No. 10 Utah outplays, falls at home in 23-10 loss to Arizona

SALT LAKE CITY — Moving the ball wasn’t necessarily the problem for No. 10 Utah Football in the first half Saturday night, especially considering quarterback Isaac Wilson went 6 of 6 for 76 yards at the end of the first quarter.

Until Utah got deep into the red zone.

Utah stopped inside the 10-yard line on its first two drives of the game – turning the ball over on downs on both attempts – before finally having to settle for a field goal on its third attempt. They were the only points of the first half for the Utes.

Making matters worse, Utah’s defense gave Arizona almost everything it wanted thanks to several missed arm tackles and poor angles that allowed quarterback Noah Fifita to work without too much pressure.

Arizona was leading 10-3 at halftime.

Things didn’t get much better for the Utes in the second half, as Arizona earned a rare win at Rice-Eccles Stadium – on the night, no less – defeating Utah 23-10.

The Wildcats (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) only extended their lead with two made field goals in the third quarter, against a Utes (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) offense that stalled the clock brought was enough again in the second half.

Utah gained some momentum early in the fourth quarter when Tao Johnson beat Fifita in the end zone.

Wilson then led Utah on a six-play, 80-yard drive that included a 37-yard pickup pass to Dorian Singer and a 20-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Lohner to give Utah some life.

But Fifita stayed calm and led the Wildcats on an eight-play, 87-yard drive that was capped with a 35-yard touchdown to Keyan Burnett, ending any hopes for the home team. The touchdown was set up on a 41-yard pass to Devin Hyatt on third-and-11 to keep the drive going and silence a rowdy crowd.

Fifita finished the night throwing for 197 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 19 of 31 passes for the second-year quarterback.

Wilson finished the night with 280 throws, one touchdown and two interceptions on 20 of 40 passes – most of them in the first half, when Wilson and Singer had an unstoppable connection. Singer finished the day with 155 yards on nine catches against his former team.

Micah Bernard added 91 yards on 16 carries for the Utes.

Utah was without Cam Rising for the third straight week after he injured his throwing hand in the first half against Baylor. Wilson got the starting job in his place and suffered his first loss as a starter for the Utes.

This story will be updated.