Utah rolls over Oregon State for impressive 52-7 Pac-12 road win

SALT LAKE CITY — After three easy preseason wins, the team picked to win the Pac-12 championship suffered a stinging loss in its first conference game.

Fortunately for Utah, the squad that lost at USC three weeks ago and hardly resembled a Rose Bowl contender has made a drastic course correction.

The Utes used the 30-23 loss to the Trojans as an early season wake-up call.

“It definitely put us back in the right direction,” Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd said.

If that wasn’t evident after the Utes pounded Washington State at home two weeks ago, the message was made loud and clear Saturday in Utah’s 52-7 road rout of Oregon State at Reser Stadium.

Losing the shutout in the final minute of play was about the only thing that went wrong for the Utes in this lopsided win, which improved the No. 15 team’s record to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Pac-12 play. Oregon State fell to 2-4, 1-2 with its fourth-straight loss to Utah.

This 45-point blowout — featuring a defensive masterpiece, the eye-opening return of Zack Moss and a balanced, 503-yard offensive output — was the largest margin of victory for the Utes since they joined the Pac-12. Their previous biggest win points-wise was a 49-6 win over Washington State in 2012.

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This one wasn’t in doubt after an impressive first quarter.

Utah opened with touchdowns on its first three possessions to take a commanding 21-0 lead. The Utes hadn’t put up that many points in the first quarter since opening with 35 against BYU in the 2015 Las Vegas Bowl.

“The offense came out of the gate just hitting on all cylinders,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said in a postgame interview on the Pac-12 Network. “We’re up 21-0 early, which is ideal. You’re not going to get that every week, but that’s what we strive for.”

Quarterback Tyler Huntley lit the fuse on the scoring explosion with a 21-yard touchdown strike to tight end Brant Kuithe.

Moss then scored the first of his two touchdowns on the evening and provided 91 yards of highlight material by rushing nearly the length of the football field for a did-you-miss-me? scoring run. The play seemed like it might end at the line of scrimmage when Moss ran into a defender, but he bounced off the OSU player and then burst to the outside and all the way downfield to put Utah up 14-0.

The ever-sharp Huntley then connected with Samson Nacua on a 30-yard TD toss late in the first quarter.

The Beavers forced Utah to punt for the first time midway through the second quarter, but the defense joined in on the scoring fun after that.

Lloyd hauled in an interception and raced 64 yards to pay dirt after defensive lineman Bradlee Anae tipped a Jake Luton pass, ending the OSU QB’s streak of 181 passes without an interception.

Moss pushed the lead to 35-0 with his second TD run late before halftime. The senior running back finished with 121 yards on just five carries after missing the WSU game with an injury.

Moss now needs 55 yards rushing to break the school record set by Eddie Johnson (3,219 yards, 1984-88).

That record-setting moment very well could happen in next Saturday’s intriguing showdown with Arizona State at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The 18th-ranked Sun Devils beat Wazzu 38-34 and will enter the Utah game with a high ranking and a similar record of 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Pac-12 action.

Moss also only needs two touchdowns to equal Del Rodgers’ career scoring record (31 TDs, 1978-81) and is now tied with John White for most 100-yard rushing games (14).

Strangely, Oregon State had more first downs (12) than Utah (10) in the first half. OSU even held the ball for seven minutes longer than the Utes (18:28-11:32), but the visitors were far more efficient and outgained the Beavers 306 yards to 163.

The second half featured the first career touchdown for two of Moss’s backups. Devin Brumfield passed the goal line on a 1-yard plunge, and then Jordan Wilmore scored on a tricky and tough 7-yard run in which he was hit multiple times but kept churning his legs while running into the end zone backward.

Utah took a 52-0 lead on a 42-yard field goal by Jadon Redding.

Oregon State foiled the Utes’ shutout bid with a 15-yard touchdown pass with 56 seconds left.

That didn’t spoil an overall excellent showing, though.

Huntley threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns on 14-for-17 passing with zero interceptions. Huntley connected with seven receivers, led by Demari Simpkins’ four receptions for 97 yards.

Utah’s offense finished with 503 yards while holding OSU to 217, including just 48 yards on the ground to a Ute D that has yet to allow 100 yards rushing this season.

“Defensively, we pitched a shut out until the very end,” Whittingham said. “We played the run tough. This Oregon state team had rushed for 200 yards a week and we held them to well below that.”