The No. 19 Utah Utes traveled to the Rose Bowl Saturday afternoon in search of their seventh win of the season. Joe Williams rushed for a school record 332 yards and four touchdowns, and the defense did just enough to get the win as Utah beat the UCLA Bruins 52-45.
Here's how each aspect of the game fared for the Utes.
Offense: A
Joe Williams went absolutely berserk for the Utes today. In his second game back from a brief retirement, the speedy back broke the school record for rushing yards in a game, and led the Utah offense all day long. The offensive line was tremendous as well, clearing running lanes all day for Williams.
The Utes put up a season high 52 points, but they only converted on 3 of 15 third downs. But they did rack up 539 yards, and the performance of Joe Williams made up for the lack of execution on third down.
Defense: C+
Well, the Utes did force five turnovers on Saturday, but they also allowed 45 points to a UCLA offense playing with a backup quarterback. Missed tackles killed the Utes all afternoon long, and without the turnovers, this game would have had a very different outcome.
I will give the Utes some credit for forcing four turnovers, but if this team plays the same way next week against a No. 5 ranked Washington, it could be a blowout pretty quickly.
Special teams: A-
There was one blemish this week for the special teams when Andy Phillips missed a 44-yard field goal. But he did convert on his other three, and Mitch Wishnowsky was brilliant once again for the Utes.
Overall grade: B+
Joe Williams was just incredible for the Utes, and the defense was able to force four turnovers. Utah will need to be much better in every aspect of the game next week as it faces Washington, but overall, it was a solid performance this week.
CJ Pronk is a Deseret Digital Media contributor and a Stansbury High School graduate. He currently studies sports journalism and Spanish at the University of Alabama. Follow CJ on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. @BigCeeJ3113.