A miserable season for Colorado closed out in predictable fashion. The 14th-ranked Utah Utes dominated in every facet of the game to walk out of Boulder with a 63-21 win over the Buffaloes.

The win moved Utah to 9-3 on the year, securing a 7-2 finish in Pac-12 play and moving Utah within a Washington win of going back to the Pac-12 Championship Game to face a USC team it has already beaten. Utah handled its business and was rewarded. And, boy, did it handle its business. The 63 points are the most Utah has ever scored against a Pac-12 opponent and the most scored in a conference game since putting 63 on San Diego State back in 2008.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

The defense flexes

At the end of the first quarter, the Buffs had run 12 plays and gained 0 net yards. At halftime, Utah had 42 points and Colorado had 18 yards. By the time the clock hit zero, Colorado had nine three-and-outs on 14 possessions.

There was simply nothing afforded to the Buffs by Utah’s front. Colorado was able to string some plays together and find the endzone late, but not until Utah had subbed out the starters and called off the dogs. The Buffs gained 62 rushing yards on 25 carries (2.5 yards per run). It was the sixth time in 12 games this season that Utah held its opponent under 3 yards per carry and under 100 rushing yards for the game.

Early in the year, coach Kyle Whittingham was understandably frustrated with the play of the front seven. That group, even in spite of injury, has answered the challenge in a major way. You don’t get kudos for beating a one-win football team, but you do get some props when you completely annihilate said team.

The run game rolls

To say the Utah ground game experienced some addition by subtraction would be disrespectful to the work Tavion Thomas put in as a part of the program. The Utes’ lead tailback announced prior to Saturday’s game he was ending his season early because of an injury and declaring for the NFL Draft. In that announcement, he thanked Utah for taking him in, for helping him grow as a person, and for giving him a chance to shine. Shine he did. He’ll always be in the Utah record books, and everyone will remember the 2021 campaign when he couldn’t stop falling into the endzone so fondly.

The 2022 season was a grind. It was not easy for anyone involved. Thomas was excellent against Stanford, but the consistency just hasn’t been there. With the rotation clarified for Ja’Quinden Jackson and Jaylon Glover, Utah got perhaps its best look yet at the guys it has going forward.

Jackson was splendid, rushing for 117 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries. Since the position change mid-year, Jackson has just looked more and more comfortable with each passing week. He put some vision and footwork on display Saturday that should provide plenty of optimism going forward. Oh, and he had a 66-yard score.

But Jackson wasn’t the only one to get going. Glover had 13 carries for 62 yards and a score. Micah Bernard had 12 carries for 91 yards and a score.

Utah has given everyone plenty of reason to trust its ability to make things work on the ground. It seems to once again be in good hands going forward.

Rising bounces back

The Utes recorded a season-high 662 yards of total offense, which tied the third-best day in program history. It was the most in a game for the Utes since 2004. The ground game certainly played a huge role. The quality of the competition certainly helped. But quarterback Cameron Rising had a nice bounce-back day in the win.

He completed 17 of his 19 passes for 234 yards and three scores before checking out and making way for Bryson Barnes. Anytime your quarterback can throw more touchdowns than incompletions, you know it was a good shift. Rising didn’t need to do too much, but this was no doubt a palette cleanser after last week’s three-interception day against Oregon. Rising looked more comfortable. He was absolutely more effective. If there’s a title game in the offing, he’s trending in the right direction.