The University of Utah came into Saturday night looking for revenge—with a bad taste in their mouth—after flash year’s triple overtime loss to San Diego State. The Utes were looking to prove a point and they did with a vengeance, hammering the Aztecs convincingly, 35-7.
Here are the takeaways from the win:
The offense started slow before catching fire
The offense seemed out of sorts in the first quarter. It was rushed, Cam Rising couldn’t get comfortable in the pocket, and it seemed Brant Kuithe was his only option. It wasn’t till midway through the second quarter that the Utes were able to get in sync offensively. This was due to the disguised looks that the Aztecs were giving Utah with their 3-3-5 defense.
Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig eventually made the necessary adjustments and a shift in the momentum came when Rising connected with a wide open Kuithe for a 30-yard touchdown.
Hello wide receivers
Rising finished the night 18-30 for 224 yards. Once he settled in, the offense looked nearly unstoppable. There seemed to be more of an effort to get the receivers involved, but it still took some time. Once Rising connected with Solomon Enis, it seemed like a switch with the offense flipped and Rising was suddenly trusting the group by throwing it into tight windows and allowing them to get the 50/50 balls.
Enis and Devaughn Vele each had three receptions for 35 and 38 yards, respectively. Vele hauled in two jaw-dropping touchdown catches while Enis added another. Rising also just missed on a deep shot to Money Parks.
The Utes receivers brought the element of the explosive plays tonight by doing a better job of gaining separation and then making things happen when they had their opportunities. If they can continue this, the Utes’ offense could get lethal in a hurry.
The running backs had their moments
Micah Bernard had a good game out of the backfield. He ended the night with 77 yards combined yards of rushing and receiving. Whittingham disclosed that Bernard has been struggling with cramping issues which didn’t seem to affect him against the Aztecs. At the rate he’s performing—as long as he can figure out the cramping issues—he should continue to eat into Tavion Thomas’s workload.
Thomas also had 59 yards rushing for only 3.7 yards per carry, but he did add an 18-yard touchdown run. He has four touchdowns in three games, but he’s only averaging 4.4 yards per carry and doesn’t seem to currently have the same aggressiveness that he ran with in Pac-12 play a season ago. They need him to be the trusted workhorse running back.
The running backs ended the night with 159 total yards combined, which is unusual considering they average 200-plus yards rushing a game. Credit to the Aztecs rush defense. The unit also unfortunately lost Chris Curry for the season, who running backs coach Quinton Ganther was really high on.
Consider it a shutout for the defense
The Utes defense came out in dominating fashion from the first play to the last. Utah held the Aztecs to 43 yards of total offense and one first down in the first half of the game. In total Utah finished the night with holding the No. 4 rushing attack in the country to 113 yards. Whittingham was happy with how the run defense played tonight, and Utah held the Aztecs to 3-15 on third down conversions.
Safety Cole Bishop led the way with nine total tackles, five solo. He played in the box most of the night due to the alignment of the Aztec tight ends. This gave basically a four linebacker look at times. Utah got nice contributions from the linebackers, who were missing Mohamoud Diabate. Stanford transfer, Gabe Reid, also had an impact after finally getting healthy and up to speed.
The Aztecs had to use three quarterbacks on the night, none successful, aside from a late touchdown pas from Kyle Crum. SDSU got the opportunity thanks to a special teams fumble after the Utes decided to give main returner, Vele, the rest of the night off. It seemed the defense stopped the Aztecs on the drive multiple times, but the officials continued to bail SDSU out before Crum hit Joshua Nicholson for an 18-yard score, finally getting the Aztecs on the board.
Up next
The Utes travel to Tempe to start Pac-12 play against an Arizona State program that’s in turmoil and struggling to hold itself together. The Sun Devils are 1-2 on the season after losing a home game to Eaastern Michigan, 30-21. The game kicks off at 8:30 PM MST on ESPN.
