On a night to celebrate the greatest running back in University of Utah history, it was the Utes’ defense that stole the show with their own record-setting performance that also included ending a long-time NCAA mark. Even with an unusual amount of Utah turnovers, a victory over the Sun Devils never seemed in doubt, before Zack Moss capped off the celebration with his legacy-defining 32-yard touchdown run.
Here are the takeaways from Utah’s 21-3 victory over Arizona State:
Offense is fun, but defense wins games
On a night like Saturday night, when the rain was pouring and the game was sloppy, is when Utah fans should be grateful for having such a dynamic defense. The offense has received many headlines recently for the Utes and they deserve every single bit of the recognition. However, the Utah defense was a force to be reckoned with on Saturday night. Even when they were put in many tough situations throughout the game, they responded on every occasion, forcing the Sun Devils out of field goal range and constantly putting Jayden Daniels under pressure.
With so many penalties, turnovers and injuries, the Utes were able to rely on their defense once again to lead them to victory. Moving forward, if the Utes can keep this momentum and impose their will like they did against ASU, it will be their defense that leads them to the Pac-12 Championship. The difference is this year is that the Utes now have an offense to help their stout defense. Offense is great and all but, as the old adage goes, defense wins championships. Lest we forget, this is a special bunch, as they brought the Sun Devils’ streak of 125 consecutive games in double-figures to screeching halt.
Additionally, Daniels came into the game with a target his back as the long-time Utah recruiting lean had given the program a lot of ammo with things both him a family members had said about the Utes and the state. It didn’t end well for him as he went 4-18 for passing yards, one interception, and a QB rating of 4.6. The entire Utah defense brought pressure all night, with Bradlee Anae feasting off of a 17 year-old freshman tasked protecting the night’s Public Enemy No. 1.
The pass defense is playing at a remarkable level
Throughout the year, we've known that this defense was going to be special, but after getting embarrassed by USC, they've taken things to a different level against the pass. Consider this, in the last three games, Utah has given up a total of 446 passing yards, and just two passing touchdowns, despite playing against the two best receivers in the Pac-12 and the top passing offense in the nation. Yes, the individual performance of Jaylon Johnson, who is largely responsible for shutting down Isaiah Hodgins and Brandon Aiyuk, has been impressive, but there are two guys who are playing at a very high level who won't get as much recognition, because their contributions to the pass defense don't show up as much in the stat sheet.
Both Francis Bernard and Devin Lloyd have been crucial to Utah's pass defense success, and are proving to be incredibly valuable in coverage. It's been known for years that Bernard is a capable coverage linebacker, so his level of play shouldn't come as a surprise, but Lloyd has been maybe the biggest revelation on the entire defense, and is playing at an amazing level, given his relative inexperience. Not only is he instinctual and physical in run defense, but his athleticism and football IQ are apparent in his pass coverage. Lloyd had a pick six against Oregon State, and nearly came away with another one against the Sun Devils. He's just a sophomore, but if he continues to play as well as he has so far, he may not be around for his senior season, so enjoy him while you can, Ute fans.
Re-writing the record books
The story of the night is Zack Moss breaking Eddie Johnson's career rushing record of 3,219 yards from 1984-88, with Moss finishing the day at 3,264 yards. What makes it even more impressive is that Moss did it in his 38th game as a Ute and has more to come, whereas Johnson played 48 games. With his two touchdowns on the day, Moss also moves into a tie for the all-time career touchdown total with Del ‘Popcorn’ Rogers (1978-81) at 31. By season's end, Moss will not only finish as the Utes' all-time rushing leader, but is going to reset the bar for what should be a long time coming.
Flying a bit under the radar is Tyler Huntley, as he earned his 18th career win as a starter, moving him into a tie for fourth all-time in Utah history with Mike McCoy (1992-94). Huntley also moves up the Utah record books as he moved the second all-time for rushing yards at 1,085 yards by a Utah quarterback, passing Alex Smith (2002-04) and sits within reach of Travis Wilson's (2012-15) of 1,225 yards.
Finally, another Utah senior took another huge step to go down as one of the all-time Utah greats, as Bradlee Anae lived in ASU quarterback Jayden Daniels left pocket all night, adding three sacks to his total. Anae's career sack number is now 24.0, placing him at seventh all-time, passing recent NFL draftee Pita Taumoepenu (2013-16) at 21.5. Hometown hero Hunter Dimick (2013-16) is the Ute leader in sacks at 29.5. With at least five games left in the season, Anae's three sacks against Arizona State give him a real shot to catch Dimick by end of the year. Seniors play a strong role in a team's leadership and success, but it is not every season that multiple seniors have a chance to sit at the top of the record books in their respective categories.
Is this game actually a rivalry… with the chippiness, ASU believes so
Since joining the Pac-12 the Utes have won only three times in nine football contests to the Sun Devils—during more than one of those losses, Utah had come into the game as the favorite. A hot topic over the last week has been whether or not this game has developed into a rivalry. After Saturday night’s game, it may be a developing rivalry, but it’s still not there. Yes, rivalries delivery a certain level of chippiness, but the actions displayed by ASU were as bush league as it gets—there wasn’t a single competitive thing about their questionable actions that sent numerous Utes to the sidelines. On multiple occasions it was a blessing to see the injured Utes walk off on their own, let alone get back out there and somehow play.
Herm Edwards is a class act and personality did not reflect in his players’ actions last night. He also deserves a massive amount of respect for his numerous apologies about his players’ actions, after the game. However, actions speak louder than words, so Herm’s apology will seem more genuine if he keeps his players from pulling the same kind of stunts in future contests, whether it be against Utah or other Pac-12 teams.
So, should this be a rivalry? Maybe, because there’s going to be a lot of animosity between the two teams over the next few years. Utah players aren’t always perfect with their actions, but they should be commended for never losing their cool and sinking to the level of the Sun Devils.
