gaining any momentum offensively, so we figured it was time to give Brandon an opportunity,” Whittingham said of the quarterback change.
Utah’s offensive line, which turned in another poor performance, didn’t make it easy on Wilson. Special teams didn’t help matters, either. Wilson helped move Utah into field-goal range two times in the first half only for Cole Becker to miss both tries — one from 46 yards and one from 52.
In a 3-point loss, those missed field goals hurt.
“We missed a couple field goals that would’ve been obviously key in the outcome, but not going to make every single field goal,” Whittingham said.
In his quarter-and-a-half of play, Rose looked slightly more comfortable than Wilson but couldn’t do much to turn around Utah’s offensive fate.
Rose completed 7 of his 15 passes for 45 yards and threw an interception.
Utah’s failure to develop a suitable replacement for Cam Rising or land one from the transfer portal has haunted the program in two straight years, but it’s been extremely evident this season.
Saturday’s game was there for the taking for the Utes, especially after linebacker Johnathan Hall, a Texas native, picked off Houston quarterback Zeon Chriss and returned it to the Cougars’ 22-yard line.
Three plays later, Ute running back Micah Bernard found paydirt to lift Utah to a 14-7 lead with five minutes left in the third quarter.
Then Utah’s defense forced a three-and-out and the offense had a huge chance to seize momentum, especially with the way Houston’s offense had moved the ball to that point.
But the Utes failed to capitalize on the big opportunity. Rose completed a couple of passes, including a 13-yarder to Dorian Singer on third-and-11, but the drive stalled out after a false start and a 3-yard loss on a Rose rush.
Facing fourth-and-9 on the Houston 38-yard line after Rose picked up seven yards on third-and-16, Utah decided to punt.
Houston tied the game at 14-14 on the ensuing possession after Chriss scrambled for a first down on fourth-and-6, then found Joseph Manjack IV, who navigated past cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn into the end zone.
Utah’s last-chance drive, which started with five minutes remaining, ended after Rose was picked off by A.J. Haulcy around midfield.
Houston picked up a couple of first downs, including a five-yard keeper from Chriss on a key third-and-1, and got Martin into position to win the game.
“We seem to keep finding the same blueprint to lose. First of all, we’re not scoring enough points, still not. 14 points won’t get you many victories,” Whittingham said.
“We’re having a hard time rushing for 100 yards, having a hard time making first downs — we made 12 first downs. Defensively, having a hard time stopping the run. They were well over 200 (yards) rushing the football.”
While the majority of the blame lies with the offense, yet again, Utah’s defense missed opportunities for game-changing plays. The Utes never sacked Chriss against an offensive line that has given up as many sacks as any team in the nation, and somehow didn’t fall on the ball when Chriss fumbled in the third quarter.
The rushing defense was again not up to par — Houston rushed for 228 yards and passed for just 61.
“Just not good enough. Shouldn’t have allowed 17 points to start off with, so we got to be better. We got to be better,” linebacker Karene Reid said.
Even with some of the glaring defensive issues, when the defense allows only 17 points in a game, the offense should do enough to win. For the fourth straight game, that wasn’t the case.
The game started off as well as Utah could have hoped. After Wilson handed the ball off to Micah Bernard for a one-yard gain on Utah’s first offensive series, Bajakian radioed in a screen play to his true freshman quarterback.
Wilson took the snap from center Jaren Kump and quickly fired the screen pass to Kuithe, who broke a tackle and was off to the races. Thanks in part to key blocks from offensive lineman Tanoa Togiai and wide receiver Dorian Singer, Utah’s veteran tight end was in the end zone with a 71-yard touchdown less than three minutes into the game.
The quick touchdown was the first scored by the Utes in the opening quarter since Utah’s Week 2 win against Baylor, but for the next 27 minutes of game play, it was the same old struggles for Wilson and the Utes.
Two of the next three Ute drives resulted in punts, and the other ended after Wilson tucked the ball and ran, only to be rocked by Latreveon McCutchin, who forced a fumble.
Set up at the Utah 29-yard line, and advancing the ball as close as the 1-yard line, the Cougars were stuffed on back-to-back plays on the goal-line to force a turnover on downs.
That was the first of two key goal-line stops by Utah’s defense, which forced another turnover on downs in the third quarter after Lander Barton stopped J’Marion Burnette on fourth-and-1.
“We did some really good things on defense. Great red-zone defense, another couple key stops in the red zone, turnover on downs,” Whittingham said.
On the ensuing series, Utah ran a play-action pass on its own 1-yard line and Wilson fell awkwardly to the ground and grabbed his left hand. In a tough situation, Rose came in for his first real action as a Ute, but his third-and-9 pass was incomplete and the Utes had to punt the ball away.
Wilson, who never appeared to go to the medical tent and was seen watching film with Bajakian, was back in for the next series, and he’d stay in the game until 8:34 remaining in the third quarter, when Utah’s coaches made the decision to put Rose in for the remainder of the contest.
After the 36-yard punt from Jack Bouwmeester, which was returned 15 yards by Mekhi Mews, Houston got on the scoreboard for the first time after four fruitless drives to open the game.
Chriss found Stephon Johnson, who sprung open after getting by cornerback Elijah Davis, for a 21-yard touchdown to knot the game up at 7-7.
That score, which came with 11:54 in the second quarter, was the last until Micah Bernard’s touchdown run with 5:01 remaining in the third quarter.