Utes put the boot to No. 15 Pitt

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah was wavering between stifling defense and play sloppy enough to blow an 11-point lead before Brian Blechen saved the Utes.

The freshman safety intercepted a pass on the first play of overtime, setting up Joe Phillips for a 21-yard field goal that gave the Utes a 27-24 victory against No. 15 Pittsburgh on Thursday.

"The quarterback (Tino Sunseri) rolled out and looked to the flat and we were ready for that play," Blechen said. "I saw it happening and just went for it."

Blechen bolted in front of Mike Shanahan and grabbed Sunseri's pass at the Utah sideline, keeping the Utes' collapse at the end of regulation from becoming something worse. Blowing a double-digit, fourth-quarter lead is easier to deal with when the result is a victory.

Pittsburgh had a much bleaker outlook as the Panthers filed out of the locker room toward the bus. Despite having a new quarterback in Sunseri and no ground game to help him in his first start, the Panthers battled back to be in position to win.

"We didn't play good enough to win. We really didn't," Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt said. "Down the stretch Utah made less mistakes than we did."

That was a pretty good summary. The season opener was full of blunders -- 12 penalties by Pitt and 11 by the Utes, turnovers at crucial moments and then failing to cash in.

Pitt twice drove inside the Utah 10, but went backward and had to settle for field goals by Dan Hutchins. Utah had second-and-goal from the 2 late in the second quarter, but didn't score because of an interception off a bad pass by Jordan Wynn into the end zone.

"We made enough mistakes in this game to lose it, enough to lose two games," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, whose team has won 18 in a row.

Wynn passed for 283 yards and three touchdowns, two to Jereme Brooks for 19 and 3 yards in the second quarter.

Wynn's third TD was a short pass over the middle that Canyon Springs High School product DeVonte Christopher broke for a 61-yard score that gave Utah a 24-13 lead with 7:59 remaining.

The comfortable margin didn't last a minute.

The Panthers struck back on a 44-yard pass from Sunseri to Jon Baldwin, who was alone inside the 10-yard line because of a breakdown in Utah's secondary. Sunseri went to Baldwin again for the 2-point conversion that pulled the Panthers within 24-21 with 7:11 left to play.

At the end of regulation, Hutchins had to kick the tying field goal three times. His first attempt went through the uprights, but Whittingham called timeout just before the snap and Hutchins had to kick again.

Whittingham did the same thing on the second attempt, which was wide and had fans and Utah players celebrating before they learned there was another kick to come. This time Hutchins was back on target and tied it at 24.

But Blechen regained the momentum and the ball for the Utes with his interception in overtime and Utah played it safe. The Utes never attempted another pass, running it down inside the 10 and leaving Phillips a chip shot to win it.