Utah is 4-0 despite its senior quarterback and captain not yet playing a single snap.

Add in all the additional injuries Utah has dealt with this season — Brant Kuithe hasn’t played, Micah Bernard was lost early, Ja’Quinden Jackson hasn’t once looked healthy, Junior Tafuna missed the first three games, etc. — and the unbeaten open looks all the more impressive. Utah has beaten three Power Five teams in the process as well!

What coach Kyle Whittingham and his staff have managed is impressive. And the voters seem to think so, too; the Utes cracked the AP Top 10 this week for the first time all year.

Former Stanford and NFL tight end Evan Moore went on SiriusXM this week and said Utah’s opening stretch should scare the rest of the conference.

“If you think about what Utah has done, Cam Rising hasn’t even seen the field yet and they’ve gotten through this schedule,” Moore said. “When those guys are back, when Cam Rising is back, whenever that’s going to happen — I thought it was gonna be this week and it wasn’t — there’s not a team in the conference with more upside.

“And every other team in the conference should be terrified of what Utah is doing so far.”

UCLA had scored 27, 35, and then 59 in its first three games of the season. The offense, led by freshman quarterback Dante Moore, was finding its groove. In Moore’s starts, UCLA had a 28% explosive pass play rate and a 23% explosive run rate (both outstanding).

Against the Utes, UCLA managed just seven points, a 20% explosive pass rate, and a 4% explosive run rate.

The offense was completely grounded by a Utah defense that manhandled UCLA at the line of scrimmage.

Whether Utah’s offense picks up when Rising returns remains to be seen. USC, Oregon, and Washington all still remain on the schedule — with the Trojans and Huskies both hosting the Utes.

So far, though, Utah’s defense has looked frightening.