ASU Football: No. 17 Arizona State vs. No. 13 Utah Instant Recap

In a cloudy and rainy game, the bad blood between the two teams resumed in Salt Lake City. The Utah Utes (6-1, 3-1) held off the Sun Devils (5-2, 2-2) from another road upset 21-3.

The first quarter of the game saw ASU struggle offensively, as they put up 21 yards total on offense. However, they punted on all three of their drives.

Utah’s first two drives saw the team cross the 50-yard-line with ease but quickly turn the ball over to the Sun Devils on back-to-back drives.

The end of the first quarter ended with both teams scoreless but Utah dominating the game with 120 yards compared to the Sun Devils 20 yards.

Utah was able to get onto the board first with sophomore wide receiver Jaylen Dixon scoring on a jet sweep from 10-yards out. This gave the Utes the lead after a 7-play, 60-yard drive that took 3:28.

The Sun Devils struggled again on offense for another quarter, as they had two straight three-and-out drives.

Utah wasn’t messing around on their ensuing drive even with senior quarterback Tyler Huntley getting hurt on the drive. Backup quarterback, junior Drew Lisk, stepped in to replace Huntley. On the next play, Lisk found senior running back Zack Moss for a 14-yard third-down conversion. Sun Devil junior defensive back Evan Fields was ejected for targeting, missing the rest of the game for the illegal hit on Moss.

Huntley returned to the field, six plays later, to convert a fourth-and-eight play, finding senior wide receiver Derrick Vickers for 16 yards. Moss would eventually punch the ball in from one yard out. The Utes extended their lead to 14-0 and their scoring drive was 12 plays, 73 yards in 5:39 minutes of play.

ASU’s final drive of the first half ended chippy as Utah was called for two unsportsmanlike conducts. On the final play of the half, true freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels threw a Hail Mary but was intercepted short of the goal line by senior defensive back Tarek Lewis.

Utah entered the locker room up 14-0 and had 235 yards of offense, compared to ASU’s 42 yards.

Redshirt sophomore kicker Crisitian Zendejas made a 40-yard field goal after the Sun Devils recovered a fumble off of a strip sack, caused by redshirt sophomore linebacker Tyler Johnson. The Sun Devils scoring drive was 4 plays, -4 yards in 2:08 yards of play.

The Sun Devils were handed another opportunity by Utah’s offense with Huntley throwing an interception to redshirt junior cornerback Chase Lucas. ASU would punt the ball right back to Utah, as the offense couldn’t find any pass protection for Daniels.

Utah took their 14-3 lead into the fourth quarter and the Sun Devils first chance to carve down the deficit was unsuccessful, after Zendejas missed a 42 yarder.

The game seemed to be completely out of reach for the Sun Devils, after cornerback Jack Jones fumbled on the punt return. In the ensuing play, Moss would score from 32 yards out and become the schools all-time rushing record.

Utah’s defense held the Sun Devils to 136 yards total and left Daniels completing only 22 percent of his passes for the game (4/18).

Utah’s 21-3 win give the Sun Devils their second loss of the season and likely pushes the Sun Devils out of the rankings.