SALT LAKE CITY — The stars lined up perfectly for Utah — Oregon beat USC and Ohio State lost its first game of the season last weekend. Utah needed a win against UCLA and the Pac-12 championship and an outside shot at the College Football Playoffs would be seemingly theirs for the taking.
Utah, though, could only muster up three field goals in a losing effort against UCLA as the program saw both its postseason options slip through its fingers. Close was not good enough, and Utah once again barely missed out on a division title for the third time in five years.