The Baylor Bears entered Saturday’s matchup looking to play spoiler on a Utah team with lofty expectations this season. Despite Baylor being the first of many Big 12 opponents to face Utah, due to the non-conference home-and-home scheduled years ago between the two respected programs, the Ute faithful will have to wait a few more weeks for that first official Big 12 game.
Since taking over as Utah’s head coach in 2005, Kyle Whittingham has embodied the “next man up” mentality. With senior transfer cornerback Kenan Johnson sidelined due to a season-ending knee injury last week and quarterback Cam Rising leaving this game in the first half with an apparent hand injury, that theme remained consistent. With Rising leaving, freshman quarterback Isaac Wilson took the reigns and helped lead the Utes to a 23-12 victory over Baylor.
First Half
Utah wasted no time picking up where they left off last week vs. Southern Utah as Money Parks exploded up the right sideline, taking an end-around 28-yards for the score, Utes on top early, 7-0.
Despite the fireworks on display for Utah’s offense, the defensive side of the ball left their mark on the first half as well. A Connor O’Toole strip sack on Baylor’s second offensive possession set up the Utes on the two-yard line, where Rising was able to find Micah Bernard in the flat for a walk-in touchdown, 14-0 Utah.
The second quarter saw both defenses string together multiple stops as neither team could get anything going on offense.
As Utah’s offense started to sputter, sophomore safety Tao Johnson began to generate offense of his own. With 5:28 remaining in the first half, a blocked field goal by Logan Fano ended up in the hands of Tao Johnson, who took it 77 yards to the house, giving Utah a commanding 23-0 lead.
Regardless of the fact that Utah held a convincing lead throughout the entirety of the first half, Utah fans were holding their breath as Rising left the game late in the half with an apparent hand injury. The diagnosis of the injury remains undetermined, but it was severe enough that Wilson once again was thrown into the fire, finishing the first half for Utah.
A Baylor field goal as the first half came to a close helped put the Bears on the board for the first time as Utah took a 23-3 lead into the locker room. The main storyline of the first half, despite the commanding lead, would be Rising and his looming injury status.
Second Half
The defensive battle continued into the second half, but with 6:23 remaining in the third quarter, Baylor was able to crack the seal and knock in their second field goal of the game, trimming down the Utah lead to just 23-6.
The offensive lulls for Utah continued throughout the entirety of the third quarter as another three-and-out set up Baylor with a prime chance to cut into the Utes lead. With 0:53 to go in the quarter, Baylor wide receiver Josh Cameron took a screen pass from Dequan Finn 47 yards to the house, breaking multiple Utah tackles on the way.
It took almost three quarters for Baylor to score their first touchdown, but better late than never as they continued to hang around. The two-point conversion attempt from the Bears was unsuccessful, however, as Utah remained on top 23-12.
The absence of Rising continued to plague Utah’s offense in the second half as they failed to score, ending the game with just 23 points after leading 17-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Despite the struggles offensively, Utah’s defense was extremely stout, limiting Baylor’s potent offensive attack throughout the second half. A Baylor touchdown late in the third quarter was the only blunder for the Utah defense as they continued to make plays at crucial parts of the game.
Whittingham had glowing remarks when discussing how well his defense played this afternoon, saying, “One reason we won the game was because of our defense … Our defense played lights out … [Baylor] had only 223 yards of total offense and 12 first downs, which in this day and age of college football is outstanding.”
Baylor hung around throughout the second half but ran out of time as the Utes were able to chew 7:23 towards the end of the fourth quarter. Bernard was the featured back throughout the entire game for the Utes, and that theme remained consistent throughout Utah’s final offensive drive. Multiple determined runs by Bernard helped the Utes gain first downs and leave the Bears with limited time to mount a comeback.
With just 1:44 remaining, a Utah stop on fourth down all but closed this game out as Wilson took the final knee, propelling Utah to victory, 23-12.
Analysis
At the end of the first quarter, Rising sent a 25-yard rush to push him over the 1,000-yard career rushing mark. Rising is the fourth quarterback in Utah history to reach this milestone, sitting alongside Travis Wilson, Tyler Huntley and Alex Smith.
However, Rising came in second in terms of rushing yards in today’s game, with the top spot going to Bernard who claimed a whopping 118.
Tao Johnson’s score in the second quarter is the first blocked field goal that Utah has turned into a touchdown since Jay Hill did the same in a matchup against Wyoming in November of 1999.
On the other hand, Rising led the team in passing yards, marking 92 in the first half versus Wilson’s 30 in the second.
During a post-game press conference, Whittingham stated that Rising’s status for next week’s game against Utah State is currently unknown. The quarterback’s injury signals Wilson as the next man up, who is now a potential starter for next Saturday.
“I gotta be ready, I gotta be there for my teammates,” Wilson said during the conference. “Just going through the motions, moving the ball, I just gotta do that a little bit more. Come next week, I’m going to be ready.”
The Utes travel to Logan next Saturday to face the Aggies in their first away game of the season. The match kicks off at 2:30 p.m. local time and can be viewed on CBS Sports Network.
