Utah leads Arizona 42-10 for its second consecutive victory in the Pac-12

Zack Moss captured Brittany Covey's unorthodox pass and broke Arizona's tackle for a solid six-yard gain, recording Utah's first try on Friday night.

After this game, everything seemed easy. And when Covey's next pass was awarded to quarterback Tyler Huntley for a 58-yard touchdown early in the second half, that was the end of the game – if there were no questions at that point the.

Utah won a 42-10 win at Rice-Eccles Stadium in the team's most impressive performance of the season, punctuated by the false celebration of Covey's with his dagger pass. Maybe the Utes could have saved this game for USC or another harder opponent than Arizona, but they deserved to have fun to finish the first half of a season that was once frustrating and getting better.

The Wildcats (3-4, 2-2 Pac-12) were finished after the Utes (4-2, 2-2) scored touchdowns in their first two drives and Khalil Tate's quarterback Khalil Tate was the first to win. Arizona came out with an ankle injury. At half-time, Utah had a 28-0 lead and a 295-114 advantage in yards. Huntley hit the scoring after scoring two goals and scoring another – a last-three-half effort by Troy Williams at USC last October in a game that ended badly for Utah. This episode was quite different.

The story of this series at the time of the Pac-12 school period suggests that Arizona would be a tougher hurdle for Utah. Twice during this decade, the Utes had just upset Stanford, but were losing to the Wildcats.

In the end, there was no chance of that happening on Friday. The Utes settled with a record of 15 players in their first possession, with Moss (twice) and Covey struggling with determination for third-place conversions. And they just kept coming.

The Utes showed consistency, not complacency. They maintained their momentum after last weekend's victory at Stanford, instead of going back. Maybe that's what linebacker Chase Hansen said: staying motivated would not be "too difficult, because it's not like we've won so many games so far."

Make it two in a row, with USC coming to town next Saturday.

Hansen and the other defenders of Ute were relentless. They sacked three-quarters of Arizona once each in the first half and started a shutout, preserved when the Wildcats missed a goal late in the period.

Well protected and helped by regular play, Huntley was brilliant in the first period. He completed 11 of 14 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns – a hard pass from Samson Nacua in the end zone and a deep throw that Demari Simpkins extended his arms to catch and turned into a 68 yards in the second quarter. Huntley also competed for a touchdown, one of two Utes scores in the fourth and first round. Playing three-quarters, Huntley racked up 323 rushing yards, rushing and receiving, although he started an interception for the first round of Utah in 12 quarters.

It was exactly the kind of dominant performance that the Utes wanted. Not even against Weber State, a member of the FCS, at the opening game of the season, nor against the Group Five's school, in northern Illinois, the Utes have taken advantage of 39, a half of football comparable to the first 30 minutes of Friday.

The Utes lost ground in the second half as Arizona reduced the lead to 35-10 and threatened again. Still, the Utes margin was comfortable enough for coaching staff to use fourth-quarter substitute players, with quarterback Jason Shelley making his first appearance since the first game. Armand Shyne ran 22 yards for a total of 42-10, his first touchdown since October 2016 against Arizona.