After a mostly lackluster offensive start, the Utes found a rhythm in the second quarter and dominated the second half.
That second half featured the highly explosive offense Utah had seen only glimpses of since the start of Pac-12 play. The half started with the team’s longest play from scrimmage this season, as Troy McCormick motored up the sideline alongside the home bench, past the student section and into the south end zone of Rice-Eccles Stadium.
McCormick’s 75-yard touchdown catch put the Utes on their way to a 48-17 win over UCLA in front of an announced 45,902 in attendance on Friday night. The win put the Utes (5-4, 2-4 Pac-12) within a win of becoming bowl eligible for the fourth straight season.
“It just feels great to get a win,” Utes quarterback Tyler Huntley said. “The defense did a great job of keeping them out of the end zone the whole game, and as an offense we did a great job of putting the ball in the end zone. It was kind of fun today, you know, just to get a win.”
The Utes backfield tandem of quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Zack Moss led an offensive outburst. Huntley passed for 234 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 93 yards. Moss, who’d been underutilized in recent weeks, rushed for a career-high 153 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 23 carries.
“Absolutely that was the catalyst,” Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said of Moss’ running. “That was definitely the catalyst. Zack was running well, and the O-line was opening up some creases. I thought the play-calling was outstanding. We hit a couple home runs in that third quarter. … I thought [offensive coordinator] Troy [Taylor] did a really nice job of setting things up tonight.”
Meanwhile the Utes defense, maligned of late, suffocated a Bruins offense missing star quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen did not make the trip due to a concussion. Redshirt freshman signal-caller Devon Modster started in his place. The Utes held UCLA to 249 yards for the game and seven second-half points.
The Utes’ offense struggled early with 39 total yards in the first quarter, including 15 rushing yards. Caleb Repp’s forced fumble on a punt return and Boobie Hobbs’ recovery nearly gift-wrapped the Utes’ first touchdown by handing the ball over at the UCLA 16-yard line.
Even that first score didn’t come without some suspense. The Utes lost 2 yards on the first two plays of the possession before Huntley connected with Siaosi Wilson for 15 yards on third-and-12. That pass set up a 3-yard Moss touchdown run as the Utes took a 7-0 lead with 2:57 left in the first quarter, before the Bruins cut into the lead with a 37-yard field goal in the first minute of the second quarter.
Moss rushed for 37 of his 71 first-half yards on the Utes’ second touchdown drive. Huntley capped the drive with a beautifully lofted 27-yard touchdown pass to Darren Carrington II, his sixth of the season, to give the Utes a 14-3 edge.
“That was the game plan this week – to get the run game going because it opens up a lot more things for us,” Moss said. “As you [saw] today, we was able to complete a lot more deep passes. The defense was off-balance the whole game.”
The Bruins answered almost immediately on the ensuing drive, as they marched 75 yards on five plays in less than two minutes. Theo Howard made a highlight-reel leaping one-handed catch along the sideline with Utes defensive back Jaylon Johnson running step-for-step in coverage. Modster dropped a pass into the arms of Darren Andrews for a 24-yard touchdown to make it 14-10.
The Utes added a 25-yard field goal from Matt Gay with seven seconds left in the first half after the offense stalled in the red zone, and led 17-10 at halftime.
The second half started with Huntley throwing a 25-yard strike to a wide-open McCormick on what looked on replay like it could have been called a pick play. McCormick caught Huntley’s pass without a defender within 10 yards of him and sprinted the remaining 50 yards for his first touchdown reception of the season.
The Utes offense uncorked three plays of 20 yards or more in the third quarter, including McCormick’s touchdown catch, a 20-yard touchdown run by Moss and a 43-yard pass to Wilson.
The Utes, who hadn’t scored more than 30 points in any Pac-12 game this season, scored 21 points in the third quarter. McCormick added a 13-yard touchdown catch from Huntley to go along with his 75-yard catch and Moss’ touchdown run in the quarter.
After Bruins third-string quarterback Matt Lynch tossed a fourth-quarter touchdown pass. Huntley added his fourth touchdown pass on a 2-yard pass to fullback Cody Ippolito with 3:27 remaining for the final margin.
“We were in high gear there for a while,” Whittingham said. “We were scoring, particularly in that third quarter. The offensive line played outstanding. Zack Moss ran hard. Tyler Huntley chipped in with some runs. … What you saw tonight is what this offense is supposed to look like.”
