Defense leads No. 8 Oregon State past Utah 21-7

"You want to do it as fast as you can," coach Mike Riley said. "And then you want to get to the best bowl that you can. So we've got the first part of that done."

The Beavers have unexpectedly opened 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Pac-12 after going 3-9 last season. This year, they were picked to finish last in the league's north division.

It is the team's first 6-0 start since 1907, when the school was the Oregon Agricultural College.

Against the Utes, it was the Beavers' defense that made the difference. The unit had an interception and a fumble recovery that led to a pair of first-half touchdowns in a game in which the offense struggled at times.

Defensive lineman Dylan Wynn said that's the goal of the defense — getting the ball back to the offense so it can score.

"If they need 100 (turnovers) we'll give them 100," Wynn said. "So it definitely felt good we were able to give them something."

Fill-in quarterback Cody Vaz, who made his debut last weekend as Oregon State's starter and threw for three touchdowns against BYU to earn Pac-12 player of the week honors, passed for 174 yards against the Utes. Storm Woods had 17 carries for 46 yards and all three Beavers touchdowns.

Vaz started a second consecutive game in place of Sean Mannion, who had surgery to repair meniscus in his left knee a little more than a week ago. Mannion was already back at practice and was Vaz's backup against the Utes.

Vaz made his first start since high school last weekend and threw for 332 yards in Oregon State's 42-24 victory over the Cougars. Against the Utes he completed 16 of 26 passes but looked shaky at times in the periodic rain.

Freshman Travis Wilson threw for 172 yards and a touchdown for Utah (2-5, 0-4), which opened conference play with four consecutive losses for the second straight season. In all, Utah had four turnovers.

"We did some good things offensively, but you can't turn the ball over four times. You just can't do it," coach Kyle Wittingham said. "The name of the game, other than points, is winning the turnover margin. And we're just not doing that right now."