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SALT LAKE CITY — Moving the ball wasn't necessarily the problem for No. 10 Utah football Saturday night in the first half, especially considering that quarterback Isaac Wilson started 6-of-6 for 76 yards to closeout the first quarter.
That is until Utah got deep in the red zone.
Utah stalled inside the 10-yard line on the first two drives of the game — turning the ball over on downs on both tries — before having to finally settle for a field goal on the third attempt. It was the only points of the first half for the Utes.
To compound matters, Utah's defense gave Arizona almost everything it wanted, thanks to several missed arm tackles and bad angles that allowed quarterback Noah Fifita to work without too much pressure.
As such, Arizona held a 10-3 lead at the halftime break.
It didn't get much better for the Utes in the second half, though, as Arizona came away with a rare victory at Rice-Eccles Stadium — at night no less — upsetting Utah 23-10.
"Left points out there," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "We were horrible in the red zone — awful, awful. And until we get that fixed, we're going to continue to have problems. Couldn't convert a fourth down — 0-for-4 on fourth downs — so that really was the reason for the outcome.
"We should have had 21 points in the first half, and we just squandered those opportunities."
The Wildcats (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) only grew their lead with two made field goals in the third quarter, which was enough against a Utes (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) offense that stalled out time and again in the second half.
Utah did gain some momentum to start the fourth quarter when Tao Johnson picked off Fifita in the end zone.
Wilson then led Utah on a six-play, 80-yard drive that included a 37-yard catch up the seam to Dorian Singer, and a 20-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Lohner to give Utah some life.
But Fifita remained calm and led the Wildcats on an eight-play, 87-yard drive that was capped off with a 35-yard touchdown to Keyan Burnett to end all hopes for the home team. The touchdown was set up on a 41-yard pass up the seam to Devin Hyatt on third-and-11 to keep the drive going and to silence a raucous crowd.
Fifita finished the night throwing for 197 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 19-of-31 passing for the sophomore quarterback.
But for as much as Fifita and Arizona did just enough to get past Utah, it was poor execution all around that sank Utah.
"We did not score points when they were there to be scored," Whittingham said. "That's the name of the game: score points to win and we just didn't do it; 10 points will win you probably zero games in this day and age of football, and so we've got to get better."
"We're just not executing well enough," added running back Micah Bernard. "We got the play calls, we've just got to go on the field and execute; we're not doing that. I think that's gonna be an emphasis for the next few weeks. ... It should be an emphasis, because this is unacceptable for us. You see us move the ball down the field; we can't stall."
Wilson finished the night throwing for 280 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions on 20-of-40 passing — most of which came in the first half when Wilson and Singer had an unstoppable connection. Singer, who Whittingham called "outstanding," finished the day with 155 yards on nine catches against his former team.
Though Wilson said it was a team effort, he put some of the blame on himself for throwing two interceptions to cost Utah some opportunities on offense, while noting that the red zone execution remained the biggest problem on the night.
"I know better on those interceptions; I know better," he said. "I shouldn't put the team in that situation. I felt like we were driving the ball up and down the field the whole time — run game, pass game — but red zone."
Bernard added 91 yards on 16 carries for the Utes as the only positive momentum in the run game. But it wasn't enough to take the sting away from a bad loss.
"I couldn't even tell you, man," Bernard said. "I don't get too upset, I don't get too mad. And I just almost want to just smack something right now. So I'm gonna use that this whole next two weeks. And when we go to (Arizona State), they gonna feel me, they gonna feel me."
Utah was without the service of Cam Rising for the third straight week after he injured his throwing hand in the first half against Baylor. Wilson got the start in his stead and suffered his first loss as a starter with the Utes.
Whittingham said Rising was "really close" to returning to the field, and a two week lead up to a road trip to Arizona State should help in his return.
