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Utah holds on to beat California 30-24, remains unbeaten

graham watson

In every great season, there’s always one game through which a team has to persevere.

Saturday’s 30-24 win against California was Utah’s game.

California had an opportunity to win the contest late despite five interceptions by star quarterback Jared Goff, but Goff’s fourth-down pass was knocked away by Boobie Hobbs to leave Utah with a few kneel downs to stay undefeated.

“I’ll tell you what, six takeaways by our defense, that was the key,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Great play and coverage back on that last play by Boobie Hobbs. That quarterback is maybe the best in the country at what he does as far as staying in the pocket and our defense rose to the occasion.”

Goff’s five interceptions were the most by a California quarterback since 1998 against Arizona State. He had four in the first half.

Still, the California defense played as well as it had all year and kept the Bears in the game.

Utah had a lot of success with running back Devontae Booker in the first half — he had more than 200 yards of total offense in the opening 30 minutes — but California limited those avenues in the second half. And quarterback Travis Wilson also found little success on the ground and in the air against a California defense that forced three turnovers of its own.

Booker ended up being the offensive key to the Utes victory with 34 carries for 222 yards and two touchdowns. He also added four catches for 45 yards.

Both of these teams came into the contest looking to extend unexpected unbeaten streaks. California was off to its first 5-0 start since 1991 and Utah had never been this successful as a member of a Power 5 conference. The Utes did start the season 8-0 in 2010 before losing three of their final five.

Utah already had ascended to No. 5 in AP Poll and No. 7 in the Coaches Poll and could see those positions increase after other teams struggled against lesser competition. However, Utah’s road to the Pac-12 South title and the College Football Playoff doesn’t get any easier from here.

It has to a face a newly energized Arizona State team next week and then USC the weekend after.

California’s loss might stop its winning streak, but it’s still in a heated competition with Stanford for the top of the Pac-12 North. The two teams won’t meet until Nov. 21.

If there’s a positive for Cal, it’s that it turned the ball over six times and was still in a position to beat a Top 5 opponent. That might be of little consolation now, but it should ultimately help the Bears moving forward.

As for Utah, close wins are almost better than blowouts like the one the Utes had against Oregon two weeks ago. It shows the mettle of a team, especially one that has a tough road to finish off what has already been a terrific season.

For more Utah news, visit Utezone.com.

For more Cal news, visit GoldenBearReport.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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