It's been said that revenge is best served cold.

Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium it took a little time to warm up.

And when it did, 22nd-ranked Utah pulled away and avenged last season's loss to UNLV with a 42-21 victory.

The Utes did most of their damage in the second half after playing to standstill over the first two quarters. They returned from the break with renewed vigor.

"We challenged them a little bit at halftime and the bottom line was in the second half the tougher, more physical team that wanted it more was going to win," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.

"That's what I told them at halftime and they responded."

It didn't take long.

David Reed, the highly touted junior college transfer, ignited the Utes by returning the second-half kickoff 49 yards. Five plays later, they capitalized on the field position when Johnson connected on a 32- yard touchdown pass to Freddie Brown.

It broke a 14-14 tie and gave Utah it's first lead, a margin that quickly doubled after another good return.

John Peel took a punt back 25 yards to set up another score — a 15-yard touchdown run by Reed on a reverse.

In a span of less than three minutes, the Utes had pulled ahead 28-14. They crossed the goal line again before the third quarter was complete. An 8-yard TD from Johnson to tight end Colt Sampson and Louie Sakoda's PAT made it 35-14.

After a subpar first half, Johnson wound up completing 8-of-9 passes for 96 yards in the pivotal third quarter. He wound up throwing for 183 yards and rushing for a team-high 80 yards.

"There was no panic," Johnson said. "Guys knew we had to step up and make plays and they did."

The defense did it's part by putting the clamps on UNLV's Frank Summers. The running back, who burned Utah for 190 yards and two touchdowns in last year's win, had 82 yards at the midway point this time around. He had three yards on three carries in the third quarter and only five in the second half.

At halftime, defensive coordinator Gary Andersen acknowledged he got after the defense a little bit.

"They challenged themselves, I challenged them and I think we reacted well to that challenge," Andersen said. " ... The bottom line is we controlled the line of scrimmage in the second half."

Utah did so without starting tackle Lei Talamaivoa, who broke his leg in the first half and was replaced by true freshman Sealver Siliga.

His collegiate debut was part of a process, Andersen added, where the defense needed to grow up as the game progressed.

Whittingham said controlling the line of scrimmage and tackling better were the keys to success on defense.