Hosting a tough Arizona State team on Saturday night, Utah football was looking to prove itself as a playoff contender. Did it do just that?
Arizona State came to town looking for an upset over Utah but the Utes took care of business, holding the red-hot Sun Devils without a touchdown, 21-3.
The Utes improve to 6-1 on the season and 3-1 in conference play, holding onto first place in the Pac-12 South while the Sun Devils drop to 2-2 in league action. Utah controls its own destiny with the convincing win.
What’d we learn from Utah’s win over Arizona State?
3. Defense is nothing to mess with
If you watched Jayden Daniels through the first seven weeks of the season, you would have seen him dominate opponents, for the most part. He had been completely unfazed by hostile road environments and pressure-packed situations.
On Saturday, he couldn’t get anything going against the Sun Devils. He struggled mightily through the air for what turned out to be the worst game of his career. Heck, this may have been the worst game of his career at any level — high school or college. You might have to go all the way back to his peewee days to find him play a game this poorly.
We already knew how good Utah’s defense was, but Arizona State’s offense had been hitting its stride heading into Saturday’s game, but it took about five steps back.
Utah didn’t give up any big plays, holding Daniels to 25 yards and an interception on 4-of-18 completions. Eno Benjamin was the only bright spot for the Sun Devils.