Jordan Wynn threw for a career-high 362 yards and Greg Bird's blocked punt set up the go-ahead score for No. 25 Utah in a 38-34 win over San Diego State on Saturday night.
The Utes were trailing 34-31 in the fourth quarter when Bird blocked Brian Stahovic's punt at the 10-yard line. Christian Cox recovered and ran to the 3-yard line. Eddie Wide scored from the 1 three plays later to give Utah it's first lead of the game.
Utah (9-2, 6-1 Mountain West Conference) broke a two-game losing streak in which the Utes were outscored 75-10.
Ryan Lindley threw for a career-high 528 yards and four touchdowns, but San Diego State (7-4, 4-3) could not hang on for its second win over a Top 25 team this season.
The teams combined for 1,087 yards of offense in a game played for much of the night in a steady drizzle.
San Diego State twice had 17-point leads in the first half as Lindley was shredding the Utes' defense. Lindley was 24 of 34 for 321 yards in the first half and had a 27-24 halftime lead.
But the Aztecs managed just one touchdown in the second half and Lindley was intercepted twice in the final 6:04, the second on a throw into the end zone with 1:22 remaining.
Utah managed to avoid its first three-game losing streak since 2005 by scoring twice in the fourth quarter. The Utes also secured their fourth consecutive nine-win season.
San Diego State's four losses have come by a combined 15 points, including last week's 40-35 loss at then-No. 3 TCU.
The first TD came on Matt Asiata's 1-yard run less than two minutes in. Utah gambled on fourth and 1 from the 3-yard line when Asiata took the ball into the end zone. But the replay official overruled the call on the field and Asiata was ruled down at the 1.
Asiata was stopped on two straight carries before he finally scored.
San Diego State was pinned deep in its own territory on its next possession, when Stahovic dropped the snap on fourth down. He picked up the ball, but Bird got a hand on the punt and put Utah in position for Wide's go-ahead score.
Lindley's last touchdown came early in the third quarter on a 90-yard pass to Vincent Brown for a 34-24 lead.
Brown finished with 8 catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns. DeMarco Sampson had 12 receptions for 154 yards for San Diego State. Both receivers went over 1,000 yards receiving for the season.
Utah trailed 27-10 in the second quarter but scored twice in the final 4:22 to cut the halftime lead to 27-24, including Wynn's jump ball pass into the end zone that went for a 47-yard touchdown when the ball was tipped into Kendrick Moeai's hands with no time left.
The Aztecs had scoring drives of 74, 98 79 and 86 yards in the first half.
Wynn, who was 10 of 15 for 262 yards in the half, threw a 57-yard touchdown pass to Luke Matthews early in the second quarter for the Utes' first TD in 10 quarters.
