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#13 Utah Football Dominates Southern Utah, 73-7

Sep 10, 2022

SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 13 University of Utah Football team scored the most points in a game since 1973, dominating the Southern Utah Thunderbirds 73-7. The Utes improved to 1-1 on the season.

Utah finished the game with 599 yards on offense (247 rush, 352 pass) while holding Southern Utah to just 85, which is the sixth-fewest for a game in program history and lowest since 2019. The Utes kept Southern Utah to just 43 rushing yards and 42 passing, also holding them to four first downs.

GAME LEADERS
Quarterback Cameron Rising finished the game 17-of-23 passing (74%) for 254 yards and three touchdowns with Bryson Barnes going 6-for-6 passing for 98 yards and a touchdown in the second half. On the ground, Utah had five different running backs touch the ball with Jaylon Glover (9 rush, 55 yds) and Tavion Thomas (11 rush, 53 yards) both scoring two touchdowns each while Chris Curry led the Utes with 60 rushing yards (6 rush, 10.0 ypc, 1 TD).

Dalton Kincaid recorded his first 100-yard receiving game as a Ute, bringing in seven catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns. Money Parks finished with a career-best 71 yards on three catches (23.7 ypc) with the tight end scoring also going through Brant Kuithe (3 rec., 22 yds, 1 TD) and Thomas Yassmin (1 rec., 29 yds, 1 TD) also finding the end zone.

On defense, Connor O'Toole led the Utes with five tackles, including a quarterback hurry, while Lander Barton and Mohamoud Diabate also had four tackles each. Barton added his first-career sack with Junior Tafuna and R.J. Hubert notching interceptions with Hubert's going for a pick-six.  

FIRST QUARTER BREAKDOWN
After Southern Utah attempted an unsuccessful on-side kick to start the game, the Utes took over on the SUU 44-yard line. Utah made quick work of its first drive, getting to the end zone in eight plays with Dalton Kincaid hurdling a defender for a 14-yard reception, followed by Tavion Thomas breaking tackles for a 13-yard rushing touchdown to give the Utes a 7-0 lead.

With under three minutes to play in the quarter, Utah committed a turnover on the Utes' 28-yard line on a fumble with the Thunderbirds taking over. On their first play, SUU broke free for a 28-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 2:22 remaining in the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER BREAKDOWN
The Utes scored 38 points in the second quarter, starting by wrapping up a 56-yard drive with Thomas's second touchdown of the game to make it 14-7 with 14:38 on the clock. The Utes started and ended with Thomas with the Dayton, Ohio, native catching a pass for 18 yards to the SUU 38 before finishing the drive five plays later with his 24th rushing score as a Ute.

Utah's defensive success led to another Utah touchdown with 14:32 on the clock after Junior Tafuna notched his first-career interception, giving the Utes the ball on the SUU 18-yard line. Two plays later, Curry would find the end zone for his first-career rushing touchdown for a 21-7 advantage with 13:27 left in the quarter.

Kicker Jordan Noyes gave Utah a 24-7 lead with 8:34 left in the second quarter on a 26-yard field goal, ending a 37-yard drive. The Utes made their way to field goal range after Van Fillinger put serious heat on the SUU quarterback, forcing the Thunderbirds to turn it over on downs on their own 46-yard line.

Kuithe and Kincaid would combine for the next three touchdowns, including two from Kincaid to make it 45-7 with 12 seconds remaining in the quarter. Rising found Kuithe open for a two-yard reception, then linking up with Kincaid for 37-yard and 6-yard touchdown catches for the 38-point lead heading into halftime.

THIRD QUARTER BREAKDOWN
The defense grabbed its second interception of the game with 13:53 on the clock when R.J. Hubert came up with his first-career interception, running it back to the house for 39-yards to make it 52-7 and 45 unanswered points.

With 7:49 left in the quarter, freshman running back Glover found the end zone on a four-yard rush, scoring his first collegiate touchdown to give Utah a 59-7 lead. The sequence included a 24-yard rush from Curry and an athletic 26-yard catch from Money Parks before Glover ended the 78-yard scoring drive for the last points of the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER BREAKDOWN
The firsts continued for the Utes as Yassmin caught a 29-yard pass in the end zone, the first of his career after not playing the sport of football until he set foot in Salt Lake City. The 29-yard score gave Utah a 66-7 lead after Barnes led the Utes 80 yards down field at quarterback.

Utah finished with Glover's second touchdown of the game, and the last score of the day by breaking free for a 29-yard rushing touchdown. It wrapped up a 72-yard drive that ended with 10:54 left in the game.

UP NEXT
Utah will remain at home on Saturday, Sept. 17 when it hosts San Diego State at 8 p.m. MT. The game will air on ESPN2.