Utah Utes football: Team elated, exhausted after big win

After making his way up the stairs to Utah's postgame press conference, head coach Kyle Whittingham acknowledged the celebration in the locker room was "one of the better ones."

Some of the Utes, he explained, could barely stand up — having left it all on the field during a thrilling 31-28 come-from-behind victory over Oregon State on Thursday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Whittingham described the scene as a combination of "complete exhaustion" and "sheer elation."

Utah rallied from eight points down in the final 1:29 to improve to 6-0 on the season. A 37-yard field goal by Louie Sakoda capped the comeback as time expired.

"The bottom line is these guys found a way to win," said Whittingham, who was particularly pleased with how his team overcame adversity to get the job done. "It's the sign of a great team."

That's not to say, however, that the 15th-ranked Utes don't have work to do. Whittingham wasn't happy they lost the turnover battle. He also pointed to their play-action defense and pinning more punts inside the 10 as other areas that need to be improved upon.

There's always something to work on, he explained, while noting that they'll never feel like they've arrived.

What did happen, though, is an enhanced confidence and belief in each other. It's something Whittingham pointed out while calling Utah's last two offensive drives "something to behold."

Trailing 28-20 following an Oregon State touchdown with 2:18 remaining, Utah quickly responded. The Utes used just 42 seconds to move 60 yards on four plays. A 25-yard scoring strike from Brian Johnson to Bradon Godfrey put them back into contention.

The ensuing two-point conversion attempt featured an incomplete pass, but a pass interference call gave Utah new life. Johnson capitalized on the situation by running into the end zone to tie things up with 1:29 remaining.

Now it was time for Utah's defense to shine.

Three plays, four yards and 23 seconds later, Oregon State was forced to punt. The kick sailed out-of-bounds after 31 yards — giving the Utes possession on their own 45 with just more than one minute to play. They converted on third down once before moving into field-goal range on a 16-yard pass to Brent Casteel. A 4-yard run by Darrell Mack followed.

"It felt like the situation was just perfect," Casteel said. "I didn't feel any pressure because I knew that we had it. It's something that we do every day. We work on that drill often."