Cal hangs on to knock off No. 18 Utah

BERKELEY - With the clock running down and the game on the line, Cal coach Sonny Dykes trusted his much-maligned defense to deliver.

The defense responded with six stops from inside the 10 to seal the win.

James Looney stopped Zach Moss from the 1-yard line on the final play of the game to give the Golden Bears their second straight home win against a ranked opponent, 28-23 over No. 18 Utah on Saturday.

“I’m really proud of our defensive players,” Dykes said. “Those guys have taken a lot of criticism from people. The good thing is they didn’t listen to it. They kept working and kept getting better.”

Dykes declined to use any of his three timeouts late in the game as Utah (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) drove for a possible winning score, believing a defense that has struggled to stop opponents all season could come up with one key stand for Cal (3-2, 1-1).

“I’m glad Coach Dykes put the faith in us,” Looney said.

“He always has. It’s not like it’s a new thing. He just told us to go out there and play. He knew we were playing well and he put his faith in us and we came through.”

The Utes had a first-and-goal at the 9 with about 2 minutes left.

Dykes considered starting to use timeouts to save time for his high-powered offense that had built the lead behind four TD passes from Davis Webb but decided against it. A pair of short runs and a sack, left the Utes facing a fourth down, but a pass interference in the end zone against Marloshawn Franklin Jr. with 14 seconds gave Utah three more shots from the 2.

Moss ran for 1 yard on first down, Troy Williams threw an incomplete pass on second down before Looney ended the game by wrapping up Moss before he even got back to the line of scrimmage.

“I had a chance to make a play, it was my play to make and I made it,” Looney said.

“It was about time. I need to make those. I’m a leader of this defense and I need to make those plays.”

That set off a wild celebration for Cal and sent the Utes home in disappointment following their first conference loss.

“A tough game to lose but proud of our guys for how they hung in there and fought back, just like we’ve done many times previously in the season,” Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said.