3 takeaways from Utah’s shellacking of Utah State

The Utah Utes certainly welcomed Bronco Mendenhall to his first participation in the Battle of Brothers rivalry matchup Saturday, as they beat Mendenhall's Utah State Aggies 33-0.

Not only did the defense pitch a shutout, but it was especially dominant in the run game, holding the Aggies to just 10 rushing yards in the first half and 58 for the game.

On offense, Devon Dampier recorded 287 total yards while the Utes put up 480 yards total, highlighting their dominance compared to the 188 yards by the Aggies.

Utah State also saw multiple injuries on the defensive side of the ball including team captain Harrison Taggart who was taken off the field in an ambulance.

Expect the unexpected from Utah's offense

Are we even surprised at this point? This is a much different Utah offense than fans are accustomed to seeing, and so far this season, opponents have not been able to do anything against it.

Flea flickers, designed quarterback runs from backup Byrd Ficklin and even a direct snap to running back Wayshawn Parker were just a few of the highlights Saturday for an offense that seemed to take whatever it wanted.

Oh, and did we mention a two-point conversion attempt?

That makes two games in a row the Utes elected to go for two when absolutely nothing was on the line. It goes to show the new offense under coordinator Kevin McGiven is not out there going through the motions.

After the creativity Kevin McGiven has shown through three games, do not expect it to slow down against future opponents. But even putting aside the trickery and boldness, Utah has been executing well for the most part across the board on offense.

Throughout the Utes' shellacking of their in-state rival Saturday, Devon Dampier showed off his pinpoint accuracy.

He finished just 22 of 32 passing for 253 yards, but his receivers dropped a few back shoulder catch attempts that were thrown right on the money as well as a few gimmes. In other words, as good as Dampier was Saturday, his stats very well could have been even better.

In a game wherein the run seemed somewhat limited in the first half for Utah, Dampier's dual threat capabilities allowed the Utes to continue putting points on the board against an outmatched team from Logan.

Really the only blemish on Dampier's day was once when the ball got jarred loose as he was being tackled and put the Aggies in scoring position.

Utah State struggled to do much against a Utah defense that has given opponents nothing but fits through its first three games.

Linebacker Trey Reynolds recorded a team-high 10 tackles on the day, leading the Utes to the shutout victory. Twice the Aggies looked poised to at least score a field goal while in the red zone, but a stingy red zone defense managed to keep Mendenhall's squad at zero on the scoreboard with impressive plays such as safety Rabbit Evans' one-handed end zone interception.

Or a fourth and 1 stand when the Aggies elected to go for it instead of kicking a chip field goal and securing three points, Utah swarmed Utah State behind the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs.

As usual, the Utes' defense is one teams will have hard time scheming against.