Tyler Huntley, Zack Moss get Utah’s offense off to a fast start in blowout win at Oregon State

CORVALLIS, Ore. — Utah’s Tyler Huntley and Oregon State’s Jake Luton entered the day as two of six quarterbacks in the nation to have thrown more than 100 passes without an interception this season.

“He’s a perfectionist. He is just taking everything to a whole other level. It’s not just one thing or a couple of things. It’s everything.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, on Tyler Huntley

By the time the 15th-ranked Utes and Beavers kicked off at Reser Stadium, Georgia’s Jake Fromm, Baylor’s Charlie Brewer and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa fell from the ranks of those yet to throw a pick. TCU’s Max Duggan remained unblemished because the Horned Frogs had a bye.

That left Huntley and Luton seeking to extended their streaks. 

The night, however, belonged to Huntley. The senior wound up being the last man standing in the game when it came to keeping his run intact. 

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Utah coach Kyle Whittingham acknowledged that ball security is job one. It’s something the Utes always preach, but things are going exceedingly well in that regard through six games. 

Whittingham credits Huntley for improving his game in all aspects.

“He’s a perfectionist,” Whittingham said. “He is just taking everything to a whole other level. It’s not just one thing or a couple of things. It’s everything.”

Huntley, who has now thrown 131 passes this season without an interception (the nation’s longest active streak), led Utah to a 52-7 victory over Oregon State. He completed 6-of-6 passes including two touchdowns in a pivotal first quarter where the Utes racked up 257 yards.

“I’m just doing my job,” Huntley said. “That’s it.”

Utah’s offense also received a big boost from Zack Moss. The senior running back, who missed much of the loss to USC and all of the win over Washington State the following week with an apparent shoulder injury, had 121 yards and two touchdowns in his return. He had a 91-yard touchdown run in the opening minutes, the third-longest scamper in team history.

“It feels good to be back with the guys, just trying to go out there and do my job,” Moss said. “I’m just fortunate enough to have that big run.”

The offense came out firing in Utah’s return from a bye week, opening the game with three straight touchdown drives.

“That’s just a matter of us knowing what we’re doing, executing every play at a time,” Huntley said. “We got things rolling early.”

The quick outburst proved to be more than enough to be decisive. The defense did its part by holding Oregon State to only 53 yards of total offense over the pivotal stretch. 

“A complete game by our guys. We started fast,“ Whittingham said of the strong opening on both sides of the ball. “Obviously you would love to do that every week. It’s not going to happen every week, but the offense was in high gear right out of the gate. Tyler was sharp, just like he has been all season long.”       

Besides the long run by Moss, the Utes built their decisive 21-0 advantage in a span of less than 14 minutes on touchdown throws by Huntley to tight end Brant Kuithe (21 yards) and Samson Nacua (30 yards). 

Utah’s defense put points on the board, too. Late in the second quarter, Luton’s national-best streak of 181 consecutive passes without an interception was snapped when defensive end Bradlee Anae tipped a throw that wound up in the hands of linebacker Devin Lloyd. He returned it 64 yards for a touchdown as the Utes made it 28-0 with 3:03 left in the second quarter. 

It became a 35-point game just over two minutes later on a 6-yard TD run from Moss.

Utah’s “Hallandale Trio” from Florida had quite a half. Huntley was 8-of-9 passing for 171 yards and two touchdowns, Moss tallied his numbers on just five carries, while Demari Simpkins led the Utes with 86 of his 97 receiving yards. One of his catches (he finished with a team-high four by game’s end) was a 54-yard grab.

The contributions paced Utah’s offensive output to 306 yards by the break.

The Utes scored twice in the third quarter as the rout grew to 49-0. The touchdowns came on short touchdown runs by Devin Brumfield and Jordan Wilmore.  

Jadon Redding later capped Utah’s scoring with a 42-yard field goal. Oregon State produced its only points on a 15-yard touchdown toss from Tristan Gebbia to Calvin Tyler in the final minute of play.

Moss didn’t play in the second half and Huntley was not used in the fourth quarter. He wound up completing 14-of-17 passes for 247 yards.

The Utes finished with 503 yards of total offense and 24 first downs. Whittingham noted that the defense was particularly strong against the run. Oregon State was held to 48 yards on the ground.

“For us, that’s the starting point for defense,” Whittingham said.

Moss, who is only 55 yards away from becoming Utah’s all-time leading rusher, credited the team for firing on all cylinders. He said that’s the same recipe they are hopefully going to stir up next week.

Utah (5-1, 2-1) has a Pac-12 South showdown with Arizona State (5-1, 2-1) Saturday (4 p.m., P12N) at Rice-Eccles Stadium.