Game balls from Utah Utes' 38-10 win over Oregon Ducks in Pac-12 championship game

Kyle Whittingham

The Utah coach is the career leader in wins for the Utes with 144 in 17 seasons. He is the second-longest tenured coach in the FBS and this is one of the biggest wins of his Utah career. The Utes won their first Pac-12 championship since joining the conference when it expanded from 10 to 12 teams for the 2011 season. This was Utah's third Pac-12 title game appearance in the past four years and this victory was redemption for Whittingham and the Utes, who were in line for a College Football Playoff berth in 2019 but were crushed 37-15 by Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game. And Friday's 38-10 win was even more dominant than the 38-7 victory over the Ducks in Salt Lake City on Nov. 20. A number of players who play key roles for Utah, especially on defense, are freshmen, so expect to see Utah in this game again in the future.

More: The boxscore from the Pac-12 championship game

Devin Lloyd

The Utah star linebacker set the tone defensively when he intercepted an Anthony Brown pass and returned it 34 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter that gave the Utes a 14-0 lead and sent them on their way. Lloyd, one of the favorites for Pac-12 defensive player of the year, had seven tackles, including five solo stops. Lloyd, named the game's Most Valuable Player, led a defense that held Oregon to three first downs in the first half and kept the Ducks without a first-down conversion for the first 40 minutes of the game.

More: Takeaways from the Pac-12 championship game

Cameron Rising

The Utah quarterback got the Utes off and running offensively in the first half when the Utes went with an efficient passing game and then turned the offense to its running game to once again keep the Oregon defense off-balance in a second blowout victory over the Ducks in the past two weeks. Rising completed 12-of-19 passes for 151 yards in the first half to help the Utes take a 23-0 halftime lead, including leading a drive near the end of the half that culminated in an 11-yard touchdown pass. The halftime lead may have been even larger had Rising not been intercepted twice in the first half. Rising's 41-yard run in the third quarter set up a short Utah touchdown run that effectively ended the game by pushing the Utah lead to 30-3. Rising ran for 61 yards on nine carries, was sacked only once and finished 15-of-24 passing for 170 yards.

Contact Ashley Conklin at aconklin@registerguard.com or 541-338-2337, and follow him on Twitter @Ashleyrgsports

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This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Game balls from Utah Utes' 38-10 win over Oregon Ducks in Pac-12 championship game