This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Las Vegas • As his college career was ticking to a close, Jacoby Hale still found time for a career-first.
With 13 minutes left and Utah up by 28, Garrett Grayson heaved up a wounded duck pass as he was being tackled. Hale positioned himself under it and took off, his first career interception in his hands.
Even after he was tackled, he still ran. He met Kalani Sitake and a horde of his teammates on the sideline embracing and bumping in celebration. There were still 13 minutes left, but the Utes knew: It was over.
"You don't understand how I'm feeling right now, just the thrill," said Hale, laughing as he spoke. "Came from a long senior year, from an ACL [tear], and it finally ended with a bang."
Utah's defense defined the program's 9-4 campaign this season, seizing the turnover or making the stop the team needed to win. On Saturday night, in a dominating 45-10 performance in the Las Vegas Bowl, the defense played one of its best games in its final call to the stage.
The pregame narrative of an explosive offense against a stonewalling defense melted away almost immediately when Colorado State couldn't run the football. The Rams averaged more than 171 yards on the ground this season, but managed only 12 yards on Saturday.
Read that again: 12.
In the Utes' minds, there was never any doubt how the match-up would play out.
"We heard all the hype about them, but we weren't scared at all," Clint Shepard said. "We were planning on shutting them down, and we were just controlling them."
Led by a potential first-round pick in Ty Sambrailo, the Rams' front five have only twice been held under 100 rushing yards. But they weren't prepared to stop a unit that bills itself as the best defensive line in the country: Running back Dee Hart had no holes, and Grayson got pulled down for three sacks.
There was a break in the wall early on: A receiver pass to Grayson on a trick play led to a 39-yard touchdown. At the time, it seemed like a momentum shift.
On the sideline, the Utah defense just got ticked.
"We kind of get fired up actually," Seni Fauonuku said. "You get us fired up on a play like that, you gotta know we're coming for you."
There were a few big plays - Hale's interception, a fumble recovery by Filipo Mokofisi, big sacks - but the resounding impression was the utter frustration for the Rams. They had their lowest offensive output of the year and converted only one third down in 10 tries.
It was the end of the 2014 run, a great one for Utah's defense. And the last encore, Nate Orchard said, was the best.
"I told my defensive line, 'We're a bunch of grown men, let's impose our will on them,'" he said. "And we did."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
No bending, no breaking
R The Rams get only 12 net yards rushing and 278 total offensive yards, both season lows.
• Colorado State is 1 for 10 on third-down conversions.
• Utah gets three sacks, a pick and a fumble recovery.