Utah turns to its defense to hold off Washington, 34-23

Gionni Paul returned a fumble 54 yards for a touchdown and set up another score with an interception, and Utah held off Washington, 34-23, on Saturday night in Seattle to remain in control of the Pac-12 Conference South Division race.

The Utes (8-1, 5-1), No. 12 in the College Football Playoff ranking, leaned on big plays from their defense to overcome the Huskies (4-5, 2-4). After going two weeks without forcing a turnover, Utah forced three in the first half and made that stand up against Washington’s second-half rally.

Paul jumped on Dwayne Washington’s fumble midway through Utah’s 24-point second quarter and went untouched to give the Utes a 21-6 lead. Quarterback Travis Wilson ran three yards for a touchdown with 3:27 left in the fourth quarter after the Utes had gone scoreless in the second half.

Devontae Booker rushed for 150 yards to help Utah maintain a one-game lead in the Pac-12 South.

No. 11 Stanford 42, at Colorado 10: Kevin Hogan threw two touchdown passes, ran for a score and surpassed Andrew Luck as the school’s winningest quarterback, recording his 32nd victory.

He and the Cardinal he got a big assist from Christian McCaffrey, who put on a quite a show for friends and family. McCaffrey, who grew up in nearby Denver, where his father, Ed, starred for the Broncos in the 1990s, collected 220 all-purpose yards and also completed a 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Austin Hooper.

McCaffrey, who sat out most of the fourth quarter, collected 147 yards rushing, 15 receiving and 58 on returns against the Buffaloes (4-6, 1-5).

The Cardinal (8-1, 7-0 Pac-12) bounced back from a scare at Washington State last week in which it escaped with a two-point win on a shanked field goal as time expired. Stanford’s final three games are all at home, against Oregon, Cal and Notre Dame.

at Washington State 38, Arizona State 24: Luke Falk threw for 497 yards and five touchdowns, and the Cougars became bowl-eligible for the second time in coach Mike Leach’s four years with the program.

Dom Williams caught six passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns for Washington State (6-3, 4-2 Pac-12), which overcame a 14-0 first-quarter deficit.

Arizona State (4-5, 2-4) scored touchdowns on each its first two possessions, then was held to one more the rest of the game. It was the Sun Devils’ third consecutive loss.

Washington State, which lost on a last-second missed field goal last week against No. 9 Stanford, managed to protect Falk from one of the best pass rushes in the Pac-12. He completed 36 of 55 passes, with one interception, and was sacked three times.

Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici completed 27 of 44 passes for 229 yards.