Brad Rock: Utah Utes need more of what they've got, must improve depth for upcoming seasons

Not that the game was clean. Far from it. The first half included four fumbles, three of them lost by one team or the other.

Maybe it was the intermittent rain. Probably it was not protecting the ball.

A big Utah break came when Arizona quarterback Matt Scott fumbled at the Utah seven with 33 seconds left in the first half. He must have felt terrible. Almost as bad as he did when TV cameras caught him hurling — and we don't mean passing — between plays.

In fairness, it was a stomach-churning kind of night for both teams.

Give the Utes' credit, they worked like they were fighting for the Rose Bowl. But a failed fake punt led to Arizona scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 11:07 remaining.

A fourth down try, a fake punt, a reverse, a fake field goal. The Utes used a lot of their playbook.

No reason at this point to save anything.

As they left the field, they also left a strong impression: That most games they're competitive enough. They're reasonably talented, too. Now they need to get more of it.

Email: rock@desnews.com

Twitter: therockmonster