It’s not easy but Utah finally subdues Arizona
Cameron Rising’s long hair was still dripping wet at the postgame news conference, 30 minutes after the final whistle, giving an indication of a bruising, physical afternoon in the desert.
His No. 24 Utah Utes had earned a victory. It was far more difficult than expected.
“It’s not about how pretty it looks,” Rising said. “It’s not about having glitz and glamour, it’s about getting the job done and that’s what we did here today.”
Rising threw for 294 yards and two touchdowns, TJ Pledger ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns, and Utah maintained its lead in the Pac-12 South by beating Arizona 38-29 on Saturday.
It was a hard-earned win for the Utes. Arizona led for part of the first half and kept the game tight all afternoon.
Rising’s perfectly placed 17-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Kincaid in the back corner of the end zone late in the third quarter gave the Utes a 31-20 lead and some semblance of control in the back-and-forth game. It didn’t last long.
Arizona responded with a field goal to cut the advantage to 31-23 and then the Wildcats scored again when Nazar Bombata blocked a Utah punt and Rhedi Short recovered before scoring a three-yard touchdown to pull within 31-29 with about 10:30 left. The Wildcats’ twopoint conversion to tie was unsuccessful.
at No. 3 Oregon 38, Washington State 24: Quarterback Anthony Brown produced 258 yards of total offense and accounted for two touchdowns and Byron Cardwell rushed for two more scores as the Ducks cruised past the Cougars.
at Oregon State 35, Stanford 14: Chance Nolan passed for 257 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a score, leading the Beavers. The victory makes Oregon State bowl eligible for the first time since 2013 and snapped an 11-game losing streak against the Cardinal.
Arizona State 35, at Washington 30: Rachaad White rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns and the Sun Devils erased a 14point deficit. The Sun Devils used a nine-minute, 20-play drive to pull within three midway through the fourth quarter, then completed the comeback on White’s 10yard touchdown run with 1:11 left.