Coach Jedd Fisch had a valid reason for the long pass attempt by Arizona, who scored with under a minute to go against the Utes.
In the final 32 seconds of the game, Arizona made a 51-yard pass that changed the final score, making it 45-18. The quarterback during the play was Jayden De Laura and according to Coach Fisch, De Laura was the reason why they didn't kneel the clock out. Fisch said, "I wanted Jayden to go out with a touchdown pass this season," continuing with, "I think that he deserves that."
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham responded by saying, "Shoot, that's their prerogative to be able to call whatever they want. It's our job to defend," following up with, "So I've got no problem with that at all if that's the play they want to run. We've got to defend it; it's plain and simple."
Some Utah fans and analysts alike were not happy about the play call, while others pointed out that the Utes had previously made a similar play against ASU a few weeks ago. Despite it being a different situation where the Utes had just gotten lucky on a 4th down run, the premise remains the same.
As the season draws to a close next week in Colorado, fans of the Utah Utes were hoping for a strong finish to an up-and-down season. Fortunately, Cam Rising has announced his return for the year 2024, which is sure to give a much-needed boost to the hopes and aspirations of all Utes fans as they prepare to enter new BIG 12 territory next year.
More must-reads: