Grading Utah’s Win over Arizona State

After a rough first quarter, Utah settled down and put together one of their most complete performances this season with a 49-26 blowout win over Arizona State. Hunter Dimick and Troy Williams both had career nights while few important players returned from injury. The win keeps Utah in contention for the Pac-12 south.

Offense

There were a few penalties and a couple turnovers, escpecially in the first quarter, but for 3 quarters the Utah offense was a thing of beauty. Troy Williams had the best game of his career, completing 56.8% of his passes for a career high 296 yards and 4 touchdowns with no interceptions. Joe Williams is having an all time great season since returning to the team and continued his 100+ yard game streak, rushing for 181 yards on just 15 carries and scoring 2 touchdowns.

Also worth mentioning, Raelon Singlteon had the best game of his career snagging 3 touchdowns on 116 yards receiving. It was the most complete offenseive performance from Utah this season, and with guys like Butler-Byrd and Tim Patrick healthy again, Utah’s offense has a chance to finish strong this season.

Grade: A

Defense

There were some missed tackles and at times players had problems getting off their blocks. However, overall it was an impressive outing from the defense, specifically the defensive line. Hunter Dimick set the school’s single game sack record with 5 sacks. Pit Taumoepenu finished with 3 sacks of his own. Together as a team the defense finished with 11 total sacks and 22 tackles for a loss. Arizona State’s running game was stifled, gaining just 41 yards on 47 carries.

In the secondary, Marcus Williams was back and made an immediate impact, intercepting a Manny Wilkins pass in the endzone to deny the Sun Devils first scoring opportunity. His counterpart at safety Chase Hansen also had an interception in the fourth quarter returning it for a game icing touchdown.

Grade: A

Special Teams

It was another great night kicking the ball for Utah. Andy Phillips was 7 for 7 on extra points. Mitch Wishnowsky punted 4 times, averaging 48.3 yards per punt and pinned the Sun Devils inside their 20 yard line 3 times.

Grade: A