Utes Put Idaho State Away Early
The Utes took care of business this afternoon, shutting out Idaho State 31-0. The Utes scored early and often in their victory over the Bengals. Through the air and on the ground, the Utes offense was clicking on all cylinders. Once again, Tyler Huntley led an efficient Utah offense to 24 first half points and then took a seat after throwing his third touchdown pass of the day to Bryan Thompson early in the third quarter. The senior quarterback finished the day with 282 passing yards, completing 15 of his 19 pass attempts. Three of these completions were for touchdowns. However, Huntley still was not satisfied.
“We left a lot of points on the field and we can improve in that area,” Huntley said.
One of the standouts on offense was Thompson who had two catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns. His 82-yard touchdown in the first quarter was the Ute’s longest play from scrimmage up to this point in the year. He also had a n impressive catch the just barely went out of bounds.
“It has been a long time coming. I had a tough couple of years and I don’t like the spotlight on me. It was a good team effort and team win,” said Thompson.
Sophomore tight end Brant Kuithe also had a 60-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter. From the beginning of the game, the Utes were able to do whatever they wanted on offense and were in control for the entire game. The offense finished with 543 yards
It is also worth noting that running back Zack Moss passed the 3,000 yard mark for his career this year and is in position to break Eddie Johnson’s record of 3,219 yards. Moss also is now second all-time in Utah history in rushing touchdowns.
“It is a testament to the hard work I put in. It is a credit to my teammates and coaches, but I am ready for our team to achieve its goals,” Moss said.
The defense allowed a total of 116 total yards on the afternoon and shut out the Idaho State offense. The Utes applied pressure all game and the Bengal’s quarterbacks never felt comfortable. Also, for the third straight week, the Utes held their opponent to less than 100 rushing yards. Linebacker Devin Lloyd led the Utes with nine tackles on the day which included 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
“We played solid pass coverage,” said Lloyd. “We wanted more turnovers and interceptions but it was solid all around.”
Coach Whittingham was satisfied with the team’s performance and had positive things to say but there are always things to improve.
“We came out just as we hoped and should have, 3-0 in the non-conference. We committed too many penalties and got sloppy at the end,” said Whittingham. “We need to be smarter in those situations. We had our first turnover of the year. We had the one takeaway which is not enough. We played good run defense. The offense was very productive and we had a chance to play a lot of offensive line guys. That will be valuable as the season goes on. It is a short turnaround for Friday night at the L.A. Coliseum.”
Looking forward, the Utes will travel to Southern California to kick off Pac-12 play against the USC Trojans next Friday night.