With a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line, the Utah football team had a chance to join college football royalty with the elite group of programs to play in the Fiesta, Sugar and Rose Bowls.

However, the 17th-ranked Utes (9-4, 6-3) came up just short in the Pac-12 Championship game at Levi’s Stadium — home to the San Francisco 49ers — with a heartbreaking 10-3 loss to No. 11 Washington (10-3, 7-2 Pac-12).

Friday’s game pitted the the top two defenses in the Pac-12 against each other and the game certainly lived up to the hype. From timely plays on fourth down to hard hits and incredible interceptions, both offenses could only muster a field goal.

So, Washington’s defense took things into their own hands as defensive back Byron Murphy returned a deflected interception 66 yards for the game’s only touchdown of the night.

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“It’s hard when you lose a game and you don’t give up a defensive touchdown,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham told reporters after the game. “It doesn’t happen very often. But give the Huskies credit, because there’s a reason we didn’t do much on offense.”

For the game, Utah quarterback Jason Shelley completed 17 of 27 passes, however, the freshman threw three interceptions in the loss.

“Everybody’s hurt,” said Utah quarterback Jason Shelley. “We were that close. We played that bad and we still lost by only seven points.”

With all the hoopla surrounding Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott and the the horrible Pac-12 officiating, it didn’t get any better Friday night.

Here’s how players, coaches and fans reacted after the game.

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