Utah left Boulder with a win, but not the kind that makes anyone feel settled.
The Utes hung on for a 27-24 victory over Colorado after surviving a late Hail Mary attempt from former Utah quarterback Isaac Wilson, staying unbeaten at 6-0. But the way they got there left plenty of room for concern, and head coach Morgan Scalley made that clear afterward.
“We have to play much cleaner,” Scalley said. “We won’t win many games doing what we did [tonight], turning the ball over, not scoring in the red zone, pass efficiency not being what it needed to be, and defensively, giving up chunk-yard plays.
“You’re just not going to win very many games [like that].”
Utah trailed for the first time all season after Colorado kicker Elliot Arnold drilled a 32-yard field goal with 3:42 left in the third quarter to make it 17-13. That drive had been set up by an interception from Devon Dampier, who rolled right and made a poor decision on the throw. By then, the Utes were already dealing with a Colorado offense that had found some rhythm, and Wilson had helped the Buffaloes score 14 points in the third quarter.
Still, Utah found a response when it mattered. Down 17-13 with just over three minutes left in the third, Dampier hit Creed Whittemore on third-and-10 for a 43-yard gain down the left sideline.
A few plays later, he connected with Braden Pegan for a 16-yard touchdown. Late in the fourth quarter, Dampier found Whittemore again for a 25-yard gain that set up another scoring strike to Pegan.
Pegan finished with eight catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
“I just think it’s a little bit of a wake-up call,” Pegan said. “It was close.
There’s a lot of work to be done, just like any week. If we smoke a team, or we beat a team barely, or we lose, there’s a lot of work to be done each week, and it just shows that we have stuff to do.”
Dampier’s afternoon was uneven. He threw two interceptions, but he also delivered the throws Utah needed when the game was slipping. Colorado’s man coverage gave the Utes chances to attack deep, and Dampier said that was part of the plan.
“When teams play man, especially press man, and they have no help behind them - we like our odds against those,” Dampier said. “We take those deep shots when we think they’re there.”
That late surge mattered because Utah had spent much of the first half leaving points on the field. The Utes controlled the ball for more than 22 minutes over their first five possessions, yet they went into halftime up only 13-0. Their only touchdown in the half came on the opening drive, when Dampier hit tight end Hunter Andrews for an 8-yard score.
After that, the offense stalled in the red zone. Utah had a 17-play drive that ended with a field goal, then a nine-play, 72-yard march that ended with a shovel-pass interception from Dampier. Even after Rabbit Evans intercepted a pass before halftime, Utah settled for three again after Dampier was sacked.
“Execution, that’s what’s going to get us touchdowns. That’s what’s going to move the ball,” Dampier said.
“We’re lacking execution. We put ourselves in a tough spot to be able to score in those situations.”
The defense was dominant early, too, and especially in the first half. Colorado managed just 70 total yards before the break and went 0-for-3 on third down.
But the second half flipped fast. Wilson found JaQuail Smith for a 68-yard touchdown on the opening possession after halftime, then Colorado added a 19-yard rushing touchdown and later a field goal to keep pressure on Utah.
Bobo Chenault pointed to communication issues in the back end when asked about the breakdowns.
“I will just say that [it was about] communication,” Chenault said. “We were not making sure we got one call to another person, or making sure this part of communication got to the next person, so just making sure we’re hitting on all cylinders, especially communication.”
Wilson had one more shot to finish the comeback, leading a long touchdown drive in the final minutes before getting the chance to win it with a Hail Mary. The throw didn’t connect, and Utah escaped with the result.
Scalley said the Utes were “fortunate” to leave with a victory, and with Houston, Cincinnati and BYU on deck over the next three weeks, he knows there’s plenty that needs cleaning up.
“The key metrics that we look at - we weren’t good enough at in this game, and that’s why there at the end of it, we are potentially losing this game,” he said.
Utah returns home next week to face No. 20 Houston, which is 5-1.
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