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SALT LAKE CITY — Let the four-game skid be a thing of the past.
Utah football rallied big time Friday, blowing out the visiting UCLA Bruins 48-17 in a must-win game for the Utes.
The Utes were led by a strong offensive performance by sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley, who threw for 234 yards and four touchdowns on 15-of-22 passing.
This is the offensive game plan you’re looking for
Hello, offense!
Finally, Utah had an offensive night worth bragging about. It’s an offense similar to what Utah had in its first four games of the season before Huntley went down with an injury. With Huntley now starting his third game back from injury, the offense looks like it has more of a rhythm and confidence back, and the team looks in sync with one another.
Against the Bruins, Utah featured a diverse playbook, with an equal dose of the pass and the run, totaling 506 yards on the night. But most importantly, Utah found a run game. Offensive coordinator Troy Taylor set up plays well, building off various runs and passes to keep UCLA’s defense guessing.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham said after the game that he was “very” happy with the play-calling Friday. Whittingham said he gave the game ball to Taylor and the offense as a whole for its newfound success and overall great game plan.
As much as everyone wanted to herald Taylor as an offensive guru, he too has gone through some growing pains as he orchestrates a game plan that works for the talent he has. And it seems he’s found a nice balance with a dynamic quarterback and players gaining confidence with their backs against the wall.
It’s only one game, but it’s a good sign of progress and learning for an offense that has been in desperate need of an identity. We’ll overlook the offensive penalties, particularly ineligible receiver calls, this week, but it’s something Utah needs to clean up.
Zack Moss has a breakout night
The strategy going into the game was to establish a better footing in the run game. It’s something Whittingham has stressed over the last few weeks, but there hasn’t been much success. A lot of that was in part of a porous offensive line that struggled to contain defenders even on a three-man blitz.
Early on against UCLA, the offensive line continued its struggles to contain defenders, but a switch to Paul Toala at right guard appeared to be a cure-all to Utah’s issues. Once Toala came in, the offensive line gave Huntley the protection he needed and allowed him to stay in the pocket to make key passes, including a 75-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Troy McCormick to start the second half.
And while the pass protection was vital for the offense to establish itself, it was the rushing effort that made a huge difference Friday night. It allowed Utah to be multidimensional and was a weakness in UCLA’s defense. The Bruins are dead last in the Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing defense, giving up an average of 307 yards on the ground.
Utah finished the game with 272 rushing yards, led by the emerging running back Zack Moss, who finished with 153 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, averaging 6.7 yards per carry. It was a career night for the sophomore who appears capable of giving the Utes a shot in the arm moving forward.
Putting up a career night against the worst rush defense in the country is one thing, but building on Friday’s performance will be vital for Utah to have success moving forward in a difficult stretch of its schedule. If the offensive line can continue to find some consistency, the run game should continue to be a strong facet of a renewed offense.
Welcome back, defense
Utah’s defense has struggled the past two weeks to stop opponents, and it had many fearing Utah had lost its edge in a traditionally strong facet of the program. But on Friday, the defense rebounded and held the Bruins to only 249 yards of total offense. Sure, the Bruins were without starting quarterback Josh Rosen, but it was the rush defense that was a game-changer for the Utes.
Last week against Oregon, Utah’s defense allowed the Ducks to rush for 347 yards in a non-showing effort. But against the Bruins, the Utes only allowed 134 yards, which is the lowest all season in Pac-12 play.
Whittingham credited the defensive line Friday for Utah’s success in containing the UCLA run. He said “we played the edge much better” this week and kept the Bruins from escaping for big runs. The defense certainly wasn’t perfect, but it was much improved and a potential sign of good things to come if the Utes can build on the momentum, even if it is one game.
The defensive ends still struggle to contain on the edge and tackling sometimes lacks any fundamentals, but it was much improved Friday night.
The biggest negative of the night is that Utah has likely lost safety Marquise Blair to a season-ending injury early in the second quarter. Whittingham said it’s likely that’s the case, but he’ll know more over the weekend as they do tests and evaluate the injury.
