Utes make it look easy in rout of Oregon State

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Except perhaps for UCLA, Oregon State was supposed to be the easiest remaining game on Utah’s schedule.

But c’mon, this easy?

The 15th-ranked Utes, who came in as 15-point favorites, absolutely steamrolled the Beavers Saturday night, jumping out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter and from there cruising to a 52-7 victory.

“A complete game by our guys.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham

The dominance was obvious by halftime as the Utes had nearly twice as many yards, 306 to 163, as the Beavers, while running only half as many plays — 22 to OSU’s 44.

The week off didn’t obviously didn’t hurt the Utes following their 25-point win over Washington State two weeks earlier. They looked sharper than ever, with an efficient, smooth-running offense and a tenacious defense that completely shut down Oregon State’s running game (just 48 net yards) and never allowed any long passing plays.

“A complete game by our guys,” is how coach Kyle Whittingham put it. 

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While Oregon State has been a league bottom-feeder for the last few years, it wasn’t like the Utes were playing a complete patsy Saturday night. 

The Beavers were coming off a 17-point win over UCLA and had barely lost to both Stanford and Hawaii by identical 31-28 counts. They even stayed with Oklahoma State for much of the game in their only other defeat before losing by 16. Coming into the game, the Beavers ranked 24th in the nation in total offense at 475 yards a game and were 25th in scoring offense at 37 points a game. 

But they looked like they were a full level below the Utes Saturday night. 

The last two games against Oregon State here had been a struggle, an ugly 19-14 win over Gary Andersen’s team in 2016 and a 29-23 overtime win in 2014. In 2012 the Beavers beat the Utes 21-7. 

There was some concern that the bye week might kill the Utes’ momentum, but those fears were erased in the first five minutes of the game.

The Utes set the tone right from the start as their first defensive series was a 3-and-out for minus-4 yards. The first offensive series was a smooth 65-yard drive in six plays. Then after another defensive stop with the Utes buried deep by their own goal line, Zack Moss got loose for a 91-yard run up the left sideline, outrunning a host of Oregon State defenders to the end zone.

Just like that it was 14-0 and before the quarter was over, it was 21-0 thanks to a long pass from Tyler Huntley to Demari Simpkins and the Utes had a whopping 257 to 53 edge in total yards. 

The second half was a formality as Moss was already shut down for the evening, having run just five times for 121 yards. Huntley kept his no-interception streak alive with an efficient 14-for-17 passing night for 247 yards and a couple of touchdowns and was taken out late in the third quarter, at which time Reser Stadium was nearly empty as Beaver fans hoping for a Homecoming victory were long gone. 

Whittingham had little to complain about after — a late fumble that likely cost the Utes their first-ever Pac-12 shutout, some silly penalties early on and not much production from the return teams. Otherwise, it was all positive with the Utes able to rest Moss and Huntley and give several backups valuable game experience.

Now with their “easy” game behind them, watch for the Utes to move up a couple of spots in the national rankings. Several teams ahead of them in the rankings lost Saturday, including No. 3 Georgia, No. 7 Florida and No. 11 Texas. The Utes should at least pass Texas and perhaps leapfrog Boise State.  

Next up is a game against one of the Pac-12’s remaining ranked teams, No. 18 Arizona State, followed by a game against Cal and a road game at Washington.

“The degree of difficulty gets higher,” Whittingham said. “We’ve got a tough game this week and hope we can have the same resolve and same work ethic and same determination and be ready to play again.”

If the Utes play like they did Saturday night, the rest of the Pac-12 better take cover. These guys are good.