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Attempting to string together consecutive road wins for the first time in three years, Oregon State ran into a buzz saw.
''We may have been feeling pretty good about ourselves, but we found tonight that the rug can be pulled out from under us pretty darn quick,'' OSU coach Mike Riley said.
John White ran for a career-high 205 yards, Jon Hays tossed two touchdown passes and Utah's defense forced four turnovers as the Utes beat the Beavers 27-8 on Saturday night for their first Pac-12 Conference win.
The Utes (4-4, 1-4), playing their annual ''blackout'' game, scored three touchdowns in a 7-minute span just before halftime and almost blanked the Beavers (2-6, 2-3).
''We talked all week about how Utah might be the most physical defense we've seen and I think we found that out tonight,'' Riley said.
Utah's first Pac-12 Conference victory was a watershed moment for a program that was facing mounting criticism after stepping up to a BCS league.
''We've been losing a lot and were sick of it,'' said linebacker Brian Blechen, who had one of Utah's six sacks.
Credit Utah's defense, which intercepted Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion three times just a week after his four-touchdown performance earned him Pac-12 offensive player of the week honors.
''We knew they were going to bring a lot of pressure,'' said Oregon State running back James Rodgers. ''We knew what they were going to do coming in. We just couldn't stop it.''
On the other side, White ran wild and Hays played it safe.
''He managed the game,'' Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said of Hays, a junior-college transfer who had tossed seven interceptions since replacing the injured Jordan Wynn a month ago. ''We're not asking our offense to go out and score 40 points.''
Against the sputtering Beaver offense, the Utes certainly didn't need a bunch of offensive fireworks.
The Utes might have even notched their first shutout since 2007 if not for a roughing-the-kicker penalty on a fourth-quarter field goal attempt. Mannion threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Markus Wheaton two plays later, and the Beavers scored on a safety with 12:02 left after the Utes were called for holding in the end zone.
Oregon State's defense had no answers for White, whose 205 yards were the most for a Ute since Marty Johnson had 229 in a victory against Indiana in 2002.
''We missed a lot of tackles and we didn't fill the right gaps. A couple of those holes were way too big,'' said OSU linebacker Cameron Collins.
Utah's scoring burst started with Hays' 35-yard touchdown pass to Dres Anderson.
White added a 6-yard scoring run four minutes later and Hays put Utah ahead 24-0 with a 3-yard TD pass to DeVonte Christopher.
In his sixth career start, Mannion finished 27 of 49 for 231 yards. The Beavers moved the ball but couldn't come up with big plays - just one more than 20 yards.
''I was waiting for guys to get open and I ended up holding onto the ball too long,'' he said. ''They did a lot of good stuff as a defense.''
Tevita Finau, who came into the game with no career sacks, had three Saturday for losses of 29 yards. The Beavers hadn't allowed more than three sacks (Wisconsin, Arizona) all season and are still looking to string together back-to-back wins.
''I was just in the right place, right time to get all those sacks,'' Finau said. ''The other D-linemen were getting to the quarterback and I was the clean-up guy.''
The Utes also had their first three-interception game this season, with Ryan Lacy, Mo Lee and Matt Martinez making the plays on defense.
''The pressure started early but it really came on when we had to throw too much in the second half. That's when it got pretty bad because we couldn't rush the ball at all tonight,'' Riley said of the Beavers' 32 yards on 26 carries.
The game was a defensive struggle early, with twice as many punts as points the first 22 minutes.
Coleman Petersen's career-long 48-yard field goal accounted for the only points until Hays' scoring strike with 7:04 left in the second quarter to Anderson, who split Oregon State's two-deep zone.
''I knew it was coming to me,'' Anderson said. ''I was the first option on that play and I had all the confidence in the world that Jon was going to put it on the money.''
Lee followed with his first career interception to set up Utah's second touchdown. Lee jumped a route by Wheaton and returned the interception to Oregon State's 18-yard line. White scored on a 6-yard run, reversing direction on the toss right.
White ripped off a 60-yard run on Utah's next possession to set up Hays' second touchdown pass.
While Utah was trying to show it could make the step up to a BCS conference, White was trying to show he could run against a Pac-12 defense. Once the Beavers began stopping the Utes, it was too late.
''They won every phase of the game in the first half - offense, defense and special teams. Defensively, we came out in the second half and we were wounded by all the missed tackles and stuff but our defense came out and played very well. That's the way it should have been from the start,'' Riley said.
