College football: No. 23 Utah holds off Arizona, 30-24

Chris Hart recovered a fumble by Arizona quarterback Brandon Dawkins at Utah’s 20-yard line with 2:33 left, preserving the 23rd-ranked Utes’ 30-24 victory Friday night in Tucson, Ariz., in the Pac-12 Conference opener for both schools.

Utah (4-0) led throughout and was up 30-17 late in the fourth quarter, but Dawkins threw a 30-yard TD pass to Tony Ellison with 2:44 left, cutting the lead to six points. The subsequent onside kick attempt bounced downfield, where Arizona’s Shawn Poindexter recovered at the Utes’ 35.

On the next play, Dawkins ran 15 yards to the 20 but fumbled and Hart recovered.

The Wildcats (2-2) committed five turnovers, including Dawkins having three passes intercepted.

Troy Williams took over for injured quarterback Tyler Huntley in the second quarter and directed the Utes to the victory.

Utah scored a touchdown on its first possession, and then Arizona twice cut the lead to three — the last time at 20-17 on J.J. Taylor’s seven-yard scoring run with 4:38 left in the third quarter.

But 2 1/2 minutes later, with Arizona deep in its own territory, Dawkins threw short over the middle and Javelin Guidry intercepted the pass, returning it 14 yards for a touchdown that made it 27-17.

Huntley completed eight of nine passes for 98 yards before he left because of an injured shoulder after getting sacked by Tony Fields with 8:45 left in the half.

Virginia routs Boise State

Kurt Benkert threw for 273 yards and three touchdowns to lead Virginia past Boise State 42-23 Friday night, the Broncos’ worst home loss since 2001.

Virginia (3-1) notched its first win west of the Mississippi River since 1991, when it beat Brigham Young 45-40. In avenging an embarrassing 56-14 loss to Boise State in 2015, the Cavaliers also surpassed their win total from last season.

Boise State (2-2) hadn’t suffered a double-digit loss at home since the 2001 season. Brett Rypien, who returned after suffering a concussion on Sept. 9 against Washington State, threw for 353 yards with one interception for the Broncos.

Rutgers receives probation but avoids major NCAA sanctions

The NCAA placed Rutgers on probation for two years and reprimanded and censured the university for failing to monitor its football program over a five-year period between 2011 and 2015.

The Division I Committee on Infractions ruled Friday that Rutgers did not ensure its drug-testing program followed university policy and NCAA rules, and that former football coach Kyle Flood failed to monitor his operations staff and violated school policy by contacting an instructor to make a special academic arrangement for an athlete.

The ruling was lenient in that the NCAA accepted most of Rutgers’ self-imposed sanctions. The school was hit with reductions in the number of off-campus recruiting days and official campus visits by recruits during the 2017-18 academic year but avoided stiffer sanctions such as vacated wins, scholarship reductions or a bowl-game ban.

The school cooperated with the investigation, fired Flood and athletic director Julie Hermann after the 2015 season, and adopted new drug-test procedures.

Etc.

All five members of the Wheaton College football team who were charged with battery of a teammate have turned themselves in to police. The five players at the Christian school in suburban Chicago were suspended from the team after charges were filed in the suspected hazing incident.... The NCAA Division III attendance record is expected to be broken when St. John’s and St. Thomas of Minnesota meet for the 87th time Saturday. More than 35,000 tickets have been sold for the game at Target Field in Minneapolis.