5 – Heading into the game, both Utah and Colorado had 5-6 records, meaning that each needed a win to become bowl-eligible. That turned the contest into something of a “playoff game” — win and your season continues or lose and go home.
23 – With the potential for the game to be Utah’s last of the season, the stakes were highest for the 23 seniors on the Utes’ roster who could have been playing in the last football game of their careers.
3 – One of the most notable departing seniors is quarterback Troy Williams, who started 13 games for the Utes last year, nine of which they won. However, his senior year certainly didn’t pan out as he probably hoped it would, as he lost the starting job to Tyler Huntley before the season began. A lot of players would mentally check out in such a situation, but to his credit, Williams must have stayed engaged and focused enough throughout the season for the coaches to decide that No. 3 deserved to be the starter for his final home game as a Ute.
2 – In hindsight, it probably didn’t matter much who was playing quarterback anyways, because the game plan appeared to be a “Hand the ball off to No. 2 type of night. ” Zack Moss had a career night, running for 196 yards and two touchdowns off of 26 carries. He ran all night long, dragging and trucking Colorado defenders on his way into the end zone.
56 – Approximate number of tackles that Moss broke.
310 – Moss wasn’t the only one running hard. Devonta’e Henry-Cole also had himself a game, running for 79 yards on only 9 carries. All in all, the Utes racked up 310 yards rushing as a team, their highest total of the season.
29 – The Utah offense was able to move the ball consistently throughout the entire game. They only had one three-and-out, which only came when Utah was already leading 31-13. They also had 29 first downs, the most in any game this season.
5 – The game was also one of the season’s best for the defensive side of the ball. After struggling to get to the opposing quarterback throughout much of the season, the Utah defense came up with five sacks. Bradlee Anae, who accounted for 2.5 of those, has found his groove in the past three weeks of the season. In those three games, he’s had five sacks and two forced fumbles. If he can carry that success into next season and improve on it, the old “Sack Lake City” could return to its former glory.
2 – One sign of progress for the Utah team as a whole from the beginning of the season until now is the penalty department. In their first two games, the Utes had a combined 22 penalties. In their final two games, they had a total of five. Three came last week against Washington while they had two against Colorado.
6 – Most important of all, the Utes got their sixth victory of the season, meaning they’ll be going to a bowl game for their fourth consecutive year.
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