Utah welcomed a sputtering Stanford team to Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday evening and didn’t let it leave without enduring a beating. The Utes moved to 8-2 on the season and 6-1 in Pac-12 play with a 42-7 beatdown of the Cardinal.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Tavion Thomas reintroduces himself

It has been a winding and at times difficult season for Utah running back Tavion Thomas. A year ago he ran for 1,108 yards and 21 touchdowns and things generally came up rosy (pun intended). This season, Thomas has dealt with personal tragedy while being in and out of the lineup for reasons coach Kyle Whittingham has been reluctant to really get into.

But that bulldozing running back who ran for a program-record 21 scores last season was still in there, and Thomas gave Utah fans their first real glimpse of it since the opener against Florida.

Thomas ran for a career-best 180 yards and two touchdowns on 22 attempts. He had fourth-quarter runs of 20 and 36 yards as the Utes just wore down a beleaguered Cardinal team.

It would have been easy for Thomas to pack it in this season. We’re not completely privy to everything that’s gone on, but we know this second season in Salt Lake City has been much rockier than the first. And the tailback has stuck with the Utes and worked his way onto the field.

On Saturday, he outgained and outscored Stanford all by himself. The Cardinal finished with 177 yards of total offense and seven points. Thomas had three more yards and one more touchdown.

Utes’ defense stonewalls Stanford

Stanford had 10 total possessions in the game.

Five of them ended in three-and-outs.

Four of them crossed midfield.

Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee was sacked seven times as Utah just teed off on a beat-up offensive line. Simote Pepa had two sacks. Jonah Elliss and Mo Diabate each had 1.5 sacks. Freshman Keanu Tanuvasa had one. Lander Barton and Cole Bishop each added a half-sack.

Utah completely dominated and overwhelmed Stanford at the line of scrimmage. It was a slow start for the offense — 28 yards combined and punts on each of the first two possessions as Stanford took a 7-0 lead into the second quarter — but Utah was never in danger of losing control of this one because of the mismatch on the other side of the football.

A special class closes with something special

For the third consecutive full season, Utah has gone unbeaten at home. Dating back to the start of the 2018 season, Utah is 26-2 at Rice-Eccles. The Utes simply don’t lose at home. And the senior class that was honored prior to Saturday night’s game has been a key reason why.

Utah honored 17 players, not all of them seniors and not all of them players who are for sure leaving, but any number of whom could decide its time to move on.

Among them were fifth-year junior quarterback Cam Rising, third-year sophmore Clark Phillips III — a projected first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft — Thomas, fourth-year wide receiver Devaughn Vele, fourth-year running back Micah Bernard, and senior tight end Brant Kuithe. Kuithe is out for the season but could potentially return with a medical redshirt after suffering a season-ending knee injury just four games into the year.