Utah Utes football: Utes no longer perfect when White rushes for 100 yards

SEATTLE — The Utes winning whenever John White rushed for 100 yards had been as inevitable as death and paying taxes.

Until now.

White's amazing statistic — that the Utes won whenever the senior running back reached the century mark in yards on the ground — came to a screeching halt Saturday night inside CenturyLink Field.

White blew past 100 yards for the 12th time in his Ute career — ultimately finishing with 142 yards and two touchdowns — but for the first time his team didn't emerge with a victory when that happened.

Utah struggled in numerous areas — coughing the ball up several times, struggling to sustain drives and struggling to get stops when they needed to — as the Huskies took apart White and the Utes, 34-15.

"Everything," said Ute coach Kyle Whittingham, "comes to an end."

"It's disappointing, but I've got to move on. I can't dwell on that," White said of watching his streak come to an end in this most frustrating season for the Utes.

To be sure, White did everything he could to make the Utes 12-0 in his career when rushing for at least 100 yards.

He gave the Utes an early lead after bursting through the line untouched and racing 46 yards to the end zone for the game's first score with 5:37 left in the opening quarter.

After Washington came roaring back to eventually take a 21-8 lead early in the third quarter, White appeared to give the Utes life after another touchdown run — this time from 20 yards — on Utah's ensuing drive.

White rushed the ball six times on that drive for 39 yards as part of his terrific evening, but ultimately wasn't enough.

White reached the century mark in rushing nine times last year and has now rushed for at least 100 yards in three games this year.

We've got to focus on these two wins," he said of Utah's final two regular-season games vs. Arizona and at Colorado. "We have to get me — and the rest of these seniors — to a bowl game."