Utah Football: 3 takeaways from clutch road win at Washington State

Just before kickoff, backup quarterback Bryson Barnes found out he was starting for Utah football against Washington State in Pullman.

Utes fans on Twitter did not take the news well.

Cameron Rising was battling an injury and throwing Barnes in there at the last second was not a good sign and it just felt like Pac-12 title hopes were about to be crushed in Pullman.

Well, Barnes stepped up.

Utah was able to go into Martin Stadium and pick up a clutch 21-17 win.

What’d we learn?

3. The Utah football defense was clutch

Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Washington State struck first with a 29-yard touchdown pass by Cameron Ward. He had himself a decent game, but that was the only lead that the Cougars had on Thursday night on their home field.

The defense clamped down and kept Washington State off the board until late in the fourth quarter, mounting a 21-7 lead and really putting the pressure on the Cougars.

While Ward was solid through the air with only four incompletions, the rest of the defense was clutch. The pass rush was on point with four sacks and that front also accounted for 10 tackles for loss. Washington State was put in tough positions far too often which kept the Cougars off the board for the first, most of the second, and the entire third quarter.

Plus, that run defense was elite. Utah ran 19 times for just 42 yards and most of those came from the legs of Ward. The longest run of the game against Utah was just 12 yards. Clutch.