Utah vs. Colorado State: Score and Twitter Reaction for 2014 Las Vegas Bowl

The 2014 Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl was supposed to be a matchup of the Utah's potent pass rush against Colorado State's aerial assault. Instead, the Utes dominated on both sides of the ball en route to a 45-10 win.

Despite an 8-4 regular-season record, Utah put together several impressive performances against quality teams. The Utes upset UCLA and USC, and lost a close game to Arizona State. Kyle Whittingham did an excellent job getting this program back up following consecutive losing seasons. 

Colorado State entered the Las Vegas Bowl boasting the eighth-ranked passing offense in the country, averaging 326.3 yards per game. The Rams also scored 35.9 points per game in winning 10 games during the regular season, though they had no answer for a relentless Utah defense on Saturday. 

Despite those numbers, Whittingham tried to downplay the idea that a one-on-one battle would determine the outcome, via Dirk Facer of the Deseret News: “That’s one of the subplots. There’s a lot of things going on....But I guess the headliner would be the Colorado State offense against our defense.”

Of course, Colorado State was playing this game without the man who led the program to those wins. Jim McElwain didn't coach this game after taking over at the University of Florida. 

There was an odd moment in the telecast, per Dr. Saturday of Yahoo Sports, when ESPN had McElwain call in to provide analysis of the game:

Whether McElwain would have made a difference for Colorado State is debatable. Given the way Utah controlled the game, it seems unlikely the Rams would have found a way to win. 

Running back Devontae Booker was Utah's offensive hero with 162 rushing yards on 26 carries. His first big play of the game came late in the first quarter. Colorado State had just scored to cut the Utes' lead to 14-7. On the first play after a 25-yard kickoff, via CBS Sports College Football, Booker scored from 60 yards out:

Booker also helped in the passing game with four receptions for 24 yards. After he made an incredible one-handed circus catch out of the backfield, Kyle Goon of The Salt Lake Tribune noted that's nothing new for the junior:

Overall, the Utes rushed for 359 yards and were able to control the clock for nearly 34 minutes in the victory. 

While the offense for Utah was outstanding, the defense deserves credit as well. Nate Orchard ended his spectacular season in grand fashion by taking the overall lead in sacks with 18.5, per Mark Anderson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

One player who should become more of a household name as he develops is Lowell Lotulelei, brother of 2013 first-round pick Star Lotulelei. Jared Stanger of DraftBreakdown.com provided a quick scouting report of the freshman:

Utah finishes the season with nine wins and a bowl victory. Whittingham will look to build on his already strong defense next season.

Colorado State will be disappointed with the way this season ended. It lost a head coach and got embarrassed in its bowl game. But it won 10 games for the first time since 2002 and played in consecutive bowl games for the first time since going to five straight from 1999-2003.