Washington's playoff hopes remain intact after scare at Utah

Washington receiver Dante Pettis had a quiet game against Utah until one play late in the fourth quarter made him a hero.

Pettis fielded a Utah punt near midfield, retreated, broke some tackles, waited for his blockers to set up and then ran the ball down the right sideline for a 58-yard return for a touchdown.

The deciding score came with 3:25 remaining and Washington was able to escape Utah 31-24 and remain undefeated.

Prior to that score, Pettis, the Huskies’ second-leading receiver, had been held to just two catches for 15 yards. It was an unusually quiet afternoon for a guy who was coming off back-to-back 100-yard games, but when the Huskies needed a big play to break a closely contested game, Pettis answered the bell.

The Utes attempted to march downfield for the game-tying score, but quarterback Troy Williams took a sack on third down with less than a minute remaining and then inexplicably threw the ball out of the end zone on fourth-and-15, even though the Utes just needed to get to the 20-yard line and still had two timeouts remaining.

Washington running back Myles Gaskin rushes toward the end zone during the Huskies 31-24 win against Utah. (Getty)

That was really the only blemish for Williams, who had a good day against a Washington defense that hadn’t given up many yards or points this season. Williams threw for 163 yards and two scores and running back Joe Williams, who has been a workhorse since coming back from retirement three games ago, rushed 35 times for 172 yards and a score. In Joe Williams’ last three games since returning from retirement, he has rushed for 683 yards.

Washington employed a similar offensive strategy by unleashing its running backs, Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman, on the Utah defense. Gaskin had 19 carries for 151 yards and a touchdown and both players averaged more than seven yards a carry as the Washington offensive line had little trouble blowing the Utah defensive line off the ball.

Heisman hopeful quarterback Jake Browning had a fairly quiet day, completing 12 of 20 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns, but he also tossed his third interception of the season.

This game marked only the second real tight contest the Huskies have played this season. Other than an overtime win against Arizona in September, the Huskies had been beating teams by 24 or more points per game.

The win should keep the Huskies squarely in the College Football Playoff conversation with the first rankings coming out Tuesday, but there are still several pitfalls ahead starting with a game against Cal next week.