SALT LAKE CITY — Though Eddie Johnson’s three-decadeslong hold on Utah’s career rushing mark seemed to be well within reach Saturday night, Ute star running back Zack Moss made it clear that breaking the record wasn’t his main focus.
His priority: winning.
With his parents among the rain-soaked and celebratory fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the senior running back helped both events take place in 13th-ranked Utah’s 21-3 win over No. 17 Arizona State.
Moss had been bottled up for 3½ quarters — and the game was still on the line — when the 5-foot-10, 222-pounder broke free from the pack at the line of scrimmage and dashed 32 yards into the end zone for the final score with 5:24 left.
The play, which happened right after Arizona State fumbled a punt return, catapulted Moss past Johnson’s record that had been in place since 1988.
“Honestly right now, I just feel grateful,” Moss said. “I knew the defense was going to get the ball back somehow, someway, so I wasn’t really worried about that and I just wanted to make sure we got this win. If I have 30 yards, 40 yards, it doesn’t matter as long as we got the win.”
The crowd roared. Teammates mauled Moss. And the victory, which pushed Utah to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in Pac-12 action, was all but sealed up. It also denied Arizona State (5-2, 3-2) from a third road win over a ranked team this season.
Moss now holds Utah’s all-time rushing record with 3,264 yards. Johnson rushed for 3,219 yards during his career from 1984-88.
“That’s just an outstanding achievement,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “We’re proud of him. He did a great job tonight. Those yards were tough, hard-fought yards.”
With two touchdowns, Moss also moved into a tie with Del Rodgers (1978-81) for the most rushing touchdowns (31) in school history.
“Our defense was lights out tonight. Our defensive backfield was outstanding. Our front four applied pressure all night long.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
Moss, who came into the game needing just 55 yards to surpass Johnson, finished with 99 yards rushing on 25 carries, keeping him just one yard shy of breaking a three-way tie with John White and Devontae Booker for 100-yard rushing games for a Ute. The three remain tied with 14 100-yarders apiece.
Moss earned the big record and finished the game after taking a hard helmet-to-helmet hit in the second quarter — a play that resulted in a targeting penalty and ejection for ASU’s Evan Fields.
The Utes weren’t so fortunate with their other star offensive player — quarterback Tyler Huntley. The QB came back in after being injured on a scramble in the second quarter, but he was taken out late in the third quarter for good.
Huntley finished with 171 yards on 12-of-19 passing, but he didn’t connect for a touchdown and threw his first interception of the season. Huntley had made 149 straight passes without being picked off before ASU cornerback Chase Lucas intercepted him midway through the third quarter.
As continues to be the case, Utah’s defense played a huge role in an important win that kept the Utes in the Pac-12 championship race. Whittingham credited the D for making up for an uncharacteristic four turnovers by the offense.
Utah, powered by its monstrous defensive line and suffocating secondary, held Arizona State to 136 yards of offense, including just 25 passing yards by dangerous freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels. ASU running back Eno Benjamin did become the first 100-yard rusher against Utah this season with 104 yards on 15 carries, but his one-man show wasn’t nearly enough for the Sun Devils.
“Our defense was lights out tonight,” Whittingham said, noting that ASU only completed 4 of 18 passes and converted on just 2 of 13 third downs. “Our defensive backfield was outstanding. Our front four applied pressure all night long.”
Defensive end Bradlee Anae sparked the formidable front with three sacks, linebacker Devin Lloyd had a team-high eight tackles and defensive back Jaylon Johnson had a stellar outing in coverage.
“I can’t remember a better defensive effort, especially not of late,” Whittingham said. “Our offense did enough to win the game. It’s hard to win when you turn the ball over four times, but we found a way. That’s a credit to our defense.”
The defense wanted to help secure a win — keeping Rose Bowl hopes alive — and deliver an assist to Moss so he could get another chance to break the record after it appeared as if that might have to wait a week.
“It was pretty exciting and I think everyone was pretty stoked to come out and see him break it,” Utah defensive lineman Leki Fotu said. “It was an honor for us defenders to get the ball back for him and witness history.”
Whittingham laughed and admitted in the postgame press conference that he didn’t realize that Arizona State had the longest active double-digit-scoring streak in the nation with 125 consecutive games until this defensive masterpiece by Utah. The Utes also snapped the Sun Devils’ 140-game streak of scoring at least 7 points.
“You have to give Utah a lot of credit,” ASU coach Herm Edwards said. “They put a lot of pressure on our quarterback. They found ways to get to him and he was under duress most of the day.”
Added Daniels, “They are just a relentless defense. They are going to get after the quarterback. It’s just a stout defense that we played today.”
The Utah coach was prepared with some trivia of his own after being asked about snapping ASU’s scoring streaks. He noted that ASU was 9-0 under Edwards when the Sun Devils received the ball first. Even knowing that, Utah opted to defer to the second half, in part because Whittingham took that as a challenge.
“Now, they’re 9-1,” he said, proudly.
Utah held Arizona State to 42 yards and 22 plays in the first half and didn’t allow a point until Cristian Zendejas booted a 40-yard field goal, trimming the lead to 14-3 with 6:50 remaining in the third quarter.
Jaylen Dixon and Moss both scored touchdowns in the second quarter to put Utah up 14-0 after the Utes had fumbles on their first two possessions. Huntley came in and helped the U. escape a fourth-down situation before Moss’ first TD of the night.
NOTES: Donovan Mitchell and Royce O’Neale were among a group of Utah Jazz players who watched the game from the sideline. Former Utes Matt Gay and Matt Asiata were also in attendance. Cassandra and Anthony Moss were also at the stadium to watch their son play. ... ASU became the first team to rush for more than 100 yards against the Utes. ... Whittingham improved to 3-6 vs. the Sun Devils with Utah’s first win against ASU since 2016. ... The Utes have now allowed only 30 points in the second half of seven games.