Five takeaways from Utah football's shutout win over Utah State

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Utah took care of business against Utah State, shutting out the Aggies 33-0 and moving to 3-0 heading into Big 12 play.

It wasn't quite the offensive explosion we saw against Idaho or Arkansas, especially after halftime, but Utah controlled the game from the start. The Utes finished with 480 yards of offense while holding Utah State to just 188.

Here are my five biggest takeaways.

Braden Pegan was the mismatch

Braden Pegan was a mismatch against Utah State’s secondary.

Pegan caught three passes on Utah’s opening drive, including a 28-yard touchdown on third-and-14. By halftime, he already had seven catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with eight catches for 122 yards and two scores.

Utah State kept giving him one-on-one opportunities, and Utah kept making them pay.

“If you’re going to play him one-on-one, that’s kind of what’s going to happen,” Devon Dampier said after the game. “The ball is going to find him, and plays are going to be made.”

This Utah defense is elite

There is not much else to say at this point.

Utah’s defense has been dominant through three weeks, and Saturday might have been its most complete performance yet.

The Utes pitched their first shutout since beating Cal 35-0 in October of 2019. Utah State finished with just 188 total yards, 10 first downs, and went 4-of-14 on third down.

Every level contributed.

The defensive line was creating pressure. The secondary once again made throwing the football hard for the Aggies.

The pass defense continues to perform

Utah’s secondary has been one of the best parts of this team through three games, and that continued today.

Brosterhous finished just 15-of-29 passing for 130 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. That is a 51.7% completion rate and only 4.5 yards per pass attempt.

Rabbit Evans came away with a big interception in the end zone when Utah State finally put together one of its best drives of the afternoon.

Coming off a game where Utah broke up 13 passes against Arkansas, the secondary keeps showing up.

The front seven kept Brosterhous contained

This was another really good game from Utah’s defensive front.

Utah finished with four sacks and held the Aggies to just 58 rushing yards on 25 attempts. Utah State picked up only one rushing first down all game.

A big part was how Utah handled Brosterhous.

He entered the game as Utah State’s leading rusher and had just run for 81 yards against Washington. Utah clearly knew his legs were one of the biggest things it had to account for.

Brosterhous carried it 17 times Saturday and finished with just 17 yards.

The defensive line kept him uncomfortable in the pocket and forced him to move. Still, when he did escape, Utah’s linebackers did a really good job containing him and keeping any scrambles from becoming big plays.

Utah State never established an interior run game either.

After holding Arkansas to 61 rushing yards last week, Utah has now allowed just 119 combined rushing yards over its last two games.

That is Utah football.

The second half felt like Utah started coasting

Utah went into halftime up 26-0 and was completely in control.

Then the offense lost some of the creativity we saw early.

Utah scored just seven points after halftime, and that came on Daniel Bray’s 63-yard touchdown run. Outside of that one explosive play, there wasn’t a whole lot happening offensively. Maybe that was intentional.

Utah had the game under control, the defense wasn’t giving Utah State anything, and Big 12 play starts next week at Iowa State. McGiven had no reason to keep opening up the playbook and showing everything Utah has.

But the interior run game is something to watch.

Wayshawn Parker finished with just 30 yards on 10 carries, and Utah’s overall rushing numbers look better because of Bray’s 63-yard touchdown.

That does not erase what Utah has done offensively through three weeks, but it is probably the biggest thing I would like to see cleaned up heading into conference play.

Utah did exactly what it needed to do Saturday.

It handled the mismatch with Pegan, played elite defense, dominated Utah State’s run game, and walked away with a shutout.

Now the real season starts.