Salt Lake City – Brian Johnson passed for 305 yards and two touchdowns and ran for three touchdowns, and Utah avoided its first losing streak in three years by beating Air Force 38-35 on Thursday night.
The Utes (3-1, 1-1 Mountain West Conference), whose 18- game win streak was snapped a week earlier in an overtime loss at TCU, scored twice in seven seconds to break a 14-14 tie and led the rest of the way in defeating Air Force (2-2, 1-2) for the third consecutive year.
Travis LaTendresse caught 10 passes, including a 12-yarder for a touchdown from Johnson, and finished with 139 yards for Utah after catching just eight passes in the first three games.
Johnson, a sophomore, was 21-of-29 passing and scored on three 1-yard runs. He threw one interception, a ball tipped by a Utah player to an AFA player.
Ryan Williams ran for two touchdowns for Air Force, setting up one with a 34-yard sprint up the middle on the opening drive. Adam Fitch rallied the Falcons in the fourth quarter, throwing a touchdown pass and then running for a touchdown with 1:08 remaining. But Utah recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock.
Utah hasn’t lost two games in a row since losing six straight in the 2002 season.
After gaining 242 yards in the first half, Air Force gained just 42 in the third quarter and struggled after Johnson’s 60-yard pass to Brian Hernandez with about 11 minutes left in the third quarter put Utah up 38-21.
Utah played some porous defense in the first half, then got stingy in the third quarter. It was good enough to hold off Air Force’s late comeback try.
