Utah Utes football: Washington puts hurtin' on Utes in team's Pac-12 home opener

Utah's fifth turnover came shortly thereafter when Hays fumbled the ball while getting sacked by Lawrence Lagafuaina. Semisi Tokolahi recovered it on the Washington 35.

The Huskies wound up giving the ball back on downs near the end of the game, opting for a run play on fourth-and-21 from the Utah 31 with just over two minutes remaining.

The Utes countered with their first and only scoring drive under Hays, who threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dallin Rogers with seven seconds remaining.

In the end, though, it proved to be far too little, far too late for Utah.

The outcome followed a bye week that followed a 54-10 victory at BYU. The Utes had seven takeaways in the rout.

"It felt like the complete opposite of two weeks ago," said left tackle John Cullen.

Things won't get any easier as a grinding schedule continues with Arizona State coming to town next week. At 0-2 in Pac-12 play, the Utes will have to dig themselves out of a hole to compete for the South Division title.

"We won't beat the guys next week if we don't take care of the football," Whittingham said.

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