AIR FORCE ACADEMY — It wasn’t as if Air Force ran out of gas Saturday against 20th-ranked Utah. The Falcons just ran out of Brian Johnson turnovers, and ran on fumes offensively most the game.
The Utah quarterback turned the ball over three times in the first half, helping the Falcons take a 16-9 lead into intermission. Utah, however, played virtually error-free football the rest of the way for a 30-23 victory at Falcon Stadium.
Utah’s defense made up for Johnson, who was intercepted in the end zone and fumbled twice, including one that went for a Air Force touchdown. The Utes held the Falcons to 191 total yards — including only 53 yards rushing on 42 carries.
“Defense played well, start to finish, (but) you can’t turn the ball over three times in the first half. That’s what really kept the game close,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “If we don’t turn it over three times in the first half, the way our defense was playing, I believe we win going away.”
Johnson went from goat to hero. He spearheaded Utah’s winning 80-yard drive, capped by Darrell Mack’s third touchdown run with 58 seconds to play.
Johnson directed an offense that finished with 440 yards. He was 16-of-23 for 243 yards passing.
“I couldn’t have played any worse in the first half,” Johnson said. “I told my teammates that half was on me. There was no reason we should have went into the half (trailing) 16-9, but we had a chance to battle back. The great thing about football is it’s a tale of two halves. We came out and executed, and looked sharper and got the win.”
Utah suffocated Air Force’s ground game by using six defensive backs most of the game. The idea was to keep the Falcons from running wide and turning upfield.
“Our perimeter defense was pretty good,” Utah safety Terrell Cole said. “We all felt they couldn’t run up the middle with our D-tackles and D-ends. We had four safeties in the game, so it was more about speed. Our main goal was to not allow them to go outside, and that’s what we did.”
Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com
