Utah Utes football: Arizona State races out to a 31-7 halftime lead over Utah

TEMPE, Ariz. — In its Pac-12 opener, Utah's defense has had no answer for the Arizona State offense, which couldn’t be stopped in the first half Saturday night as the Sun Devils raced to a 31-7 halftime lead over the Utes at Sun Devil Stadium.

Quarterback Taylor Kelly has shredded the Ute defense to the tune of 259 passing yards and three touchdowns on 13-of-17 completions. The Sun Devils never had to punt in the first half as they scored on five straight possessions before missing a 50-yard field goal with a minute left in the first half.

The Sun Devils struck early with touchdowns on their first three possessions.

The first TD came on a 38-pass from Kelly to Rashad Ross less than five minutes into the game. The second scoring drive took just seven plays to go 59 yards with Cameron Marshall going the final yard with 7:00 left in the first quarter.

Then after a fumble by John White, the Sun Devils needed just four plays to score with Kelly hitting Marion Grice on a 10-yard touchdown to cap a 34-yard scoring drive.

Kelvin York replaced White and picked up 63 yards on a 91-yard Utah scoring drive that ended with a 2-yard pass from Jon Hays to Karl Williams.

However, the Sun Devils came back with 10 straight points as Alex Garoutte kicked a 22-yard field goal and Kelly hit Marshall with a 13-yard scoring pass.

For the half, Arizona State has 347 yards compared to 152 for Utah.