Late night lightning apparently doesn’t strike for the same team twice.
A week after its miraculous comeback to beat TCU, Arizona couldn’t get one last stop in a 40-39 loss to No. 2 Utah on Saturday night.
Surefire Heisman Trophy finalist Devon Dampier found receiver Creed Whittemore for a 70-yard touchdown pass with 2:35 left, scoring less than a minute after the Wildcats had gone ahead on a 10-yard TD catch by Isaiah Mizell.
The largest crowd of the season (48,158) saw Arizona (7-3, 4-3 Big 12) lose
for the first time since changing the name to Casino Del Sol Stadium last year. The Wildcats had won seven consecutive home games, their longest streak since 1993-94.
Noah Fifita threw for 356 yards and three TDs, two to Mizell, who put the UA up 39-33 with 3:13 left. Mizell had seven catches for 115 yards and his two scores, Giovanni Richardson had seven catches for 94 yards and a TD and Chris Hunter had a career-high 119 yards on six receptions. But Arizona ran for only 59 yards, with Fifita getting sacked four times for 50 yards.
Dampier, who torched Arizona two years ago with New Mexico, threw for 204 yards and two TDs and ran for 100 yards and two scores. He also turned it over twice, which led to a pair of Wildcat touchdowns.
Utah (10-0, 7-0) ran for 296 yards, including 197 from Daniel Bray, who entered the night with 237 yards for the season. Arizona allowed 500 yards of total offense for the second time this season.
The Wildcats trailed 17-14 at halftime and started out on defense but one play into the 3rd quarter had the ball in the Utah red zone. Dampier tried to pitch back to a teammate and it went badly, with Mays Pese recovering the fumble at the Utah 17.
Fifita foundMizell on a 6-yard TD pass to go back up 21-17 with 11:53 left in the 3rd, his 20th consecutive game with a passing score.
Utah didn’t need much time to go back in front, though, as a 64-yard run byBray set up Dampier’s 4-yard TD pass to fellow QB Byrd Ficklin. The Utes had a chance to go up two scores, but Dampier underthrew a deep ball that Jay’Vion Cole came out of nowhere to intercept at the UA 1-yard line.
That set the stage for a 99-yard scoring drive to go back in front.Hunter caught a 67-yard pass and two plays later Fifita hitRichardson on a 19-yard fade for a 28-24 lead with 3:22 left in the 3rd.
Utah started the 4th quarter at the UA 10 after a 30-yard catch by Braden Pegan but went backwards after that and had to settle for a 39-yard field goal to get within 28-27 with 14:10 to go. Arizona went 3-and-out, with Fifita taking a 20-yard sack, and on the ensuing punt long snapper Drew Nicolson was flagged for kick/catch interference, giving the Utes the ball at the Arizona 37.
Three plays later, Bray scored on an 8-yard run. Utah went for two but failed, making it 33-28 with 11:46 left.
Arizona quickly went 3-and-out, but on the punt Dwight Bootle laid out returner Mana Carvalho (who did not signal for a fair catch) and Nicolson recovered the muff at the Utah 17. Two negative runs and another Fifita sack led to a 47-yard field goal attempt that Michael Salgado-Medina hit to cut the deficit to 33-31 with 8:09 to go.
The Wildcats got the ball back with 5:39 left and was back in front in five plays. The big gain came on a 59-yard catch by Mizell, who then caught a swing pass out of the backfield and raced 10 yards for the go-ahead TD with 3:13 to go. Fifita followed with a 2-point run to make it 39-33.
But just like that, Utah was back in front as Whittemore broke free over the middle of the field and raced past the UA defense for the game-winning TD.
Arizona had one last chance to win it but turned it over on downs with 1:57 remaining.
Utah had only allowed nine 1st-quarter points entering the night but Arizona had seven just over five minutes in. A near-perfect opening drive, which included a pair of 3rd down conversions, ended with Quincy Craig scoring on a 1-yard run.
The Utes went 3-and-out on their first two possessions, the second seeing Tyrese Boss and Dajon Hinton break up passes on deep balls. Utah’s second punt went 84 yards and was downed at the 1, and after the Wildcats didn’t get a favorable spot (or review) on a 3rd down catch by Craig Chase Ridley punted from the end zone and shanked it to the UA 43.
A long run got Utah inside the 30 but then the defense stepped up, with Cole and Chase Kennedy combining on a sack of Dampier. The Utes settled for a 53-yard field goal, which Dillon Curtis nailed on the first play of the 2nd quarter.
A face mask on Utah’s Sione Motuapuaka as he sacked Fifita kept Arizona’s next drive alive, and Kedrick Reescano finished it off with a 5-yard TD run and a 14-3 lead with 9:48 left in the 1st half.
Dampier, who had negative rushing yards on Utah’s first three possessions, gained 54 on the next drive. A 31-yard scamper was followed by a 14-yard TD run that saw him take a handoff from Ficklin, cutting the margin to 14-10.
Arizona quickly punted it back to the Utes, who took their first lead at 17-14 on an 18-yard Dampier run with 1:34 left before halftime. The Wildcats got down to the Utah 41 with 28 seconds left in the half but a hold on Matthew Lado killed the scoring chance and Fifita’s Hail Mary on the final play was intercepted in the end zone.
The UA hits the road for its pre-Territorial Cup game, visiting Kansas State on Nov. 21. The other Wildcats (4-6, 1-6) lost 20-10 at TCU on Saturday.
