TAKEAWAYS: No. 16 Utah Runs Past Cal

Following a loss to Oregon State and a much needed bye week, the Utes bounced back into the win column as they defeated Cal 34-14 at home.

Fueled by 252 rushing yards on the ground from Ja’Quinden Jackson and safety/running back Sione Vaki, Utah’s offense found new life enroute to their fifth victory of the year and stayed perfect at home.

“A bunch of yards rushing. That’s really what the difference in the game was, said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham. “Our ability to run the football and their inability. That was the most important factor.”

Vaki is incredibly talented weapon

Over the last season and a half, Sione Vaki has taken the field by storm and quickly asserted himself as an elite member of Utah’s defense. In addition to making big plays and locking down the secondary, Vaki has become a leader for this unit in just his second year with the program. Against Cal, Vaki took that to a whole new level as he demonstrated some impressive offensive abilities.

Not only did he play both sides of the ball, but Vaki was a key factor among Utah’s offense.

For the game, Vaki rushed for 158 yards, two touchdowns and still recorded four tackles.

“Sione Vaki really added to what we were doing on offense. He provided a spark,” said Whittingham. “We saw his speed on that run at the end. He also had another big gain of thirty plus yards and converted some big third downs.”

The offense has needed a spark. Vaki answered the call against the Bears and still made plays on defense.

Jackson is critical to Utah’s offense

After several injuries to the running back group, including multiple season ending ones, it was incredibly refreshing to see Ja’Quinden Jackson back in the lineup and making plays for the Utes.

In addition to finishing with 94 yards and a touchdown, Jackson was able to consistently move the chains and keep the offense afloat when they were in desperate need of some big plays.

“Ja’Quinden Jackson, it's great to have him back,” said Whittingham. “He came out of the game healthy so that's a big positive. To see him finish the game was great.”

With his size, athleticism and sheer power, Jackson is able to bulldoze his way for extra yards and perfectly fits the style of running that Utah likes to attack with. Whether he is dropping a defender with his shoulder, pushing for a few extra yards or picking up blocks, Jackson is a critical part of Utah’s offense and it was really good to see him back and healthy.

Secondary has to be better, especially against USC

By no means was Utah’s secondary overly poor against Cal, but there were a few instances where the coverage was bad and it could’ve cost them throughout the game.

In addition to both Cal touchdowns, there were several other situations where Utah’s defense was somewhat lost and it resulted in missed coverages. Luckily for the Utes, Cal was unable to consistently secure the passes so no significant harm was really done.

But those missed coverages and miscommunications cannot happen next week. Caleb Williams and his onslaught of wide receivers are simply too good. Those plays would’ve easily resulted in touchdowns and Utah would’ve trailed by two scores or more early on.

Cleaning that up is a must before the Utes head to Los Angeles next week. Especially as the team will possibly be without Cole Bishop in the first half following his questionable targeting ejection.

This was the most complete game from Barnes in his Utah career

Following several sluggish games offensively, Utah was finally able to figure it out against Cal and a lot of that had to do with how Bryson Barnes played.

Overall, Barnes finished 15-21 for 128 yards. He also added 50 yards on the ground and one touchdown.

He managed the game well, didn’t commit any turnovers, was efficient in his passes and moved the ball with his legs on several occasions.

Most importantly the offense was actually able to find some rhythm and found the end zone rather than simply relying on their defense to get it done. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a step in the right direction and helped Utah reach 5-1 on the year.

Utah’s red zone success was a huge positive

In addition to 445 yards of total offense, Utah’s red zone production was very good and incredibly encouraging as they finished 5-6 against the Golden Bears.

As Whittingham mentioned in his post game press conference, Utah hadn’t been able to get into the red zone very frequently over the last six weeks or even score. In their previous two outings, the offense had only 3 red zone opportunities and two touchdowns.

Given their current offense and how poor they’d been, six trips with five scores is a big deal, especially as Utah enters the toughest part of their schedule.