SALT LAKE CITY — The Ute’s road to college football glory took a hit last week at USC, but 13th-ranked Utah gathered themselves with a steady 27-12 victory on Saturday over Oregon State at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The game marked the return of several coaches on the Beaver’s staff with ties to Utah, including Gary Anderson–who was an assistant at Utah, and later a head coach at Utah State. Anderson is now in the process of rebuilding Oregon State, and he quickly lured the likes of former Ute defensive coaches Kilani Sitaki and Ilaisa Tuiaki with him to Corvallis. Anderson also enticed former BYU head coach Gary Crowton to join his staff as an offensive consultant.
But it was Utah’s steady attack, that rose to as high as 3rd in the country this season, that held OSU to a just a couple of field goals and a late touchdown.
As for Utah’s offense, they were nowhere near as explosive as they have been at times this season, but they still started hot. Devontae Booker capped Utah’s opening drive with a short one yard touchdown run. Travis Wilson followed up with a 38 yard touchdown strike to Harrison Handley. But that was it offensively, until Wilson plowed in from 2 yards out in the fourth quarter.
Utah’s defense failed to generate a turnover for the second straight game, but they also never trailed. The (7-1) Utes maintain a one game lead in the Pac-12 South over UCLA.
Wilson is now tied for second with Alex Smith at Utah for wins as a starter with 21.
Utah plays next on Nov. 7, when they travel to Seattle to take on the Washington Huskies. That game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Mountain Time.
