Number 17 Utah was about to go up 14-0 on number four Oregon and then the unthinkable happened
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On Saturday night, Utah Utes receiver Kaelin Clay was about to score on long pass and run play on the first play of the second quarter of the Pac-12 tilt in Salt Lake City. He had gone 78-yards but unfortunately he dropped the ball at the one. He should have gone 79-yards. He thought he had scored.
In one of the craziest plays you will see all season in NCAA football, Oregon’s Erick Dargan recognized the ball had been dropped on the ground prematurely and ran the ball back 100 yards for a touchdown. All the while Clay had been celebrating in the back of the end zone, not realizing what was taking place behind him.
Utes coach Kyle Whittingham though after the game took blame for the play during his post-game press conference. Per coachingsearch.com he said it is on the coaching.
“We’ve got to coach it better. We’ve got to coach it better. You haven’t taught it until a player’s learned it. If he hasn’t learned it, then we haven’t taught it correctly. We’ve got to a better job as coaches on that.”
The coach was nice enough to put the blame on himself but also at the same time Clay needs to have field recognition. That’s something taught very early on. I understand the excitement of the game but the good teams maintain that focus. Either way, it was a tough way to lose.
Despite the boneheaded play the Utes still were in the game early in the fourth quarter. They were down 30-27 but the game got away from them quickly and they ended up losing 51-27. Wittingham recognized his team for being able to overcome the play by Clay.
“It really seemed to take the wind out our sails, take the air out of things for us, but we did finally overcome it, psychologically, and continued to hang in there. When we pulled to 30-27, I liked our chances at that point in time, but they’re a good team. They’re a really good team.”
Good job to overcome it yes. It wasn’t enough in the end though and if the play doesn’t happen, then it could have changed the whole complexity of hos this one turned out.
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