Utah Football: 3 takeaways from critical Pac-12 win over Washington State

Utah football pulled away from Washington State in the second half for a runaway victory in Week 5 action. Here’s what to take away from the Utes’ win.

Washington State’s visit to Utah would have featured a contest of ranked teams, if not for the Cougars collapse against UCLA that dropped them out of the polls heading into Week 5. It still served as the marquee Pac-12 After Dark contest for the weekend, with Arizona-UCLA filling the role of the undercard on the late slate.

The contest stayed close through the first half, with Utah going to the locker room up 21-13 at halftime. Washington State never lit up the scoreboard again over the second half of the contest, as the Utes pulled away for a 38-17 victory that moved them to 4-1 and will keep them among the top 15 to 18 teams in the country when the next AP Top 25 rankings come out just around 12 and a half hours after the final whistle.

There was ultimately nothing that seemed to go right for Washington State, and everything fell perfectly for the hosts. When things all seem to break one way or the other, we can often want to attribute it to dumb luck — especially with teams that are ostensibly close in terms of talent level and position in the national picture.

But there were definite signs that Utah made their own luck on Saturday night. Keep reading for three key takeaways from this dominant display by the Utes at home to cap Week 5 action around the country.