3 takeaways from No. 12 Utah’s win over Oregon State

No. 12 Utah won its fourth straight game and moved to 2-0 in Pac-12 play on Saturday, beating Oregon State 42-16. The Utes outscored the Beavers 21-3 in the second half to win going away.

Here are three takeaways from Utah’s win:

The play that changed the game

R.J. Hubert completely changed the trajectory of the game late in the third quarter.

With Utah up 28-16, Oregon State was driving and threatened to make it a one-score game. The Beavers were in the red zone and had first and 8. OSU’s drive up to that point had featured a fourth-down conversion, and it looked like the Beavers were going to score their first red zone touchdown of the game.

But Hubert picked off Beavers backup quarterback Ben Gulbranson and returned it 70 yards to set the Utes up at the Oregon State 30-yard line.

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Jaylen Dixon cashed in two plays later, taking a reverse handoff 22 yards for a touchdown — his second of the game.

The touchdown put Utah up 35-16 and flipped the momentum all to the Utes.

From that point, the Beavers didn’t score for the rest of the game and Utah added another touchdown to win comfortably.

Clark Phillips III is a star

Clark Phillips III may have had his best game as a Ute on Saturday.

Phillips III had three interceptions, including a pick-six, making him the first Ute in Pac-12 history to have three picks in a game.

His first interception came on Oregon State’s first drive of the game when he picked off starting quarterback Chance Nolan and took it 19 yards to the Beavers’ 25-yard line.

Utah scored its first touchdown of the game following that pick.

Phillips III’s second interception was a 38-yard pick he returned for a touchdown that gave Utah a 14-7 lead and a jolt of energy.

Oregon State kept throwing it Phillips III’s way and he made them pay with a third interception, this time in the end zone, with 7:16 left, ending any hope of an Oregon State comeback.

Phillips III has consistently been one of Utah’s best defensive players since his arrival and has an NFL future.

Run game struggles

Utah’s offense did put up 35 points on the day, but if there’s one thing the Utes need to improve on going into a tough stretch featuring undefeated UCLA and No. 6 USC, it’s the run game.

Utah had 162 yards of rushing, but of those, 73 came from quarterback Cam Rising and 12 came from his backup Bryson Barnes, leaving only 77 rushing yards from other players.

The Utes were outgained on the ground by Oregon State 171-162.

Jaylen Dixon has 22 yards on one carry, Micah Bernard has 19 yards on six carries, Jaylon Glover had 18 yards on six carries, Tavion Thomas had 13 yards on six carries and Ja’Quinden Jackson has five yards on four carries.

Moving forward, Utah has to get more production out of its run game to be successful — especially from their lead back in Thomas.