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SALT LAKE CITY — No. 7 Utah wasted little time Saturday taking control of a UCLA team that won three straight games coming into a Pac-12 South Division matchup. The Utes defeated the visiting Bruins 49-3 to knock the Bruins out of contention for the South Division title race.
“Outstanding performance by our guys tonight. I'm proud of them,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “The offense, defense, really both, outstanding play. That's a good football team in that other locker room. They've got a lot of playmakers. The quarterback is special.”
The Bruins opened up the game with the first score, a 43-yard field goal by JJ Molson, but it would be the last score of the game for UCLA (4-6, 4-3) despite several opportunities deep in Utah (9-1, 6-1) territory. Utah’s defense forced four turnovers in their own territory, including a scoop-and-score fumble recovery by Mika Tafua for a 68-yard touchdown.
UCLA’s best opportunity came as the Bruins were inside Utah’s 10-yard line, but running back Demetric Felton fumbled the ball at Utah’s 5-yard line on a force by Utah’s John Penisini, which led to cornerback Josh Nurse recovering on the ball. Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley would later find Samson Nacua on the ensuing drive for an 83-yard touchdown strike to increase the lead.
After UCLA’s opening drive score, Utah reeled off 49 unanswered points and the rout was on in a game Utah was favored in by 21 points. Senior running back Zack Moss had two first-half rushing touchdowns, including a 38-yard sprint to the end zone with 26 seconds left in the half. Moss finished the night with 127 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
Huntley managed a diverse offense, particularly in the first half, that kept the UCLA defense guessing for much of the night. The Bruins had few answers for Utah tight end Brant Kuithe, who finished with 132 receiving yards on five catches, including a 69-yard toss from Huntley for a touchdown.
“He's just tremendous athlete,” Whittingham said of Kuithe. “It's not anything we scripted differently, other than he just happened to shake free more often than he had in the past. He's played really good football for us all year long, but he's a tremendous weapon, and he's only a sophomore — a true sophomore — and he's a tough matchup.
“I don't know if teams know really how to account for him because he can't be covered by linebacker; and safeties, even safeties, struggle with him.”
Huntley finished the night throwing for 335 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-18 passing. He added a 2-yard rushing touchdown of his own, a play where he faked out a defender to leap into the end zone for Utah’s first score of the game.
Huntley credited his several playmakers around him for Utah being able to score so many points against the Bruins, and the season as a whole. He said he’s got “more confidence (in them) than I've got in myself, and I got a lot of confidence.”
The Utes' defense put pressure on UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson all game, as the quarterback was sacked five times, including two from senior defensive end Bradlee Anae. The defense also held UCLA to only 269 total yards and Thompson-Robinson to 219 yards passing on 20-of-36 passing.
Utah’s defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown at Rice-Eccles Stadium in 14 straight quarters.
“I was excited when we heard that we were gonna be up first, and the whole D was excited, too,” Anae said. “We just laid one on them the first series and we figured out who was the more physical team this game.”
Utah will travel to Tucson, Arizona, to take on the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday, Nov. 23. The game time and broadcasting partner have not been announced yet.
