Like that extra helping of turkey and stuffing, something was weighing down the Utah football team during its regular season finale against Kansas on Friday. Th …
Like that extra helping of turkey and stuffing, something was weighing down the Utah football team during its regular season finale against Kansas on Friday.
The Utes looked sluggish from the get-go as they chased around the Jayhawks’ running backs and struggled to get on the same page offensively, making for an uncomfortable situation three quarters of the way through a must-win game for Kyle Whittingham and company.
Perhaps it was playing without one of the nation’s most productive defensive ends. Or maybe not having their top receiver impacted the Utes offensively early on, causing just enough of a disruption that needed to be resolved over the course of fourth quarters.
Whatever it was, Utah overcame it down the stretch to pull off a 31-21 win over Kansas, keeping its College Football Playoff and Big 12 title game hopes alive in the process.
Here’s how the Utes got it done on Friday to maintain their postseason aspirations.
Among the things the Utes were thankful for was Larry Simmons, who hauled in two fourth quarter touchdowns, including the dagger with 3 minutes remaining, and continued his trend of making big plays when Utah needed it most.
Simmons, a week after stepping up to help Utah pull off a 12-point fourth quarter rally with a big third down catch, followed by an impressive catch in the end zone to make it a 3-point game against Kansas State, also beat his man for a 28-yard touchdown on Friday to put the Utes in front, 17-14, following a clutch interception by Jackson Bennee early in the fourth quarter.
The Southern Mississippi transfer came through in the clutch without Utah’s leading receiving, Ryan Davis, available to play. Simmons finished with 97 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns, nearly setting a new career-high while helping the Utes overcome a 290-yard rushing day from Kansas.
It was another impressive from Simmons, who had 4 catches for 54 yards and a touchdown against Kansas State. After being less-involved to start the season, the 6-foot-1 junior ended the regular season with 14 receptions for 271 yards and 6 touchdowns.
“He’s called touchdown Larry,” said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. “I started calling that about a month and a half ago, and he’s lived up to that name.”
Utah’s ground game proved efficient as well, but the Utes still finished with their lowest rushing yard total since their 34-10 loss to Texas Tech back in September, recording 161 yards on 31 attempts against the Jayhawks. The Utes needed some big plays through the air if they were to take care of business and come out with a win, and they got it thanks in large part to Simmons.
“Larry has been a guy that has just continued to work hard,” Whittingham said. “I’m sure he would have liked to have played more snaps in the first half of the season, but he never had a sulky attitude, never never stopped working — just kept doing his thing. He’s now had a very nice year.”
As Whittingham pointed out in his postgame presser, his quarterback still wasn’t quite 100% healthy on Friday.
It was apparent the Utes didn’t want to put too much on Dampier’s plate early on, given he only attempted one pass in the first quarter and didn’t complete his first until the 12:03 mark in the second.
But when the going got tough, Dampier showed that despite a nagging leg injury, he can still make plays when it matters most.
When Utah needed a boost through the air, Dampier delivered — he was 6-for-9 175 passing yards on third down. He also recorded 50 rushing yards on 11 carries, including a 16-yard rush to help keep the Utes offense on the field before his big-time throw to Simmons in crunch time.
Dampier ended the day 15-for-25 for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns, nearly matching his season-high of 259 yards, which he set the week prior against Kansas State.
While he might not have been fully healthy, Dampier was well enough to take a majority of the snaps Friday, with exception to a few plays for backup Byrd Ficklin.
It wasn’t a perfect outing, but some big plays from Utah’s defense also paved the way for the team’s 10th win of the season.
Despite the Jayhawks’ ability to move the ball at will behind their run game, four drives that went inside the Utes’ 30-yard line stalled out due to turnovers or missed field goals, including a pick-six by Scooby Davis in the fourth quarter that made it a double-digit game with just under 8 minutes left.
“Three interceptions in a game is outstanding,” Whittingham said.
“Anytime you can pick a guy off three times your chance of winning a pretty good chance.”
Kansas wasn’t always able to capitalize off its effective run game, but Utah was certainly able to take advantage of its big plays. The Utes scored 17 points off those three turnovers, starting with Smith Snowden’s interception that led to a field goal early in the first quarter.
Bennee’s pick, which was the result of an errant throw away from Daniels, set up a quick 4-play, 80-yard scoring drive that was capped off by Simmons’ first fourth quarter touchdown, putting Utah back in front after Kansas had regained the lead.
“That’s a tremendous play that could have been useful for them and would have made it harder for us to come back,” Dampier said. “Again, I’m proud of our defense.”
In totality, though, the Utes struggled to defend the run once again and benefited from some poor decisions on the part of Daniels, who finished 10-of-27 for 187 yards. Six of those completions were for 21 yards or more.
Giving up over 5.0 yards per carry for the third time in a four-game stretch wasn’t part of the winning strategy for Utah, though. Especially after giving up 472 yards on the ground to Kansas State the week prior.
“Really the only negative the game was the rush defense,” Whittingham said. “That was the big negative, but we’ll just continue to work on that.”
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Source: Utah News