The University of Utah played a great game by PFF standards against a depleted Colorado Buffalo team the day after Thanksgiving to end the 2021 regular season 9-3 and undefeated at home. It was Utah’s 2nd-best PFF overall score (behind Stanford), also 2nd-best PFF offensive score, and the top PFF defensive score as a team.

Here’s how individual player groups looked. All players with 15 snaps are included, in score order (except the OL).

QB - Rising: Rising had 67 snaps and was rated 59.3. This is his 2nd lowest Pac-12 score (behind only Oregon last week) and 3rd lowest overall. He went 14/23 (60.9%) for 179 yards (7.8 ypa) with 3 TD and 1 INT plus 4 runs for 17 yards (4.3 ypc)

RB - Pledger: Pledger had 24 snaps and was rated 75.1 (#7 on offense). He went 13.103 (7.9 ypc).

RB - Thomas: Thomas had 35 snaps and was rated 70.7 (#9 on offense). He went 25/142 (5.7 ypc) with 1 TD.

Both running backs played great. They’re ranked low for starters, but that’s not because they scored poorly. Rather, as you’ll see in a minute, it’s because the rest of the starters played great.

WR - Covey: Covey had 40 snaps and was rated 79.3 (T#4 on offense). He had 5 catches on 6 targets for 72 yards (14.4 ypc) with 1 TD and 2 carries for 4 yards.

WR - Howard: Howard had 45 snaps and was rated 55.2. He had no catches on 1 target

WR - Enis: Enis had 49 snaps and was rated 54.9. He had 1 catch on 2 targets for 12 yards (12.0 ypc) with 1 drop and 1 penalty.

Covey had a fantastic game, but other wide receivers graded out well. Interestingly, Vele only played 3 snaps, but was targeted once but didn’t get the catch. Dixon also played 6 snaps, and if he’d caught that touchdown it would have been a fantastic game for him. Unfortunately he did not, so no stats for him.

TE - Kincaid: Kincaid had 47 snaps and was rated 78.2 (#6). He had 4 catches on 5 targets for 55 yards (13.8 ypc) with 1 TD. He also had a good pass blocking score (68.7), although not a great run blocking score (50.8).

TE - Kuithe: Kuithe had 40 snaps and was rated 73.6 (#8). He had 2 catches on 4 targets for 35 yards (17.5 ypc) with 1 TD. No pass blocking snaps, and a run blocking score of 59.1.

TE - Fotheringham: Fotheringham had 38 snaps and was rated 62.6. He wasn’t targeted, with only 9 routes run, but had 71.5 pass blocking and 75.9 run blocking with 1 penalty.

The tight ends had a pretty good game. Fotheringham got used as a backup OL, mostly on running plays, but he performed admirably at that spot, except for the single penalty. Kuithe and Kincaid were both rated well and both had great touchdown catches.

LT - Olaseni: Bam was rated 79.3 (T#4) on 66 snaps. He was rated 86.5 pass blocking and 73.6 run blocking.

LG - Bills: Bills was rated 68.1 on 24 snaps. He was rated 78.9 pass blocking and 66.6 run blocking.

C - Ford: Ford was rated 91.2 (#1) on 67 snaps. He was rated 82.7 pass blocking and 86.4 run blocking.

RG - Laumea: Laumea was rated 80.5 (#3) on 67 snaps. He was rated 59.8 pass blocking and 82.6 run blocking.

RT - Daniels: Daniels was rated 87.3 (#2) on 67 snaps. He was rated 73.9 pass blocking and 85.4 run blocking.

LG - Mokofisi: Mokofisi was rated 65.9 on 37 snaps. He was rated 25.1 pass blocking and 69.3 run blocking.

The OL had a great game. The LG spot wasn’t fantastic, but the other four spots were the top four ratings on the offense (with Bam tied with Covey). Maea also played 8 snaps at LG, and Togiai and Kaumatule played a couple of snaps at LT when Bam went out with a minor injury.

Overall the offense did pretty well. They had fewer passing yards (179) than average (214), but more rushing yards (266) than average (218). Points were also slightly below average, as they’re averaging 35 ppg and only scored 28, but considering Utah led early in the second half and never trailed after that, that’s not shocking.

Now for the defense:

DT - H Pututau: Pututau was rated 83.6 (#3 on defense) on 35 snaps. He had 4 QB pressures, 2 tackles, and 1 PBU.

DT - Tafuna: Tafuna was rated 62.1 on 45 snaps. He had 1 QB pressure and 3 tackles.

DE - Tafua: Tafua was rated 88.3 (#2) on 30 snaps. He had 9 QB pressures, 3 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, and 1 missed tackle.

DE - Fillinger: Fillinger was rated 71.3 (#6) on 47 snaps. He had 3 QB pressures, 1 tackle, 1 TFL, and 1 sack.

DE - Elliss: Elliss was rated 54.2 on 25 snaps. He had 1 QB pressure and 3 tackles.

The starting DL all played pretty well, although Tafuna was a little bit less effective than normal. The other three all had great days. Elliss wasn’t rated well, but his talent is obvious. The other DL who got some snaps were Vimahi (9 snaps), Suguturaga (10 snaps), T Pututau (10 snaps), and Kaufusi (4 snaps)

LB - Furey: Furey was rated 91.1 (#1) on 19 snaps, with 1 QB pressure. The reason for the high grade is mostly because of his coverage, as he had two targets but neither was caught, and he was rated 90.4 in coverage.

LB - Lloyd: Lloyd was rated 77.4 (#4) on 53 snaps. He had 6 QB pressures, 9 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, and 3 missed tackles.

LB - Sewell: Sewell was rated 65.7 on 56 snaps. He had 10 tackles, 1 TFL, and gave up 3 catches on 4 targets.

The linebackers played pretty well. Furey and Lloyd both had great days, and Sewell was okay and led the team in tackles.

CB - Phillips: Phillips was rated 74.3 (#5) on 56 snaps. This is his best rating all year. He had 3 tackles, 1 PBU, and gave up 1 catch on 2 targets.

CB - Mataele: Mataele was rated 69.6 (#8) on 37 snaps. He had 1 tackle and gave up 1 catch on 1 target with 1 missed tackle.

CB - Vaughn: Vaughn was rated 65.2 on 56 snaps. He had 1 tackle, 1 TFL, and gave up no receptions on 2 targets.

The corners had a pretty good day. Phillips and Mataele were great, with Phillips getting his best PFF score and Mataele getting his 4th-best. Vaughn was solid.

SS - Bishop: Bishop was rated 65.5 on 56 snaps. He had 7 tackles, 1 TFL, gave up 1 catch on 1 target, and had 1 missed tackle.

FS - Davis: Davis was rated 63.6 on 53 snaps. He had 2 tackles and gave up no receptions on 2 targets.

SS - McKinney: McKinney was rated 52.4 on 12 snaps. He had 1 QB pressure, had no tackles, and gave up no receptions on 1 target.

The safeties played okay, but not great.

Overall the defense played a fantastic game. They held Colorado to 64 rush yards, 84 pass yards, and 6 points (as the kick return isn’t on the defense). That’s a great day any day.

Utah escaped an obvious trap game thanks to their defense. The offense got into a groove eventually, but the defense was the star of this game and played great, even if the individual scores are mostly solid, rather than incredible. Again, Utah is a team that works when everyone plays their part, even if they don’t have any amazing individual performances, and the lines dominate. That was true on both sides this week, with the OL and DL largely owning the top PFF spots.

Now, it’s on to the Pac-12 Championship Game.