Postgame Notes: Utah vs. Oregon State

Postgame Notes
(at) No. 12 Utah 42, Oregon State 16
Salt Lake City, Utah (Rice-Eccles Stadium)
Sat., Oct. 1, 2022
Kick: 12:07 p.m. MT | End: 3:11 p.m.
Attendance: 51,729 (sellout)
 
General

• Utah has won six of the last seven meetings with Oregon State, including three straight home wins (2015, '20, '22).
• The all-time series now stands at 12-12-1 while Utah holds a 7-5 advantage when playing in Salt Lake City.
• In the Pac-12 era (since 2011), Utah is 7-3 against Oregon State.
• Utah is 109-36 all-time in Rice-Eccles Stadium, dating back to the facility's opening in 1998. The Utes are 81-25 inside the home confines during the Kyle Whittingham era (2005-present), including 11 straight home wins and 22 in the last 23 home games. It ties the 11-game home win streak the Utes had from Oct. 6, 2018 - Nov. 30, 2019.
• In regular season Pac-12 games, Utah is 55-42.
• Utah is 66-22 when ranked in the AP Poll during the Kyle Whittingham era.
• Including his tenure as an assistant (1994-2004), head coach Kyle Whittingham has been on staff at Utah for 233 wins, the most in school history.
• Whittingham, the winningest leader in program history, is 148-71 as head coach.
• Utah holds a 63-34 record in Homecoming games and has won four straight since 2018 (no game in 2020). The Utes are 6-1 during Homecoming since 2015.
• Utah has sold out Rice-Eccles Stadium in 73 consecutive games, dating back to the 2010 season opener vs. Pittsburgh. It includes a current seating capacity of 51,444 with the completion of the Ken Garff Red Zone in 2021, increasing from a previous capacity of 45,807.
• Saturday's attendance was the third-largest crowd in Rice-Eccles Stadium history and largest for a Homecoming game.
• The winning team in this matchup has scored 42-plus points in three of the last four meetings (2019 – Utah 52; 2021 – Oregon State 42; 2022 – Utah 42).
• Utah won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. The Utes defended the South goal to begin the game.

 
Offense

• Utah has scored 34-plus points in four straight games (73 vs. Southern Utah; 35 vs. San Diego State; 34 at Arizona State; 42 vs. Oregon State). Utah is averaging 46 points per game since the Week 1 loss at Florida.
• Quarterback Cameron Rising was 19-of-25 passing in the start for 199 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks. He also rushed seven times for 73 yards and a touchdown.
• Rising tallied five "big" completions of 15-plus yards, including two of his three touchdowns (19 yards to Jaylen Dixon; 16 yards to Devaughn Vele). Rising had three "big" rushes of 10-plus yards totaling 55 yards, including Rising's 24-yard rushing touchdown. It was Rising's first rushing touchdown of the season and seventh of his career.
• Rising has both rushed and passed for a touchdown in six games in his career (five in 2021).
• Rising has passed for multiple touchdowns in four straight games and 11 in his career (seven in 2021). He owns six three-passing-touchdown games; three apiece in 2021 and 2022.
• Rising connected with wide receiver Jaylen Dixon on a 19-yard touchdown reception during the first quarter. It is Dixon's fifth career touchdown reception and first of this season. It also extended Rising's streak to eight consecutive games with a touchdown pass (since Nov. 26, 2021 vs. Colorado).
• Dixon added a 22-yard rushing touchdown during the third quarter. It is Dixon's second straight game with a rushing touchdown and first career multi-touchdown game.
• Also, Dixon last had consecutive games with a touchdown in 2019 (rushing Week 1 at BYU, receiving Week 2 vs. Northern Illinois).
• Wide receiver Devaughn Vele reset single-game career-highs in receptions (seven) and receiving yards (94). Previously, Vele's career-high receptions was six at Arizona State (2022) and 84 receiving yards at USC (2021).
• Tight end Munir McClain recorded his first catch as a Ute during the first quarter. It was McClain's first reception since the 2019 season when McClain played at USC.
• Tight end Dalton Kincaid caught a four-yard touchdown pass during the fourth quarter. It is Kincaid's 13th touchdown grab at Utah and 32nd of his career (19 at San Diego).
• Dating back to Nov. 26, 2021 vs. Colorado, Utah has had a tight end receiving touchdown in eight straight games.
• Utah has scored on a game-opening drive in three of five games this season.

 
Defense

• Utah's four interceptions (Clark Phillips III – 3; R.J. Hubert – 1) in the game marks the first such performance for the Utes since the game at UCLA (4) on Oct. 22, 2016.
• It extended Utah's streak to seven consecutive games with a takeaway.
• Safety R.J. Hubert's interception was his second as a Ute and first since Week 2 vs. Southern Utah.
• Cornerback Clark Phillips III recorded a career-best three of those four interceptions, a pick-six among them. Phillips now has seven career interceptions and three pick-sixes.
• Phillips is one of six Utes in program history to have a three-plus-interception game (school record is four). The last three-interception game by a Ute came from Robert Johnson in a game at Colorado State on Oct. 10, 2009.
• Phillips is the first Ute to have multiple interceptions in a game since Julian Blackmon (2) against West Virginia on Dec. 26, 2017 in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.
• The last Ute to have three interceptions in a home game was Norm Thompson against UTEP on Sept. 19, 1970. Subsequent three-interception games for Eric Jacobsen (Hawaii 1987), Eric Weddle (San Diego State 2006) and Johnson (Colorado State 2009) were all on the road.
• In his career, Phillips now has three interceptions returned for a touchdown (2020 vs. Washington State, 2021 vs. Washington State, 2022 vs. Oregon State).
• Entering the weekend (thus not including Phillips), there were eight active players in FBS football with three or more pick-sixes in their career (Phillips is the ninth active player).
• Phillips is one of seven players in Utah football history with three or more career pick-sixes.
• Since the start of the 2021 season, Utah's five pick-sixes as a team (R.J. Hubert - 1; Devin Lloyd - 2; Clark Phillips III - 2) lead the Pac-12 and rank short of only Pitt (6) for most in the Power Five (via Greg Mroz / Pac-12 Research).
• Hubert reset his career-high tackles for a single game with 12 (previously eight at Florida).
• Hubert picked off an Oregon State pass in the end zone and returned it 70 yards. It was Hubert's second career interception (the last a 39-yard pick-six in Week 2 vs. Southern Utah). It also set the Rice-Eccles Stadium record for interception return yards, passing the 67 yards Conroy Black had in 2011 vs UCLA.
• Linebacker Mohamoud Diabate had 4.0 TFL for eight yards. It was a career-high, surpassing his 3.0 TFL performance against Vanderbilt in 2019, when Diabate played at Florida.
• Additional career-highs included defensive tackle Aliki Vimahi (four tackles) and safety Sione Vaki (three tackles).
• Season-high tackle counts included cornerback JaTravis Broughton (7), defensive tackle Junior Tafuna (six).
• In all five games this season, Utah has held its opponent scoreless on a game-opening drive. It includes two game-opening turnovers (fumble at Florida, interception vs. Oregon State).

 
Special Teams

• Quarterback Cameron Rising punted in "quick kick" situation late in the second quarter. It was Rising's fourth punt attempt of his career and first of the season, going for 35 yards and landing inside the goal line for a touchback. His last came vs. Colorado on Nov. 26, 2021.
• Jack Bouwmeester had four punts (long 42) averaging 37.8 yards.
• Kickers Jordan Noyes and Jadon Redding shared kickoff duties, coming for seven boots—Redding had two touchbacks.