The No. 8 Utah Utes faced off against No. 11 Penn State for the first time in program history in the Granddaddy of Them All. After a close first half, Penn State ran away with the game in the second half. Early in the third quarter, Utah lost their heart and soul of the team, Cam Rising, to an injury. It would be rough sledding from that point on. Utah would fall 21-35

Here are the takeaways:

Offense lacked creativity

Utah’s receivers struggled throughout the game. Devaughn Vele led the receivers with five receptions for 100 yards, half of those yards came off a 47 yard reception late in the game as Penn State’s coverage had softened. Jaylon Dixon would follow with six receptions for 64 yards and one touchdown — most of those yards and the touchdown came at the end of the fourth long after the game was over.

The remainder of the receiving core would only combine for 42 yards. Dropped passes and miscues were the story throughout their offensive performance. Overall Utah would end the night with a total of 207 passing yards. After Rising left the game, the passing game suffered as Barnes and his strong arm had no answers.

Whittingham expressed in the post game how the passing was an issue.

“We didn’t throw the ball efficiently enough.The entire throw game was just not where we needed it to be,” he said. “As coaches we have to coach better to put them in a better position.”

Utah relied heavily on their run game

The Utes offense found the most success running the ball, but it would make them one dimensional as they would rely heavily on it without key players. Ja’Quinden Jackson led the backs with 13 carries for 81 yards and one touchdown. He had a long of 30 yards. He also delivered an impressive touchdown run as he spun off a defender and hammered through three more defenders into the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown.

Micah Bernard provided a solid 1-2 punch with Jackson, as follow he ran the ball 11 times for 60 yards. Late in the game, Penn State was able to sell out to stop the run, as the passing game was nonexistent with Barnes, when the plays mattered most.

Ludwig’s choice to run the ball so much will be questioned after the lackluster offensive performance, as it almost seemed like he tossed the white flag after Barnes’ interception.

When Rising went down, so did any Utah chance

It felt like a nightmare all over again from last season as Cam Rising went down in the third quarter. Up until his injury Rising completed 8 of 21 for 95 yards and one interception. Rushing for 56 yards, Rising fought hard to push the offense down the field as they struggled to get the passing game flowing efficiently.

Without their captain, all of the energy seemed to deflate on the Utah sidelines.

Bryson Barnes would come in for Rising completing 10 of 19 passing for 112 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Despite his efforts there weren't any answers for the Utes offensively. Issues would continue to get worse as Penn State capitalized possession after possession in the second half.

When Cam went down Vele expressed how his team rallied around each other.

“Our message was the same as last year when Cam went down in the fourth quarter,” said Vele. “Bryson came in and we told him, we trust in you, you’re going to be our leader, you’re going to lead us and our offense. We’re going to give everything we can.

As coach said, the morale outcome is a little deflated when your captain goes down. I’ll give credit to Bryson he kept his head in it, he kept trying to pick everyone’s head up when they were down, trying to lead us and get something to go,” continued Vele.

Penn State caused Utah’s defense headaches all game

Utah’s defense managed to control Penn State’s high powered running back duo in the first half and deliver pressure on Sean Clifford, sacking him three times, early on. However, things began to unravel in the second half.

The Nittany Lions had two plays of 80+ yards, that were back-breakers that swung all of the momentum.

Nicholas Singleton to a handoff 87 yards to the house, catching defensive end Connor O’Toole looking the opposite direction and taking advantage of RJ Hubert late shift to playing the box—leaving Utah with no deep safety valve at the back of the defense.

Penn State would then double their lead 28-14 after an 88 yard reception on a blown coverage by Hubert. Coach Whittingham said in the postgame presser that the plays that they gave up a lot of yardage is what did them in.

“Defense got outplayed, that’s evident by over 400 yards of offense by Penn State, only 15 first downs,” said Whittingham. “That’s not a lot of first downs, but they were getting a lot of big chunk yardage plays that definitely led to our demise.”

Sean Clifford would finish the night completing 16 of 21 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns. Singleton and Kaytron Allen combined to rush for 157 yards and three touchdowns. Their offense amassed 448 total yards.

Up next

Utah finishes the season 7-2 in conference play and 10-4 overall. While it wasn’t an ending everyone had hoped for, the Utes defied the odds again and became back-to-back Pac-12 champions. Now the program will sit and wait on some crucial decisions for key guys that they hope to have back.