Utah Handles The Hawks, 37-16

Thursday, August 31

Salt Lake City, Utah

5:30 PM

University of Utah

1-0

North Dakota

0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

North Dakota

UTAH

Photo by: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

8/31/2017 8:48 PM | Football

Box Score Postgame Notes Postgame Quotes

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah football program opened the 2017 season in front of its 45^th consecutive sellout crowd, coming away with a 37-16 win over the North Dakota Fighting Hawks.

The Utes were dominant on both sides of the ball, racking up 499 offensive yards while holding North Dakota to 238, including only 51 on the ground. Despite being plagued by penalties early, the Utes finished the game 7-for-7 in the red zone.

In his 2017 debut, sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley had a career night, throwing for 227 yards (23-32-1) and a touchdown while adding 70 rushing yards for two scores. Running back Zack Moss led the Utes on the ground with a career-high 128 yards and a touchdown while Darren Carrington II made a splash in the red and white with 127 receiving yards and an 18-yard touchdown.

On defense, it was Sunia Tauteoli that led the way with 10 tackles. Cody Barton chipped in seven with the defensive backs having an outstanding game with five different players recording at least one pass breakup along with an interception from Julian Blackmon.

Matt Gay stepped up on special teams, going a perfect 3-for-3 from field goal range and 4-for-4 on PATs. The senior transfer from Utah Valley contributed 13 points, including a career-long 49-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

North Dakota was able to jump on the scoreboard first, converting on a 32-yard field goal off the foot of Reid Taubenheim with 9:58 left to play in the first quarter. The Utes came out of the gate struggling on their first drive with zero first downs and an interception, allowing the Fighting Hawks to take a 3-0 lead on a seven play, 13-yard drive that took 3:01 off the clock.

Despite a missed field goal for the tie late in the first quarter, the Utah offense gained some rhythm, opening the field with five 10-plus yard plays, leading to its first score of the game. Huntley punched in a 16-yard rushing touchdown to give Utah a 7-3 lead to start the second quarter (14:24), ending a 10-play, 81-yard drive that burned 4:02 off the clock.

North Dakota stretched out its next scoring drive to 14 plays and 5:48 off the clock to cut the Utah lead to 7-6, having to settle on a 26-yard field goal from Taubenheim with 8:30 left to play in the second quarter. The field goal was forced after Boobie Hobbs came up big in the red zone, breaking up a pass that could have ended up in the end zone.

Carrington scored his first touchdown in a Utah uniform with 6:10 remaining in the second quarter to give the Utes a 14-6 advantage. Huntley linked up with the graduate transfer on an 18-yard pass, ending an eight-play, 75-yard drive.

The second quarter scoring continued with a 33-yard field goal from Gay to give UNI a 17-6 lead with 1:15 on the clock. The 11-play drive put the Utes in the red zone with strong rushing from Moss to give Gay the opportunity to knock one in. It ended a 42-yard drive that lasted 4:02.

The first half ended with Taubenheim's third field goal of the game after a near interception from Blackmon that forced the fourth down. The 43-yarder ended a six-play, 49-yard drive by the Fighting Hawks that narrowed Utah's lead to 17-9 with just two seconds on the clock in the second quarter.

Kicking off the second half was a five-yard rushing score from Moss, putting the Utes up 24-9 with 8:46 on the clock. Huntley drove the Utes downfield through the air and on the ground, accumulating 34 of the 85 yards on the scoring drive with Moss picking up 21 of his own.

Utah was able to take 5:31 off the clock late in the third quarter with Gay ending the drive with a 32-yard field goal, giving Utah a 27-9 lead. The combination of Moss' hard-nosed running and Huntley finding Samson Nacua for 11 yards to the North Dakota 14-yard-line put Gay in scoring territory to end the 12-play, 66-yard drive.

North Dakota scored its first points of the second half with 14:10 to go in the fourth quarter when Keaton Studsrud found Luke Fiedler wide open in the end zone for a three-yard completion, making it 27-16. It was the end of a six-play drive that went 82 yards down field to take 2:55 off the clock.

Gay continued to show off his abilities in his first appearance with the Utes, hitting a 49-yard field goal, the longest of the game, with 10:54 left in the fourth. The senior transfer knocked in his career-long to wrap up a seven-play, 44-yard drive and give the Utes a 30-16 lead.

Blackmon stepped up on defense to get the ball back in Utah hands, picking off a pass with 4:46 left in the fourth quarter, returning it for 17 yards to the North Dakota 43-yard-line. It set up Utah's final score of the game, a one-yard rushing score from Huntley after Carrington landed on the one-yard-line on the backend of a 23-yard diving reception. The touchdown secured the 37-16 win for the Utes, giving them a 1-0 start on the season.

Utah returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 9 when they head to Provo, Utah to take on in-state rival BYU. The game is set for an 8:15 p.m. start and will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.