PASADENA, Calif. -- Five years after Utah running back Joe Williams and UCLA quarterback Mike Fafaul left Fork Union Military Academy together, they both posted record-breaking performances on the same wild afternoon.
Only Williams left the Rose Bowl happy with his effort -- and his decision to get back in the game with the Utes.
Williams rushed for a school-record 332 yards and four touchdowns in his second game back from retirement, and No. 19 Utah held off pass-happy UCLA 52-45 Saturday.
Williams broke off TD runs of 3, 43, 64 and 55 yards during the greatest rushing day ever for Utah (7-1, 4-1), surpassing Mike Anderson's 1999 record, and the most prolific rushing performance ever by a UCLA opponent.
"I'm pretty sure [the Bruins] are tired of seeing the back of my jersey running down the field," Williams said, giving the credit to his offensive line. "We've got five grown men out there that could be in the NFL tomorrow. I'm just glad to be running behind them."
Cory Butler-Byrd returned the opening kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown on a day of stunning superlatives for the Utes in their second consecutive victory at the Rose Bowl.
Williams quit football last month before returning last week when injuries decimated Utah's depth and has 511 yards on the ground in two games since.
"It's awesome," Utah Coach Kyle Whittingham said. "We've had some really good running backs come through here, and played against some inferior teams [compared to UCLA]. He broke the record of all-time, and we've had a bunch of guys in the NFL, running backs that have done a lot of great things."
Williams broke Anderson's Utah record shortly before shredding Edgerrin James' record for a Bruins opponent on his fourth scoring run with 10:28 to play.
Fafaul set UCLA records for pass attempts (70) and completions (40) while throwing for 464 yards, third most in school annals. UCLA essentially abandoned its awful running game, which began the weekend ranked 126th out of 128 FBS teams.
"We wanted to do something to help our run game and catch the defense off-guard," Fafaul said. "It's not about the records or my performance. I just wanted a victory, and it's really disappointing."
The former walk-on had five touchdown passes and four interceptions for the Bruins (3-5, 1-4) in their fourth loss in five games.
In another game from the Pac-12 Conference, Phillip Lindsay rushed for 131 yards despite being held out most of the second half and Colorado (6-2, 4-1) overcame a sloppy day offensively to beat host Stanford (4-3, 2-3) 10-5 to become bowl eligible for the first time in a decade.
Sports on 10/23/2016