Defense Dominates, Utah Survives Against UCLA

The Utes were able to fend off the late surge by the UCLA Bruins to win their fourth straight

For the fourth straight week, the No. 11 Utah Utes were without around a dozen players headlined by star quarterback Cam Rising. 

The absence of Rising was somewhat shocking as reports indicated that he would make his season debut against No. 22 UCLA. Utes fans even got a glimmer of hope, as pictures of Rising in full uniform before the game were all over social media.

Instead, it was Nate Johnson getting his second-consecutive start for the Utes. He got some help from the Utes' defense on the first play from scrimmage of the game. UCLA's five-star quarterback Dante Moore was looking for a Bruin but ended up finding Utah linebacker Karene Reid who returned it for a touchdown. 

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After getting just 22 yards through the air in the first quarter, Johnson found Auburn transfer Landen King for the score to make it 14-0. That score would hold until the final few minutes of the game as the Bruins would end up scoring via a Moore touchdown pass that cut the lead to 14-7.

After what was the eighth punt for the Utes due to the offense sputtering, Utah needed a major stop to fend off the Bruins. As they had been doing all game, Utah got some major pressure on Moore on the final drive. They sacked the freshman three times in four plays, and were able to seal the deal for the win.

The victory moves Utah to 4-0 with a meeting with No. 14 Oregon State next weekend.