Cam Rising threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 13 Utah to a 73-7 victory over Southern Utah on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

Dalton Kincaid added 107 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions. Tavion Thomas also ran for a pair of touchdowns to help the Utes notch their first win of the season.

Utah smothered Southern Utah on both sides of the ball.

The Utes racked up 599 yards and 31 first downs. They scored on nine consecutive drives from the first quarter to the fourth quarter. Utah finished with its most points in a game since beating UTEP 82-6 in 1973.

Southern Utah generated just four first downs and 85 yards. The Thunderbirds averaged 1.9 yards on 44 plays. Utah scored 14 points off two Southern Utah turnovers.

Thomas ran 13 yards to cap off Utah’s opening drive and put the Utes up 7-0. Utah had a short field after Southern Utah did an onside kick on the opening kickoff and an illegal touching penalty gave the Utes the ball at the Thunderbirds’ 44 yard line.

Southern Utah evened it at 7-7 later in the first quarter. Thomas fumbled and Rodrick Ward pounced on the ball at the Utes’ 28. Grady Robison scored on a 28-yard QB run one play later.

Utah broke open the game early in the second quarter. Thomas put the Utes back in front with his second touchdown on a 7-yard run. Then Chris Curry scored on a 12-yard dash to extend Utah’s lead to 21-7. Junior Tafuna intercepted a tipped pass at the Southern Utah 18 to set up Curry’s touchdown.

Kincaid punctuated back-to-back drives with touchdown catches that extended Utah’s lead to 45-7 by halftime.

The Utes ran up 38 points and 250 yards in the second quarter alone while averaging 10.9 yards per play in that stretch.

–Field Level Media