[The following is taken from my post to rec.sport.football.college following the game]
What were the keys to the game in my eyes?
Utah's inability to hold onto interceptions. Ute defenders had at least three balls hit them perfectly. Two were dropped and one stolen by the receiver for a touchdown. Had they been able to hang on to these balls Utah would have been the one in control of the game (I suspect that the second dropped ball was headed in for a touchdown had it been intercepted).
Utah's bonehead penalties. Arizona might be patting themselves on the back for getting 14 first downs against Utah but at least four of these came on moronish penalties by the Utes. Why is it that they enjoy giving the other team free yards?
Arizona's inability to catch balls. Three times Wildcat receivers were beyond Utah's D-backs and dropped the ball. The first was when the DB's seemed to be going for the interception and the ball was perfectly thrown over their heads. The receiver seemed to hit the ball with his knee and knock it out of his own hands but I think that he was going to fall down even if he caught it. The last two drops were on the first and goal series in the fourth quarter. The tight end was wide open on first down and dropped it. On third down the motion man was wide open and the pass hit him perfectly in the chest and he dropped it. Arizona settled for a field goal. If they had scored seven points here, the game was over.
Arizona's inability to stop the Ute return game. I can't see how the Utes could have gone the 60 or so yards in the closing minutes on offense with the way that they were playing. Their only hope was a good return which they got. It was only luck that the Utes scored from there on a pass from McCoy to Dyson.
Other notes:
I have read posts about how the Ute offense was so over-rated because they gained only 75 yards of total offense and they play in the defenseless WAC. Have you ever heard of bad games? That is what the Utah offense had. I guarantee that if they played 10 times never again would they gain only 75 yards of offense (of course this is all hand waving). Arizona managed only 191 yards of total offense against Oregon's defense whereas Utah put up 421, but against CSU Arizona had more offense than did Utah. Point is, the offense of Utah had a bad game. I don't think they would ever gain 400 yards against the Wildcats but neither would they have such a poor showing. McCoy had a very bad game. He usually concentrates on the short pass but for some reason he seemed to want to wait for the long man to come open, part of the reason that he was sacked 6 times. This was not the typical Mike McCoy.
All that said, man are the big men up front for Arizona fast or what? I couldn't believe how Osborne ran down McCoy on the winning touchdown. The D-line really man-handled the Ute offensive unit. The Utes averaged just over six INCHES per carry on the ground (although most of this was because of sacks).
Utah's defense looked great in this game (other than their penalties). In most passing situations the D-back was in a better position to catch the ball than the receiver. The linebackers, especially Rexford, played very well and the D-line was able to pressure White most of the game and close down the holes during runs. Good job!
A win is a win, especially in a bowl. We'll take it!
10-2 baby!
#10 AP final ranking
#8 CNN/USA Today