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SALT LAKE CITY — Senior quarterback Tyler Huntley jogged onto the field for the first time Saturday night with a slight limp but ready to lead the No. 12 Utah Utes a week after sustaining a leg injury.
Huntley wasn’t going to let an injury stop him from starting in another game — not this season. And though he wasn’t even cleared to start until the pre-game warmups, it was Utah’s best chance to take control of the visiting California Golden Bears, who were looking to play spoiler to Utah’s season.
“It was pretty dicey all week long,” Utah’s head coach Kyle Whittingham said after the game. “He didn't practice much early in the week. As the week progressed, he practiced a little more, but he was still — and you can see he still wasn't 100%; but he wanted to go and I thought Andy (Ludwig) did a great job of scheming things to help him with his lack of mobility — to take some of the need to move around off of him.”
Even without his normal mobility, Huntley led his team to a 35-0 win over the Golden Bears — Utah’s first-ever shutout in Pac-12 play — and to improve to 7-1, 4-1 on the season.
“It makes you want to go harder, man. The guy is a warrior,” senior running back Zack Moss said about Huntley. “I didn't really doubt him missing this game. He prepared his tail off each and every day, late nights, just working and trying to get it ready to go for this game. For me, especially, it made me want to go harder for him, and the O-line did a really good job just protecting him and keeping him upright."
Huntley, who finished the night throwing for 214 yards and one touchdown on 11-of-17 passing, left the game late in the second quarter and was replaced by backup Jason Shelley to give his leg some rest. The redshirt sophomore immediately got things going for the Utes and capped off an 11-play drive with a 1-yard passing touchdown to tight end Brant Kuithe to give the Utes a 28-0 lead at the halftime break.
The Utes would score one more time in the game on a 10-yard rushing play by Moss, the second rushing touchdown for the running back Saturday night. Moss finished the night with 115 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries to average 6.8 yards per carry, and 89 receiving yards on three catches.
Coming off a record-setting performance the week before against Arizona State, Moss set two more school records Saturday: the most 100-yard career rushing games previously set by John White IV and career rushing touchdowns set by Del Rodgers (31) in 1981. Moss has 33 rushing touchdowns in his four-year career at Utah.
Moss broke the career rushing touchdown record on Utah’s first scoring drive of the game on a 4-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter.
Utah finished the night with 473 yards of total offense in a balanced night — 242 passing yards and 231 rushing yards — and 35 points, which broke a 14-game streak by Cal holding opponents to under 24 points — the current Football Bowl Subdivision longest streak.
And though Utah’s offense fared well against the Golden Bears, it was the defense that held Cal to only 83 total yards of offense and a scoreless game. Since losing to USC in Week 4, Utah has only allowed its opponents 23 points in four games.
The defense managed three sacks, including one for 26 yards in the second half, against California’s backup quarterback Spencer Brasch and seven tackles for loss.
“Coach (Morgan) Scalley is a very, very, very smart man,” Utah safety Terrell Burgess said about the team’s dominant defensive performance. “I think he just, he knows exactly what's coming before it comes, and he puts us in the right positions. I think we've got to give credit to him and just credit to everybody working hard throughout the week.”
Utah returns to action Saturday on the road as they take on the Washington Huskies in a vital Pac-12 game for the Utes. The Huskies had a bye week and will be ready for Utah as the game kicks off at 2 p.m. MDT. The game will be broadcast on FOX.
