Takeaways: Utah vs. UCLA

In dominating fashion, the University of Utah did exactly what they were supposed to do, destroying an overmatched UCLA squad, 49-3. It’s now been 14 quarters at Rice-Eccles Stadium since the Utes have given up a touchdown, as the offense is firing on all cylinders, as well.

Here are the takeaways from the victory:

Just. Keep. Winning. Oh, and style points don’t hurt

During the preseason, multiple national analysts picked the Utes as a potential “dark horse” for the playoff and here we are in November, with the Utes right in the middle of the playoff discussion. On Saturday against UCLA, the Utes did everything they needed to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Not only did the Utes win, they won in domination fashion and did not give any chance to UCLA. The defense forced five turnovers and only allowed 50 yards of rushing and the offense put up 49 points and produced 536 yards of total offense.

On both sides of the ball, Utah showed that they could keep up with anyone in the nation. The time of possession battle was pretty even on Saturday but from start to finish, the Utes controlled UCLA and never let up. Utah needs two more performances like this against Arizona and Colorado and the Pac-12 Championship should essentially be a play-in game for the College Football Playoff, if LSU can take care of Georgia in the SEC championship.

Blackmon comes up clutch, while Burgess stays steady

Julian Blackmon has relatively quietly put together a great season in his first and only season at safety. With the exception of a tough game at USC, the former Layton HS standout has made the transition to the back-end of the defense without missing a beat. In the dominant win over UCLA, Blackmon finished the game with 12.5 tackles, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble that turned into the Mika Tafua touchdown, and one interception on a jump ball in the end zone. He also made a touchdown saving tackle on UCLA running back Joshua Kelley.

Not to be outdone, Blackmon's partner in the defensive backfield, Terrell Burgess has locked down his position this fall, which has afforded Blackmon to roam centerfield and take some risks. Burgess was second in tackles against UCLA, with nine tackles, an assisted sack, and a fumble recovery. The senior is taking full advantage of his starting opportunity and looking like he’s held the spot down for years. While not putting up flashy numbers every week, Burgess is a crucial leader and his ability to consistently do his job this season is an excellent example of why this may be the best defense Kyle Whittingham has ever assembled.

In total, Blackmon and Burgess had 21 tackles and three tackles-for-loss between them, against UCLA. They also were responsible for causing three turnovers.

Utah’s defensive line had a performance for the ages

Utah's defensive line had an elite performance on Saturday night against the Bruins, and made Dorian Thompson-Robinson regret his bravado from early in the game. On the night, the line finished with three sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery for a touchdown, a pass breakup, and an interception. That's a great stat line. What's more, they held UCLA to 50 yards rushing and just 1.4 yards per attempt, while also pressuring DTR all night. Granted, some of that pressure came from great blitz calls by Morgan Scalley, but when the quarterback is so rattled that he literally couldn't hold on to the ball on a couple of occasions, leading to fumble recoveries, it's safe to say that the defense is having a good night.

Utah's defensive line has been everything they were expected to be this season, and with two regular season games remaining, they have a couple of records in their sights. Bradlee Anae is closing in on the career sack record and the defense as a whole is well-positioned to allow the fewest rushing yards in Pac-12 history. By the way, that's not just for a Utah team, that's for every Pac-12 team over the last nine years.

A four-minute stretch, proved their dominance

UCLA was driving and hoping to bring the deficit to four points, just before halftime, when all hell broke loose for the Bruins. Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley, sent Julian Blackmon on a safety blitz and Dorian Thompson-Robinson didn’t know what hit him, fumbling the ball as Mika Tafua scooped it and took it to the house for a 68 yard touchdown.

Not to be outdone, the offense then took the field and attacked the Bruins with conservative plays, that a special talent turned into much much more. After Tyler Huntley found Zack Moss for a 50 yard pass play with the majority coming after the catch, it looked as though Utah was playing for the field goal, when Moss suddenly got free for his 38 yard touchdown run just before the half.

The scoring explosion was capped off a minute and a half into the second half, on what some might call blown coverage by UCLA, as Brant Kuithe ran free to the sidelines before a spin move sent him off to the races for a 69 yard touchdown run. This play was made possible by Kuithe’s athleticism as well as UCLA not wanting to get burned again by Moss, as they sent two defenders at him to cover his short route.

It was a dominating four-minute stretch, during a statement performance on prime-time national TV. It was the type of outburst, that along with the defensive performance, is sure to resonate with the CFP selection committee.