If you’re a Utah fan, you should feel pretty happy about tonight.

Firstly, a dominant win secured an undefeated home record on the season, as well as a 14th straight home win overall.  Losses by Oregon and UCLA, although harmful to Utah’s strength of schedule, aided the Utes’ pursuit of an appearance in the Pac-12 championship game. Additionally, a dominant showing on defense and by the rushing attack affirmed the Utes’ gritty identity and likely give both sides of the ball strong confidence boosts, which should put a smile on all Ute fans’ faces.

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First half

Following three straight punts, the first quarter got off to an interesting start when Stanford quarterback Tanner McKey found Elijah Higgins for a 51-yard pass that set up Stanford for the first score of the game.

However, the Cardinal couldn’t keep that momentum going, as this wound up being their only score of the game. In fact, it would be the last time the Cardinal even got within 35 yards of scoring a touchdown for the rest of the game.

Following Stanford’s score, the Utes got busy. Scoring touchdowns on their next two drives, Utah quickly snatched back Stanford’s briefly held lead. Although Utah held only a 7-point lead at halftime, a late red zone interception by the Stanford defense, as well as two straight Stanford three-and-outs before the half, made the lead feel nearly insurmountable. And, that is what it ended up being.

Second half

In the second half, the Utes offense turned on the hyperdrive. On each of their four “real” drives (the fifth drive being the Utes running the clock out), the Utes found the end zone, while holding Stanford to a mere 111 second-half offensive yards.

On the Utes’ final drive of the half, as a strong nail in the coffin, Tavion Thomas finalized a career night with a 36-yard rushing touchdown to put the Utes up 42-7, which would end up being the final score.

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Game notes

Tavion Thomas is back

Tavion Thomas had an outstanding game. Racking up 180 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground, he outgained and outscored the entire Stanford offense (177 yards, 1 touchdown). In a backfield that has been primarily split throughout the season, Thomas dominated the carries, being responsible for 61% of Utah’s rushing attempts.

Utah’s defense is stellar

In the first half, the only half with a Stanford score, the Stanford offense gained a total of 97 yards. If one was to look at every other play of the half beside the 51-yard pass that set up Stanford for a touchdown, then the Cardinal would have gained a measly 46 offensive yards.

Simply put, Utah’s defense really only broke down one time during the game, and although it cost them a touchdown eventually, the Ute D was stellar overall throughout the night. To accentuate this, one could look at Stanford’s rushing totals. On 26 carries throughout the night, the Utes allowed only 22 yards, which amounts to an outstanding 0.8 yards per carry for the Stanford offense.

Up next

Utah travels to Oregon next week to face the Ducks in the biggest game of the season. This game is practically the Pac-12 semifinal, as the winner is likely to end up facing USC in the Pac-12 Championship in Las Vegas.

The Utes will face the Ducks on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 8:30 p.m. MT and the game can be seen on ESPN.

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Unless otherwise noted, all stats are via ESPN.

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