Utah Football program lost 35-6 to the No. 8 Oregon Ducks today, ending its 18-game win streak inside Rice-Eccles Stadium. Utah is 6-2 overall and 3-2 in Pac-12 play. It was the first time that Utah was held without an offensive touchdown since 2018 (vs. Washington, L 10-3) with Utah finishing the game with 241 yards of total offense and two field goals. Despite winning the time of possession battle at 31:57 to 28:03, Utah only had 13 first downs and was just 5-of-15 on third down conversions.  
Seattle. The point is not to blast the Utes, but rather to put it into perspective that the current version of the team isn’t good enough at this time.
Nix threw two touchdown passes — an 18-yard dart to Jordan James and a 3-yard strike to Troy Franklin — and rushed for a 1-yard score to help Oregon jump out to a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter. The Ducks averaged 9.0 yards per play on their first three scoring drives.
Gaining ground proved much more cumbersome for the Utes. Utah forced Oregon to lose a fumble for the first time this season when Junior Tafuna stripped the ball from Irving as he tackled him and recovered it at the Oregon 27. The Utes turned the turnover into a 32-yard field goal from Cole Becker, who added a second field goal from 30 yards to cap Utah’s final first-half drive.
Irving ran in untouched from 9 yards out to extend Oregon’s lead again early in the in the third quarter. Johnson then intercepted Barnes a second time to set up a 5-yard run from Traeshon Holden to put the Ducks up 35-6 midway through the third quarter.
Vernon Adams still nursing an injured finger on his throwing hand. “Highlighted” by punt return touchdown by Utah where a decoy returner faked out the Ducks coverage unit, Oregon was run off it’s own field 62-20. Oregon was in full rebuild mode in 2016 and 2017, but pulled out upsets over the Utes in both years. The Ducks couldn’t extend the streak though, losing in SLC in 2018.
Oregon and Utah did not play in the regular season in 2019, but soon found themselves on a collision course in the Pac-12 Championship Game as front runners in their respective divisions. The Ducks laid an egg at Arizona State late in the season, meaning going into championship weekend the Utes were the last chance for a Pac-12 team to make the CFP with only 1 loss. With a conference title and a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line, the Ducks finally utilized senior QB Justin Herbert as an option in the run game. Combined with a game plan that effectively manipulated the run gap assignments of Utah’s excellent linebackers, the Utes surrendered 239 yards on the ground. The Ducks took the game 37-15 and went on to defeat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.
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