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Had true freshman Boobie Hobbs not been flagged for holding on Kaelin Clay's 87-yard punt return, Utah would have been within four points of No. 12 Arizona late in the third quarter Saturday.
He was, so they weren't.
Instead, the hosts lost 42-10 in Utah's greatest margin of defeat since a 47-7 loss to No. 3 TCU in November 2010.
Clearly, this was a very different game: It's not impossible to imagine, as it was then, Utah beating Arizona on another day.
But if the two results aren't jarringly similar, they are similarly jarring.
Then, the dream died of Utah playing in another BCS bowl game. This time, Utah sent up in flames its hope of playing in one of the conference's most prestigious bowls and a slim chance of winning the Pac-12 South Division.
Even if they still stand to exceed most preseason expectations, it stings.
"We've got to regroup," said head coach Kyle Whittingham. "We have one more game, got a chance to win eight games this year in the regular season. That's our goal, is to try to get that eighth win next week."
Utah's trademarks thus far have been to 1. use a beefy offensive line and junior running back Devontae Booker as a battering ram to wear down defensive fronts, 2. pressure the opposing quarterback, 3. make a momentum-changing play or two on special teams and defense, and 4. to close strong.
Saturday, the Utes went one-for-four.
Behind Booker, Whittingham's team did total 213 yards on the ground.
That's the bright side.
But Arizona gashed Utah for 298 rushing yards of its own — its highest total since the season opener against UNLV.
Utah's traditionally stout front seven has now conceded 249 rushing yards per game in the last four contests after holding opponents to 112 in the first seven.
And the pass rush wasn't itself, either. Senior Nate Orchard extended his single-season Utah sack record to 17.5, tied with Washington's Hau'oli Kikaha for the nation lead, and Hunter Dimick notched his 10th, but otherwise Arizona's Anu Solomon and Jesse Scroggins operated with impunity.
Rarely is Utah's defense as culpable as the offense. That was the case Saturday after it conceded a season-high 520 yards.
That doesn't excuse the offense, though.
Not only did Utah account for just 20 of the game's first 250 yards, but Utah has begun to do the one thing Whittingham had praised them for not doing: turning it over.
"We gave up 14 points on offense and scored 10," he said after the game, pointing to Dan Pettinato's 31-yard return of Bubba Poole's fumble and Tra'Mayne Bondurant's 39-yard interception return against redshirt freshman quarterback Conner Manning. "That's not a good recipe for winning games."
Through eight games, the Utes had 10 interceptions to their opponents' two. In the last three, they've thrown five and made none.
Given that the passing game has been, at its best, passing, Utah desperately needs to return to its earlier-season form in all other facets.
And soon.
Or else an eighth win against Colorado in Boulder on Saturday no longer feels quite so likely.
Twitter: @matthew_piper —
Utah at Colorado
O Saturday, 11 a.m.
TV • Pac-12 Network