# #

Update

Pac-12 Networks programming may be unavailable due to technical maintenance.

Postgame Notes: Utah at Arizona

by Utah Athletics
Nov 13, 2021
Pac-12 logo

Postgame Notes
Utah 38, (at) Arizona 29
Tucson, Ariz. (Arizona Stadium)
Sat., Nov. 13, 2021
Kick: 12:10 p.m. | End: 3:28 p.m.
Attendance: 32,008

 
General

  • Head coach Kyle Whittingham recorded his 141st victory as Utah head coach. It ties Whittingham with Ike Armstrong (1925-49) as the winningest head coach in program history.
  • Including his previous tenure as an assistant coach (1994-2004), Whittingham has been part of 226 victories at Utah, more than any other coach in program history.
  • Junior wide receiver and return specialist Britain Covey finished the game with 42 all-purpose yards (4 rush, 40 receiving, -2 punt return). It brings Covey to 698 all-purpose yards this season and 3,539 in his career, which moves Covey into fifth all-time at Utah.
  • Covey passed Bryan Rowley (3,526 from 1989-93) and now sits 22 all-purpose yards behind Kevin Dyson, who amassed 3,561 in a Utah career spanning 1994-97.
  • Utah is 6-1 in Pac-12 play for the first time since the 2019 team went 8-1 in the league.
  • Utah has won 17 of its last 20 conference games.
  • The Utes won their fifth straight game over Arizona (since 2016), and third straight when playing in Tucson (since 2017). All-time, Utah is now 25-19-2 vs. Arizona and 12-10-2 in Tucson.
  • Arizona took a 14-7 lead with 1:41 to play in the first quarter, marking the first deficit faced by Utah in the first half since Oct. 16 vs. Arizona State (21-7).
  • Including Saturday, Utah has rallied from behind in five of its victories this season.
  • Utah won the coin toss and elected to receive. Arizona elected to defend the North goal.

 
Offense

  • Utah now owns 25 scoring drives of 70-plus yards this season. Including today, 20 of those drives have come since the USC game on Oct. 9.
  • Junior running back TJ Pledger had his first multi-rushing-touchdown game as a Ute (15 yards, 2 yards). Of Pledger's five rushing scores this season, three have been from 15-plus yards out (20 yards, 96, 15).
  • Pledger also took a screen pass for a career-long 43 yards during the third quarter.
  • Freshman running back Micah Bernard managed to reel in a 27-yard reception on Utah's first series of the game, Bernard's second-longest reception as a Ute.
  • Bernard now has eight receptions this season of 10-plus yards.
  • Sophomore quarterback Cameron Rising made his seventh start of the season and eighth as a Ute. Rising passed 19-of-30 for 294 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was Rising's fourth 200-yard game of the season.
  • With Rising's 11-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, Utah has punched it into the end zone on its opening drive in five straight games (beginning with Oct. 16 vs. Arizona State).
  • Rising has passed for multiple touchdowns in five games this season, and for the first time since Oregon State (Oct. 23).
  • Rising both rushed and passed for a touchdown for the fourth time this season--the first Utes QB since Tyler Huntley in 2019 with as many performances. In three of those games (USC, Arizona State, Arizona), Rising has a multiple passing TDs in addition to his rushing score.
  • Junior tight end Dalton Kincaid (17 yards) tied his longest touchdown reception as a Ute. Kincaid's career-long score was on a 70-yard touchdown in 2019 while at San Diego.
  • Through Saturday, 14 of Kincaid's 24 receptions this season have gone for a first down.
  • Redshirt freshman wideout Devaughn Vele now has 19 receptions on the season, and 14 of those have gone for 15-plus yards, including a 20-yard grab at Arizona on Saturday.
  • Rising was sacked during the second quarter, ending an FBS-leading streak of 151 consecutive pass attempts without a sack since the game at USC on Oct. 9. Through Saturday's game, Utah has allowed just one sack on the last 170 pass attempts.
  • Utah's second-to-last drive of the day lasted 8:24, the longest series of the season for the Utes, surpassing a series at Oregon State (Oct. 23) that took 7:37 off the clock.
  • Utah had 468 total yards of offense, the sixth straight game that the Utes eclipsed 450 yards and the seventh time this season.
  • Utah has scored 35-plus points in six games this season and five in Pac-12 play. 

Defense

  • Freshman safety Cole Bishop reset his career-high with eight tackles. It surpassed Bishop's five-tackle effort at Stanford on Nov. 5.
  • Bishop had another career-high with 3.0 TFLs for 17 yards.
  • Since 2007, Bishop's 3.0 TFLs are the most by a true freshman at Utah (via Pac-12's Greg Mroz and STATS Perform).
  • All of Bishop's 5.0 TFLs have come in the last two games, after not recording any in his first four games as a Ute.
  • In that same theme, Bishop had both a sack and pass breakup for the second straight game—both of his sacks and PBUs have come in the last two games.
  • Junior Mika Tafua and freshman Junior Tafuna each contributed a sack, bringing Utah's defensive line group to 20 sacks on the season.
  • Tafuna had nine tackles in the win, a career-high surpassing his previous high of four stops. Tafuna last had a four-tackle game vs. Arizona State.
  • Sophomore Malone Mataele returned to game action after missing the last three games.
  • As a team, Utah (7 TFLs) has recorded no fewer than 5 TFLs in each game this season.

 
Special Teams

  • Sophomore Jadon Redding connected on a 30-yard field goal during the third quarter. It is the second straight game that Redding has attempted and made a field goal.
  • Redding additionally went 5-of-5 on PATs in the game. At 96-of-98 in his career, Redding ranks seventh all-time at Utah in PAT percentage (.9795).

Related News & Videos