3 takeaways from No. 16 Utah's devastating loss at Arizona State – Deseret News

No. 16 defeated No. 1 – at least in some respects.

Utah, the preseason favorite in the Big 12, lost 27-19 on Friday night to the team projected to finish last in the league, Arizona State.

How did it happen? Here are three takeaways from No. 16 Utah's second straight loss. One that drops the Utes to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 action and jeopardizes their hopes of a league title and a berth in the College Football Playoff.

It was the show Skattebo vs. Bernard.

Two bloodthirsty running backs starred in Tempe.

On the Utes side it was Micah Bernard.

For the Sun Devils it was Cam Skattebo.

Skattebo had the final say – he ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns in the second half, helping Arizona State rally after falling behind in the third quarter.

His touchdown runs of 50 and 47 yards electrified the crowd, and his 21-yard over-the-shoulder catch on third down on ASU's final touchdown drive only added to the story of his unforgettable night.

Bernard, for his part, kept Utah in the game.

With Utah's offense struggling to finish drives – a common theme – even with Cam Rising back on the field (more on that in a moment), Bernard was called upon again and again to help save the Utes.

He delivered with 129 yards rushing on the night on various tough runs while also adding 61 receiving yards.

Bernard scored Utah's only touchdown of the night with a 6-yarder on third-and-goal when he followed his blockers and came downfield untouched.

That briefly put the Utes back in the lead at 16-13, but Skattebo's 50-yard touchdown run followed shortly after, breaking several tackle attempts and giving the Sun Devils the lead back for good.

That TD run was emblematic of a problem that resurfaced for Utah two weeks after its loss to Arizona.

The Utes missed several tackles on defense, and that will certainly be a focus going forward for a defense that hasn't lived up to expectations despite missing injured starters like Karene Reid and Connor O'Toole.

What did Cam Rising look like? Not like himself

Now to Rising.

Yes, the Utes' seventh-year quarterback was back in the lineup for the first time since Utah's win over Baylor, but he didn't look like himself.

Nowhere near the two-time Pac-12 winning quarterback Utah fans remember.

Rising suffered a hit on the Utes' opening drive in which his leg was run over by a defender and he was left limping. He also struggled to get the momentum on his throws as he returned from an injury to his throwing hand.

The result: 16 of 37 passes for 209 yards and three interceptions.

Two of those interceptions were particularly damaging.

In the second quarter, as Utah entered the red zone, the Sun Devils' Caleb McCullough dove in to intercept Rising at the Arizona State 9. This meant that Utah lost the chance to tie the game.

Then, with less than two minutes left and Utah needing eight points to tie the game, Rising was intercepted again by McCullough on a pass to the outside.

That ended the Utes' final possession and sealed the defeat.

There will be many questions about what Utah will do at quarterback going forward after an immobile Rising looked like a shell of the leader the program knew.

The problems in the red zone strike again

Stop me if you've heard this before: Utah struggled to finish drives in the loss to ASU.

The Utes scored seven times on a possession inside the Sun Devils 30. Those seven drives resulted in a touchdown, four field goals, an interception and a turnover on downs.

Specifically in the red zone, Utah scored just 20 points on two of its four drives inside Arizona State, a total of 10 points.

In the fourth quarter, Utah, trailing 20-16, scored a fourth-and-8 at the ASU 24. Rising was in a hurry, throwing short and low balls to Money Parks.

Parks was able to intercept the pass on the slide, but it was 4 yards from the line and resulted in a costly turnover on downs.

In the first quarter, Utah's first two drives resulted in Cole Becker field goals – bringing back memories of the team's previous loss to Arizona, when the Utes couldn't finish red-zone drives in the end zone.

Of course, Utah had six points this time compared to zero points on the first two drives against the Wildcats, but if Utah had scored two touchdowns to start the game, things would have been completely different.

It's disheartening that the Utes couldn't score more than 19 points on a night where Utah outgained ASU 349 to 343 total yards and got the ball inside the opponent's 30-yard line on 70% of its drives could score and only one touchdown.

There are a lot of issues to resolve as TCU comes to town next weekend.