The nonconference schedule came to a close for the University of Utah football team (3-0) after defeating San José State (1-3) on Saturday, Sept. 16, 54-16. Many expected this game to serve as a “clean up” game where Utah could focus on strengthening areas that haven’t been as tight as head coach Kyle Whittingham would like. After Saturday’s performance, Whittingham noticed improvement in several of those areas from the first two games of its season to now.

Fewer penalties, better snaps, the ability to fix turnovers in the second half — although Whittingham said three turnovers in the first half were too many for a football game — and third downs, were amongst the list of positive takeaways for Whittingham.

“Nonconference play comes to an end. We’re 3-0, right where we should be in our opinion,” Whittingham said.

Utah had 341 passing yards and 160 rushing yards. It improved from its 11 penalties in each of its past two games to having six penalties for a loss of 50 yards. Tyler Huntley went 30-for-43 in the air for 341 yards, and although he had one interception, he had four touchdowns. His performance marks the first time since 2008 that a Utah quarterback has passed for over 300 yards in back-to-back games. He was also the leader on the ground as he ran 14 times for 53 yards. Darren Carrington II was the leading receiver with 9 catches for 153 yards and three touchdowns. Matt Gay finished the night going 4-of-4 on field goals, and he is now 11-of-11 on the season.

Gay hit three field goals early on in the game to give the Utes a 9-3 advantage in the first quarter. On the first drive of the game, Utah was unable to find the end zone on third-and-goal, and Gay hit a 21-yard field goal. The following drive, Gay was called in again, but this time to attempt a 56-yard field goal that found its way through the uprights. It was the second longest field goal made in program history, following behind a 59-yarder made by Marv Bateman in 1971.

Before Gay continued to pour on the magic, Huntley fumbled the ball, and this led to the Spartans first points of the game off a 24-yard field goal. The next time the Spartans had their offense on the field, Kylie Fitts forced a fumble and Bradlee Anae recovered it to send Gay back on the field. He came through clutch, drilling a 50-yard field goal to wrap up the first quarter scoring.

In the second quarter, Huntley connected with Carrington twice. After a 7-yard touchdown pass right off the bat, Julian Blackmon intercepted the ball on the Spartan’s 43-yard line. With the ball back in Utah’s hands, Carrington caught a 26-yard touchdown pass, but it didn’t stop there. On the Utes next drive, they tacked on another touchdown as Zack Moss ran it in from 5 yards out.

Despite getting more receivers involved in the run game than it has in its past two games, running the ball is still an area Whittingham thinks can use some work.

“We’re doing some good things,” Whittingham said. “But in a perfect world, we’d be running the ball better.”

The way the Utes ran the ball Saturday night was enough to cause the Spartans to have to play catch up all night long. Despite kicking a 51-yard field goal and intercepting a pass from Huntley — his lone interception on the night that resulted in a 47-yard touchdown pass — San José State still trailed Utah heading into its locker room at the half, 30-13.

The only action to show on the board in the third quarter was with 2:36 left on the clock when Raelon Singleton found success in the end zone, catching a 13-yard touchdown pass.

The Spartans final chance to score any more points came on a 38-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. The Huntley and Carrington duo continued to shine as Carrington caught a 15-yard touchdown pass at the 11:21 mark in the fourth quarter. Before the night ended, Devonta’e Henry-Cole got one more final score on the board with a 10-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds left on the clock.

“I think it’s great coming off of this and coming off our past two games,” Carrington said. “I think we’re making the right strides, going uphill because we’re only uphill from here. I feel like once we get to where we’re going, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

The Utes will begin Pac-12 play on the road on Friday, Sept. 22 against Arizona.

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@Britt_Colindres