Utah Utes football: Notre Dame shuts down Utah, 28-3

Unfortunately for Utah, the Irish momentum extended into the third quarter. Shaky Smithson fumbled the opening kickoff when it was knocked loose by Notre Dame's Austin Collinsworth. Teammate Daniel Smith recovered it on the Utah 26.

Notre Dame cashed in a play later when Rees teamed with Duval Kamara on a scoring srike.

Less than six minutes later, the duo combined on another touchdown toss — this one a 12-yarder that helped Notre Dame's lead swell to 28-3.

Utah had a chance to respond later in the quarter, but a pass from Wynn to DeVonte Christopher on fourth-and-goal from the Notre Dame 8 fell incomplete.

The Utes never crept as close the rest of the way, although both fourth-quarter drives ended in Irish territory.

Utah's offense finished with a season-low in total offense, netting 194 yards passing and just 71 on the ground.

"We were able to control the line of scrimmage against a team that runs the ball very well. Our defensive line, in particular, played very well against the run," said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly. "And that's the kind of football that you have to have as a winning program. You have to out-physical your opponent and be mentally tougher."

Whittingham didn't think the Utes ever had control of the line of scrimmage on offense or defense.

"We just weren't productive today," he said.

As for the future, Whittingham acknowledged there are issues to work through.

The Utes close out the regular season with games at San Diego State on Saturday and at home against BYU on Nov. 27.

"We've definitely got a lot of work to do," Wynn said. "We've kind of just got to go back to square one and just start working harder, I guess."

e-mail: dirk@desnews.com