At his Monday press conference, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham had glowing remarks for the UCLA team that handed his Utes their second loss of the season over the weekend.

Whittingham said this year’s UCLA squad — which is now 6-0 and ranked No. 11 in the AP Top 25 — is the most physical iteration of the Bruins he has seen since Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011.

The Bruins out-muscled Utah’s defensive front on Saturday, leading to a 42-32 win at the Rose Bowl. Tailback Zach Charbonnet went for 198 yards and a score on 22 carries, averaging a remarkable 9 yards a run. Utah also struggled to generate much pressure on Bruin quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson from base looks — something Whittingham said continues to be a concern. Thompson-Robinson completed 18 of his 23 pass attempts for 299 yards and four scores.

With the win, the Bruins snapped a string of five straight losses to Utah in the series.

In 2014, Utah beat UCLA 30-28 in Pasadena. A year later, the Bruins got the Utes in Salt Lake City in a low-scoring affair, 17-9. In 2016, Utah won a shootout 52-45. Over the course of the next four meetings, Utah outscored UCLA 182-54.

“I definitely wanted this one,” Thompson-Robinson said after the game. “We all know the history between UCLA and Utah, haven’t beat them since 2016, the point differential has been crazy. We knew the beast at hand coming in here, and I think my boys went out there and went to work. It was a proud moment for me to see, for sure.”

The Bruins (6-0, 3-0 Pac-12) are off this week to prepare for an Oct. 22 meeting with No. 12 Oregon at Autzen Stadium.