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Utah Football: 3 takeaways from runaway victory over Colorado

By Zach Bigalke

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - SEPTEMBER 15: Head coach Kyle Whittingham of the Utah Utes looks on in a game against the Washington Huskies at Rice-Eccles Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - SEPTEMBER 15: Head coach Kyle Whittingham of the Utah Utes looks on in a game against the Washington Huskies at Rice-Eccles Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /
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TEMPE, AZ – NOVEMBER 03: Quarterback Manny Wilkins #5 of the Arizona State Sun Devils scrambles with the football against defensive end Maxs Tupai #92 of the Utah Utes during the first half of the college football game at Sun Devil Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the 38-20. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ – NOVEMBER 03: Quarterback Manny Wilkins #5 of the Arizona State Sun Devils scrambles with the football against defensive end Maxs Tupai #92 of the Utah Utes during the first half of the college football game at Sun Devil Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the 38-20. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

2. Utah boasts one of the best defenses in the nation

Entering the donnybrook on Saturday against Colorado, the Utes already boasted one of the nation’s 20 best defenses. No team was better over the first 11 weeks of the season at stopping opponents in the red zone, as Utah’s opponents failed to score any points on three of every seven chances inside the 20 of the Utes. Teams managed only 101 yards per game on the ground. And they averaged an interception per game.

In the runaway defeat of the Buffaloes, Utah dominated especially at the line of scrimmage. Colorado finished the day with just 34 rushing yards on 34 carries. The secondary did its job as well, holding Buffaloes quarterback Steven Montez to 84 passing yards and an interception before he was forced to leave the game with an injured leg after getting sacked early in the fourth quarter. Backups Tyler Lytie and Sam Noyer combined to go 8-of-11 for 78 yards and a pick.

It was a dominant showing by the Utes as they gave up fewer than 200 total yards and forced three turnovers. They will vault further up the national charts this week after taking down a Buffaloes team that was unable to crack the code of the Utah defense.

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