Arizona State Sun Devils vs Utah Utes Match Player Stats On Oct 17, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Oct 18, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY -- Travis Wilson threw for 297 yards and two touchdowns and No. 4 Utah overcame a flurry of special-teams mistakes to rally past Arizona State with a 34-18 victory on Saturday night.

The Utes (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) snapped a 11-game losing streak against the Sun Devils (4-3, 2-2 Pac-12) dating to 1977 when both teams played in the Western Athletic Conference.

Running back Devontae Booker rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries for Utah. Quarterback Mike Bercovici passed for 242 yards and an interception on 20-of-41 passing to lead Arizona State.

The Sun Devils sacked Wilson five times and scored 15 points on special teams, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome the Utah defense.

The Utes struggled on special teams in both halves. The low point came in the third quarter when receiver Britain Covey threw an illegal forward pass to receiver Bubba Poole in the end zone on a kickoff return. Utah got a penalty and Arizona State capitalized with a safety to take a 15-14 lead.

The Sun Devils extended the lead to 18-14 on a 44-yard field goal from kicker Zane Gonzalez with 1:30 left in the third quarter. Gonzalez made one from 28 yards earlier in the quarter to cut Utah's lead to one.

Arizona State's upset bid fell apart on the fourth quarter after two bad punts and a fumble helped Utah start three consecutive drives in Sun Devils territory. The Utes did not waste any of the scoring opportunities.

Booker broke free on a 25-yard gallop to put Utah ahead 21-18. Then Andy Phillips kicked a 43-yard field goal and added a 35-yarder after a Tevin Carter fumble recovery at the Arizona State 23 to make it 27-18 with 4:20 remaining.

Bercovici drove Arizona State into Utah territory with less than two minutes left, but defensive end Pita Taumoepenu sacked him on third down and the Sun Devils turned it over on downs on the next play.

Booker broke loose for a 62-yard touchdown run to make it 34-18 with 1:11 left and put an exclamation point on Utah's fourth-quarter comeback.

Utah struck first, going up 7-0 on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to tight end Harrison Handley. Wilson completed all six of his passes on the drive.

But the momentum generated by the Utes ended up being short lived. Special teams breakdowns helped Arizona State take the lead, even though the Sun Devils gained only 5 yards of total offense in the first quarter.

Arizona State quickly tied it 7-7 when Tim White returned the kickoff after Utah's touchdown 100 yards. De'Chavon Hayes returned a punt 48 yards after the Utes' next drive, setting up Gonzalez's 34 yard field goal that put the Sun Devils ahead 10-7.

Utah settled down in the second quarter. The Utes took a 14-10 lead after wide receiver Kenneth Scott had back-to-back catches for 53 yards.

Utah's defense kept Arizona State from answering before halftime. The Sun Devils gained just 91 total yards and had three first downs in the first half.

NOTES: RB Devontae Booker moved past Eddie Lewis for seventh place in career rushing yardage at Utah on his second carry of the game. ... Coming into the game, Arizona State had the top three solo tacklers in the Pac-12: Salamo Fiso (45 tackles), Jordan Simone (41) and Christian Sam (33). ... Utah last beat Arizona State at home in 1973, knocking off then-No. 8 Arizona State 36-31.