Memphis, Tenn. ? With a convoy of teammates leading the way, Morgan Scalley hopped into the end zone to seal a milestone victory for Utah and make a case for these being the best Utes ever.

Scalley returned a fumble for a touchdown late and set up the only other TD by causing a turnover, leading No. 25 Utah to a 17-0 victory Wednesday over Southern Mississippi in the Liberty Bowl.

The Mountain West Conference champions finished the season with back-to-back shutouts and tied a school record set in 1994 with 10 victories.

“With all due respect to the ’94 football team and Utah, and there have been some great teams at Utah, I think this will go down as the greatest senior class and one of the top football teams ever in the history of this program,” first-year coach Urban Meyer said. “You won the championship. You won the championship bowl game. And forever they will be remembered for that.”

In a lackluster game dominated by hard-hitting defense and sloppy offense, Scalley provided a little excitement.

The junior safety scooped up a fumble after a completed pass and raced 74 yards for a score behind a wall of blockers with 1:36 left to play.

Scalley said he just got lucky after Dave Revill and Eric Weddle jarred the ball from Terrell Browden’s grasp.

“The ball just popped into my hands,” Scalley said. “I got made fun of earlier in the season because I had a kickoff return I should have scored on, but I gassed out after 80 yards. Luckily, this one wasn’t 80 yards so I was able to get it in the end zone.”

Southern Miss (9-4) managed to get deep into Utah territory just once in the second half when Anthony Harris broke free for a 41-yard run to the 18 with about eight minutes left and Utah up 7-0.

But the Utes (10-2) stiffened, and on fourth-and-two from the 10, Revill and Ray Holdcraft combined to sack Micky D’Angelo.

Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said the Utes didn’t fool and surprise the Golden Eagles’ offense, they just “whipped us.”