Fresh off of a win in Tempe last week, the University of Utah football team returned home to face the Oregon State Beavers. The Beavers nearly held on against the USC Trojans last week, losing 14-17, and giving up 14 points in the 4th quarter. Oregon State came prepared, but Utah did as well.

Recap

The Beavers were only able to gain 11 yards before Clark Phillips III picked it off. Utah immediately responded, with Cam Rising finding Jaylen Dixon in the end zone to get the first touchdown of the day.

Oregon State kept their momentum, scoring on the next drive with a 29-yard run. Utah wasn’t able to get anything going offensively and was forced to punt. But Utah’s defense once again came to play, with Phillips III grabbing his second interception of the night. But Phillips III was able to return this one for 38 yards and a Utah touchdown.

Utah kept going in the 2nd quarter, with Rising finding the end zone on a 24-yard rush. Utah finally gained some breathing room, leading 21-7 early in the quarter.

Utah was able to stop the next Oregon State drive, which started on the 50-yard line. Utah only allowed the Beavers a field goal and retained a comfortable 21-10 lead.

The Utes went into the locker room up 21-13 after a wild first half. Utah only recorded 139 yards in the half, compared to Oregon State’s 219. Rising led both teams in rushing yards, finishing the half with 50 yards on 5 runs.

Utah couldn’t score on the first drive of the 2nd half. They punted it away, but the defense held the Beavers to a field goal. This made it a 21-16 game, putting the pressure on Utah’s offense to find their rhythm.

Utah did just that, marching down the field in just over three minutes, and ended with a 16-yard touchdown reception by Devaughn Vele.

Once again, Utah’s defense came to play, with R.J. Hubert grabbing an interception in the end zone and running it back 70 yards to give the offense great field position. Dixon capitalized on this with a 22-yard touchdown rush to expand Utah’s lead.

But the Utes weren’t quite finished, as they would drive down the field yet again, this time with Dalton Kincaid finding the end zone. Utah seemed to be running away with the game, taking a massive 42-16 lead early in the 4th quarter.

The Beavers were on the Utah 5, inching closer and closer to scoring. But Phillips III wasn’t quite done with this game, and intercepted the ball in the end zone for his third interception of the night.

This appeared to put the game away, placing the ball back in Utah’s hands with just 7 minutes left of play. Utah finished the game with a strong 42-16 win against a team that nearly beat USC just last week.

This Utah team is looking strong as they are set to face UCLA and USC in the next few weeks. The schedule gets harder from here, but the Utes look up to the challenge.

Analysis

Utah’s red zone defense was stellar today, forcing three field goals from the red zone rather than allowing touchdowns. The Beavers moved the ball, but continuously struggled to punch it into the end zone, setting them well behind the 8-ball matching up with a stellar Utah offense.

Four interceptions also set the tone for Utah, three by Phillips and one by Hubert that completely swung the momentum of the game. With Oregon State knocking on the door of the end zone, Hubert set up a long touchdown with the 70-yard return to basically put the game away. 

The Beavers were frisky and threatened a win, but Utah controlled the game in all the little areas to come out on top by a wide margin. The defense came up huge in big moments with the red zone stops and four picks. If that happens, it’s tough for the opponent to make up for it and win the game, which is what happened to Oregon State today.

This was a great confidence-boosting win to open up this four-game gauntlet. Next week, the Utes will hit the road to face an undefeated UCLA squad coming off a win over top-15 Washington.

[email protected]

@SeanOverton3

[email protected]

@splashcitynba