Utah Football: 3 takeaways from loss to Stanford in Week 6

Utah football recorded its first loss of the season Saturday, dropping to Stanford in a 23-20 contest. Here are three takeaways from the Utes’ loss.

Utah would end up falling to Stanford in one of their most exciting games of the season. The offense had its fair share of both high and low points during the game, but it was the Utes’ defense that kept them in this one.

Stanford, despite coming in at 3-2, is a formidable opponent for a team of any caliber. After hanging around the top of college football for the last few years, the Cardinal would love to play spoiler for the remainder of the season.

And play spoiler they would, taking down the 20th ranked Utes on the road, likely leading to many questions for a disappointed coaching staff. With their first loss over with, here are three things we learned from Saturday’s contest.

3. Zack Moss can take over this offense

Heading into halftime, Utah running back Zack Moss beat out Heisman candidate Bryce Love in both rushing yards and touchdowns. While this would eventually change over the course of the second half, Moss’s ability to set the tone on the offensive side of the ball helped spark the Utes early. While the game didn’t end up going their way, Utah has found a spark plug in what has been a fairly benign offense so far.

Moss finished the game with 15 rushes for 79 yards and a score. In a game of field goals, Moss’s yardage was impressive. Moss has struggled to get things going in previous games, finishing with rushing totals of 21 and 43 yards against BYU and San Jose State, respectively. However, much of this has been due to the presence of quarterback Tyler Huntley who logged 33 carries in those two games.

While Moss’s outings against BYU and San Jose State were discouraging, the sophomore has seen games in which he has registered totals of 128 and 73 yards against the likes of North Dakota and Arizona. He hasn’t contributed much in the pass game to this point, but that hasn’t stopped the Utes from rolling him out on third down.

However, Moss’s 4.6 yards per carry average leaves him outside of the nation’s top 170. With his backup in Devonta’e Henry-Cole registering under 150 yards on the season, it should be Moss and Moss only who dictates his future with the team. He will look to continue tonight’s success in next week’s matchup with the 14th ranked USC Trojans.