The University of Utah wrapped up their home schedule with a Senior Day matchup against the No. 22 Iowa State Cyclones. Trailing 13-24 after 3 quarters, the Utes mounted a fourth-quarter comeback, scoring 15 unanswered points, including a touchdown off a blocked punt and another on offense, to take a 28-24 lead late in the game.
However, Iowa State quickly responded with a touchdown on the following drive to reclaim the lead. In the game’s final moments, Utah’s Cole Becker narrowly missed a 54-yard field goal attempt to tie it, resulting in a heartbreaking 31-28 loss for the Utes.
Here are the takeaways.
Special teams and defense kept the team in the game.
The Cyclones jumped out early with a 7-3 lead, and Iowa State was inside the red zone ready to extend their lead when Lander Barton was in the right spot at the right time and picked off quarterback Rocco Becht on the Utes 13-yard line. Barton broke free from a tackle after intercepting the tipped ball then rushed down the sideline to the end zone while defenders blocked tackles for an 87-yard pick-six. It was the 21st consecutive season Utah has recorded a pick-six, the longest streak in college football.
Despite offensive struggles, Utah’s defense kept up the pressure on Iowa State, highlighted by a blocked punt in the fourth quarter from Jackson Bennee. David Washington recovered the ball in the end zone for a defensive touchdown.
On the subsequent play, quarterback Luke Bottari connected with tight end Caleb Lohner in the back of the end zone for a successful two-point conversion, narrowing Iowa State’s lead to 24-21 with 14:49 remaining.
Following another defensive stop, Utah leaned on a strong ground game led by the quarterback spot. Bottari broke free for a 40-yard sideline run and added a 16-yard scramble to set up Micah Bernard for a 1-yard rushing touchdown, giving Utah the lead at 28-24 with 5:51 left in the game.
An overhaul of the offense is needed
The team's core struggles lie within the offense. There was little to no progress throughout the season and it’ll be something needing to be addressed in the offseason. From the loss of Cam Rising, it really exposed how much the offense was built around his strengths and abilities, and without him, figuring how to move forward with the offense has been a discombobulated effort. On Saturday night, Utah managed just 224 yards of total offense and only 95 rushing yards, with most of those coming from Luke Bottari.
By the end of the first half, Utah only ran 17 plays and had a total of 50 yards passing, 46 of those came from one completion. Jumping from high school to college has been an issue for Isaac Wilson and it revealed itself again last night. Wilson was given plenty of time in the pocket to get rid of the ball to open receivers throughout the game. His indecisiveness made it so he missed several opportunities for easy completions to move the offense down field, despite the fact that he went 8-8 from the game.
“I think it’s probably a combination of factors, with not wanting to make a mistake being at the top,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said of Wilson’s performance. “We’ve turned the ball over far too much this season, and you simply can’t do that if you want a chance to win. But he’s young, and that matters — he’s a freshman. That said, he’s had probably 500 to 600 reps by now, so we need to evaluate everything moving forward.”
As mentioned, Wilson finished the game completing all 8 of his passes for 74 yards before leaving the game for an injury. Walk-on Luke Bottari came in and finished the game with 5 of 7 passing for 55 yards and rushed for 47 yards on 4 carries.
Utah’s clutch moments weren’t enough
With the offense unable to sustain drives, the defense spent a lot of time on the field and by the end, were worn down. The Cyclones dominated time of possession 35:54 to 24:06, and while the defense limited Becht at times, he hit receivers on short routes to open up deep plays.
Rocco Becht ended the game with 256 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception, completing 20 of 38 attempts. He also scored a 1-yard rushing touchdown late in the third quarter to push the Cyclones’ lead to 24-13. Jaylin Higgins led Iowa State’s receiving corps with nine catches for 155 yards and a touchdown. Ultimately, a halfback pass touchdown on Iowa State’s final drive helped seal Utah’s fate for the night.
Up next
Utah now turns its attention to the final game of the 2024-25 season, a road matchup against UCF. With a 4-7 record, the Utes have officially been ruled out of bowl contention for the first time since 2013, marking a bittersweet end to a challenging season.
