No. 17 Utah dominated No. 10 Oregon for the second time in three weeks, advancing to the school’s first Rose Bowl with a 38-10 victory in the Pac-12 championship game on Friday night in Las Vegas.
Devin Lloyd contributed a pick-six in the first half, Cameron Rising passed for 170 yards and ran for 61, and the Utes (10-3, 8-1 Pac-12) controlled the line of scrimmage, just as they did when they routed then-No. 3 Oregon 38-7 on Nov. 20.
Utah will likely face No. 7 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
“Surreal. Surreal,” Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said. “So proud of our guys. And they deserve that experience. They absolutely deserve that experience.”
The Ducks (10-3, 7-2) managed just 221 total yards Friday night, including 74 on the ground.
Utah ran for 191 yards and three short touchdowns, two from Tavion Thomas, giving him 20 rushing scores for the season.
Utah, which joined the Pac-12 for the 2011 season, previously won the South division in 2018 and 2019 but failed to win the league title game until the current squad got the job done.
“They have high character, great leadership, great work habits during the week,” Whittingham said of his team. “I can’t remember when I’ve had more fun coaching a football team.”
The Ducks managed a 42-yard field goal after trailing 23-0 at halftime, but the Utes delivered knockout blows with back-to-back touchdown drives for a 38-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Oregon quarterback Anthony Brown never found any rhythm, completing 13 of 24 passes for 147 yards, with two interceptions. The Ducks had been 4-0 in Pac-12 championship games before Friday night.
“Certainly not the result we wanted,” Ducks coach Mario Cristobal said. “We felt good coming in, had a good week of practice. But credit to Utah — they earned the victory tonight. Certainly had a big turnover early with the interception for a touchdown. … We’re disappointed in ourselves, as a staff, as a team.
“We found a way to win 10 games, despite some injuries. We had some bright moments. We had a couple of disappointing losses, but we gave ourselves a chance to win our third straight championship.”
Utah set the tone early. The Utes scored on the first possession of the game and went up 14-0 on Lloyd’s 34-yard interception return with 4:16 to go in the first quarter. Lloyd stepped in front of a receiver on a pass over the middle and ran untouched into the end zone.
Oregon’s defense tried to turn momentum, twice intercepting Rising in Ducks’ territory in the second quarter. But the Ducks couldn’t take advantage, including missing a 44-yard field goal.
Utah pounced again at the end of the half, converting a third-and-14 at the Oregon 40 before Rising found Dalton Kincaid in the end zone for an 11-yard score with 27 seconds left in the half. The PAT failed, but the Utes weren’t done.
A huge mistake by Brown — forcing a throw as he was running out of bounds — resulted in an interception that led to Jadon Redding’s 50-yard field goal and a 23-0 lead as time expired.
–Field Level Media
