No. 16 took down No. 1 – at least in one respect.

Utah, the preseason favorite in the Big 12, lost 27-19 on Friday night to the team projected to finish last in the league, Arizona State.

How did it happen? Here are three takeaways from No. 16 Utah’s second straight loss, one that drops the Utes to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in Big 12 action and their hopes for a national title and a College Football Playoff appearance at the game move.

It was the show Skattebo vs. Bernard

Two bruising running backs starred in Tempe.

On the Utes side, it was Micah Bernard.

For the Sun Devils, it was Cam Skattebo.

Skattebo got the final say, running for 158 yards and two touchdowns in the second half that helped Arizona State rally after falling behind in the third quarter.

His touchdown runs of 50 and 47 yards electrified the crowd, and his 21-yard over-the-shoulder catch on third down during ASU’s final touchdown drive only added to the lore of his unforgettable night.

Bernard, for his part, kept Utah in the game.

With Utah’s offense struggling to finish drives – a common theme – even with Cam Rising back on the field (more on that later), Bernard was called upon again and again to help save the Utes.

He delivered a 129-yard rushing night on a variety of tough runs, while also adding 61 receiving yards.

Bernard scored Utah’s only touchdown of the night, on a six-yarder on third and goal when he followed his blockers to walk in untouched.

That briefly gave the Utes the lead back at 16-13, but soon after came Skattebo’s 50-yard touchdown run, in which he broke through several tackle attempts to give the Sun Devils the lead back for good.

That TD run was emblematic of a problem that resurfaced for Utah two weeks after the loss to Arizona.

The Utes missed several tackles on defense, and it will certainly be a point of emphasis for a defense that, even with missing starters like Karene Reid and Connor O’Toole, is failing to live up to expectations.

What did Cam Rising look like? Not like himself

Now on to Getting Up.

Yes, the Utes’ seventh-year quarterback was back in the lineup for the first time since Utah’s win over Baylor, but he didn’t look like himself.

No where near the two-time Pac-12 winning quarterback Utah fans remember.

Rising took a hit on the Utes’ opening drive, having his leg rolled up by a defender and leaving him limping. He also struggled to get any zip on his throws when he returned after injuring his throwing hand.

The result: a 16-of-37 passing attempt for 209 yards and three interceptions.

Two of those interceptions were particularly damaging.

In the second quarter, as Utah drove inside the red zone, the Sun Devils’ Caleb McCullough jumped to intercept Rising at the Arizona State 9. That squandered a chance for Utah to tie the game.

Then, with less than two minutes remaining and Utah needing eight points to tie the game, Rising was again intercepted by McCullough on an outside pass.

That ended the Utes’ final possession and sealed the loss.

There will be a lot of questions about what Utah will do at quarterback going forward after an immobile Rising looked like a shell of the leader the program has known.

The problems in the Red Zone strike again

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Utah struggled to finish drives in the loss to ASU.

Seven times the Utes advanced possession inside the Sun Devils 30. Those seven drives led to one touchdown, four field goals, an interception and a turnover on downs.

Specifically in the red zone, Utah only scored 20 on two of four trips inside the Arizona State, totaling 10 points.

In the fourth quarter, trailing 20-16, Utah went for a fourth-and-8 at the ASU 24. Rising was rushed and threw short and low to Money Parks.

Parks was able to catch the pass while sliding, but it was four yards short of the gain and led to a costly turnover on downs.

In the first quarter, Utah’s first two drives ended in field goals by Cole Becker — bringing back memories of the team’s earlier loss, to Arizona, when the Utes couldn’t finish red zone drives in the end zone.

Of course, Utah finished with six points this time, compared to zero points on the first two drives against the Wildcats, but if Utah had scored a pair of touchdowns to start the game, things would have been very different.

It’s disheartening on a night when Utah could outscore ASU in total yards, 349 to 343, and advance the ball inside the opponent’s 30-yard line on 70% of its drives, that the Utes couldn’t score more than 19 points scoring and only one touchdown.

There are a lot of issues that need to be resolved, and TCU is coming to town next weekend.