3 takeaways from Utah’s lopsided win over Colorado

All it took for Utah to right the ship was facing its power conference punching bag, Colorado.

One year after the Buffaloes got some revenge for previous blowout losses to the Utes, Utah rolled over punchless Colorado 53-7 late Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

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The win gives Utah a 6-2 overall record, including a 3-2 mark in Big 12 play heading into November, which starts off with a critical home game next week against a hot Cincinnati squad that is 7-1 overall and unbeaten at 5-0 in Big 12 action.

Here are three takeaways from Utah’s dominant effort Saturday.

Byrd is the word

True freshman Byrd Ficklin will have plenty of fond memories from his first collegiate start.

The dual-threat quarterback started in place of an injured Devon Dampier on Saturday, and his running skills in particular were on display time and time again.

Ficklin made an early statement, weaving through the Colorado defense before running away for a 63-yard touchdown on the game’s second play.

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Colorado couldn’t do much to counter Ficklin’s shiftiness, as he ran for 151 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries in three quarters of action before giving way to Isaac Wilson.

Ficklin’s passing wasn’t as sharp, though after an ice cold start, he warmed up.

He ended up completing 10 of 22 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns after he misfired on his first five passes of the game.

That was total domination

Whether it was smash mouth, blitzing defense or a battering ram rushing attack, the Utes dominated both sides of the ball in humbling Colorado.

Utah scored five touchdowns, hit two field goals and scored on a safety in the first half and added a blocked punt for good measure.

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This game had it all … if you are a Utah fan.

The stat sheet at halftime was decidedly one-sided — the Utes rolled up 398 yards of total offense in the first two quarters, while Colorado, facing a fierce Utah defense, had -18 yards.

The rushing stats told the story. Utah put up 260 yards on the ground in the first half, while Colorado was held in negative territory, at -41 yards.

Kaidon Salter was constantly under pressure and had -44 rushing yards at halftime after getting sacked five times. Utah had seven tackles for loss in the opening two quarters.

Utah forced five three and outs in the first half and seven in the game overall while scoring on eight of the 12 drives led by Ficklin, including seven of 10 in the first half.

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All totaled, Utah put up 587 yards of total offense, including 422 rushing yards, while Colorado had 140 yards of total offense.

It was a historic loss, and not in a good way for Coach Prime

The Utes and Buffaloes have played in 15 straight seasons, and Utah has dominated the series in that time frame, winning 12 of 15, including Saturday night’s effort.

There have been plenty of Utah blowout wins in that stretch, including 63-21 in 2022, 38-21 in 2020, 45-15 in 2019, 30-7 in 2018 and 34-13 in 2017.

This one, though, had some history to it.

The 43-0 halftime lead for Utah was the largest halftime deficit the Buffaloes have faced in the Deion Sanders era, which began in 2023.

It was also the worst halftime deficit for Colorado since the Buffaloes trailed the Utes 42-0 at the break in 2022, when the game was played in Boulder. Utah won that game 63-21.