This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The covered-up flaw of Utah's proud defense in 2014 was a series of fourth-quarter failures. In five Pac-12 games, the Utes failed to protect a lead in the final period — although Utah's maligned offense managed to win three of those games in the last minute of regulation or in overtime.
Obviously, it would asking a lot of any defense to produce a fourth-quarter shutout of a Pac-12 offense. But the Utes did it Saturday night, earning a 30-24 victory over Cal at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The Bears drove to the Utah 21-yard line in the final minute, only to be denied via incompletions on third and fourth down with 5 yards to go. The finish resembled the Utes' 2013 defeat of No. 5 Stanford, which reached the Utah 6 before Kevin Hogan threw two incompletions to end the 27-21 upset.
Coincidentally enough, the Utes were ranked No. 5 as of Saturday. They've moved to No. 4 this week in this week's AP Top 25 - and are second only to Ohio State in terms of first-place votes. The polls are fun to talk about, but nothing really matters in comparison to the College Football Playoff committee's rankings, first published Nov. 3. Until then, I would offer only this clue: The committee highly valued the Pac-12 in 2014.
That included good treatment of Utah, although the Utes were out of the actual playoff discussion after losing to Arizona State and Oregon in consecutive games in November.
ASU comes to town Saturday as the only school that's 4-0 against Utah in the Utes' Pac-12 era. Then the Utes visit USC, and who knows how the Trojans will respond to coach Steve Sarkisian's indefinite leave of absence?
What's likely is that at some point, the Utes will need another defensive performance like Saturday's fourth quarter. Last season, the Utes lost to Washington State and Arizona State (overtime) by allowing late scoring drives, and the defense needed the offense's help to salvage wins over UCLA, Oregon State (overtime) and USC.
The defense came through this time. The offense added a field goal for a six-point lead early in the fourth quarter, which would become important. Otherwise, it was a scoreless fourth period, with Utah stopping Cal on three possessions. The Bears punted after picking up first one first down on their first drive of the fourth quarter, but they moved the ball well on their other two opportunities.
Ute cornerback Dominique Hatfield's interception came on a first-down play from the Ute 35. On the last drive, which started at the Cal 5, Boobie Hobbs' fourth-down deflection saved the game.
So the Utes gave up 118 yards (plus a 15-yard penalty) in the fourth quarter — but zero points. That's why they're 5-0.
Twitter: @tribkurt