SALT LAKE CITY — Cal opted to choose an "icy in Utah" theme for its game at No. 12 Utah. So, it was only fitting that Utah completely "iced" the Bears on both sides of the ball in a 35-0 thrashing Saturday night in Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Just how good were the Utes?

On offense, Utah racked up 473 yards against a good Cal defense.

On defense, Utah held Cal to just 83 total yards, 241 below the Bears’ season average.

On special teams? Well, it was consistently inconsistent.

Here are a few thoughts following Utah’s big win over Cal:

More records for Zack Moss

Running back Zack Moss tied the school record for rushing touchdowns last week vs. Arizona State. This week, he moved solely into first place.

Moss capped off the Utes’ second possession with a 4-yard score that capped a 99-yard drive. He also added a highlight-reel touchdown run in the third quarter from 10 yards out.

It wasn’t the only record that Moss set against Cal, as he also rushed for 115 yards on just 17 carries, eclipsing the school record of career 100-yard rushing performances with 15.

And not to be outdone, Moss added three catches for 89 yards, including a 69-yard catch and run that set up his first score of the game.

Utah’s defense has been downright nasty

Since a puzzling loss on the road against USC, Utah’s defense has been incredible. Through four games, Utah’s defense has given up a total of 23 points. Seven of those came in garbage time vs. Oregon State, and three came from a field goal on a short field after a turnover against Arizona State.

But holding an opponent scoreless? Just how rare is it?

I mean sure, Utah held Idaho State scoreless earlier this year, but when was the last time it happened against a conference opponent? You have to go all the way back to a 50-0 thumping of Wyoming in November of 2007 that induced a middle finger from then Cowboys coach Joe Glenn.

In addition to the shutout, Utah held Cal to just 83 total yards, the lowest by an opponent since the Utes joined the Pac-12. The previous low came last Saturday against Arizona State, in which the Sun Devils squeaked out just a measly 136 yards.

The Bears tallied just 23 rushing yards on 21 carries, while only completing 9 passes for 60 yards.

Utah’s third-down defense, which has been tremendous all season, allowing just 27.4% of opponent’s attempts, was stout once again, only allowing the Bears to just 2 conversions on 11 tries.

Coming into the game, Utah was ranked 6th in the country in scoring defense, allowing only 11.7 points per game. And again they were as good as advertised.

Utah has now held opponents scoreless in 12 of its last 14 quarters and has held four opponents this season to 7 points or less.

Tyler Huntley did what he needed to do before resting

It was uncertain if Utah’s starting quarterback would be able to go against Cal due to an injury that occurred against Arizona State. It was such a close call that Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham mentioned that even he didn’t know if he was going to play until during the pregame warm-ups.

But Huntley was terrific in the limited minutes he was given, including an impressive dump-off on a bad snap scramble drill that went 69 yards to Zack Moss that set up the Utes’ first score, and an absolutely beautiful 40-yard touchdown strike to Bryan Thompson on their next drive.

Huntley finished 11-17 for 214 yards before being replaced by Jason Shelley before halftime.

Special teams provide lone blemish on otherwise complete game

The kicking game hasn’t been tested much since the Utes’ loss at USC, but in the lone chance in an already decided game, Jadon Redding missed from 32 yards out.

Whittingham mentioned in his postgame that he yelled out to Redding before his kick, telling him to take more time off the clock, and that he takes the blame for the added distraction he gave his kicker.

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