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Pasadena, Calif. • After the game ended but before the cameras and reporters swarmed in, Joe Williams had a brief moment of calm.

"I won at the Rose Bowl," he sang, to no one in particular. "We won at the Rose Bowl."

Indeed, No. 19 Utah (7-1, 4-1) clinched a 52-45 victory on UCLA's home field — and in the process, Williams made the Rose Bowl look like his backyard.

With a school record-setting 332 yards and four touchdowns, the 23-year-old Utes running back showed transcendent speed and decisiveness while rushing for more yards in a game than any FBS back this season.

Dicing up a UCLA defense previously surrendering under 150 yards rushing per game and stocked with potential NFL draft picks, Williams ran for touchdowns of 3, 43, 64 and finally 55 yards — the last with 10-and-a-half minutes to seal the game for the Utes and keep the team tied with Colorado for the lead in the Pac-12 South.

Records shattered beneath his cleats: Williams broke the school's 17-year-old rushing mark held by Mike Anderson by nearly 80 yards, and also set a new standard for yards UCLA has surrendered to a running back. This came only in his second game back from a 28-day "retirement" — he has rushed for 511 yards and five scores since coming back after a rash of injuries beat up the Utes at the running back position.

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham joked that Williams came with a "pitch count," which was why he ran only 29 times.

"We've had some really good running backs come through [Utah] and rack up [yards] against inferior teams," Whittingham said. "To say he's broken the record of all time? We've had some great running backs come through here."

The key was essentially one play: a counter that UCLA had no answer for. Pulling offensive linemen into Williams' path gave him the slightest of creases — which Williams exploited time and again in gaps right in the middle of the defense. He turned on the burners (he was clocked with a sub-4.4 40-yard dash in the spring) to pull away from defenders.

But a rusher is nothing without blockers: The Utes dominated at the line of scrimmage in the run game, overpowering UCLA vaunted linemen Eddie Vanderdoes and Takkarist McKinley with precise blocks. While quarterback Troy Williams was under fire throughout the game, getting sacked five times, when the Utes ran, they ran far.

Garett Bolles, Isaac Asiata, Nick Nowakowski, Salesi Uhatafe and Sam Tevi are probably all getting dinner soon on Joe Williams' dime.

"We've got five grown men out there that could be in the NFL tomorrow," Joe Williams said. "I give them all of the praise, and I'm proud to be running the ball behind them."

The run game helped the Utes prevail in a highly unusual game for them: a shootout.

With 52 points against UCLA, the Utes scored more than they had in any game since beating Oregon last season, and they needed every score. The Bruins rolled up 510 yards to Utah's 539, almost all of them by quarterback Mike Fafaul, who started in place of Josh Rosen.

Utah's secondary was split apart by Fafaul, who threw for 464 yards and five touchdowns — both season highs against the Utes. But Fafaul also threw four interceptions, two to Brian Allen and two to Jordan Fogal, that cost UCLA 13 points on ensuing Utah possessions.

Troy Williams passed for 179 yards and threw an interception for Utah, but ran for a touchdown himself in a return to his hometown. But it was Andy Phillips, making the third of three field goals over 45 yards, who broke a 35-all tie in the third quarter. Utah wouldn't surrender the lead after that and after Allen picked off a Fafaul pass, Joe Williams built on it by running for a 64-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive.

After UCLA kicked a field goal and Joe Williams ran for his last score of the day, the Utes struggled to close out the victory. A Utah three-and-out with five minutes remaining gave UCLA the ball down two scores, and Fafaul threw another touchdown to Austin Roberts. After the Utes had to punt again, UCLA had the ball at its own 14 with 40 seconds to tie or win.

But for the second straight week, Utah defense held tough on the final drive, with Justin Thomas batting down Fafaul's last throw.

The win sets up a mega-matchup with No. 5 Washington, which trounced Oregon State at home on Saturday. The Utes will play host to ESPN's College GameDay for the second straight year on Saturday morning ahead of the game.

With Joe Williams coming off his best day on the ground and his former team coming up, the hype machine was far from Troy Williams' mind.

"That'd be great for the pub, for our school, I guess," he said. "But I'm just focused on winning the game."

Twitter: @kylegoon —

Utah single-game rushing bests

332 • Joe Williams vs UCLA

254 • Mike Anderson vs. Fresno State, 1999

248 • Eddie Johnson vs. UTEP, 1984

236 • Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala vs. UTEP, 1996

232 • Del Rodgers vs. Wyoming, 1981

229 • Marty Johnson vs. Indiana, 2002

226 • Dameon Hunter vs. Air Force, 2001

224 • Eddie Johnson vs. Colorado State, 1984

215 • Carl Monroe vs. UTEP, 1982

229 • Devontae Booker vs. Oregon State, 2014

222 • Devontae Booker vs California, 2015

207 • Carl Monroe vs. Hawaii, 1982

205 • John White vs. Oregon State, 2011

204 • Mike Anderson vs. New Mexico, 1999 —

Pac-12 single-game rushing record

366 • Ka'Deem Carey, Arizona vs. Colorado, 2012

357 • Rueben Mayes, Washington State vs. Oregon, 1984

347 • Ricky Bell, USC vs. Washington State, 1976

332 • Joe Williams, Utah vs. UCLA, 2016

322 • Maurice Drew, UCLA vs. Washington, 2004

321 • Kenjon Barner, Oregon vs. USC, 2012

311 • Jahvid Best, California vs. Washington, 2008

301 • DeShaun Foster, UCLA vs. Washington, 2001