Has Utah found its primary running back, how Utah’s cornerbacks performed down a starter and more from the Utes’ win over Baylor

Utah Utes running back Micah Bernard (2) runs for a touchdown as Utah and Baylor play at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, September 7, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Utah defeated Baylor 23-12 on Saturday, improving to 2-0 on the season.

Utah led 23-0 in the second quarter before Cam Rising exited with a finger injury on his throwing hand in the second quarter. Postgame, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said that Rising’s injury was “not real serious” and that he “may be back this week.”

Here are three thoughts from Saturday’s game.

Did Utah find its primary running back?

All offseason long, Utah’s coaches preached that the running back room will be by committee, with three players in the top tier — Micah Bernard, Jaylon Glover and Mike Mitchell.

There were some concerns from offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig preseason about Bernard’s durability, but so far, so good for the senior running back.

Reps were split fairly evenly between the running backs against Southern Utah — Mitchell and Dijon Stanley with six carries apiece, Bernard with five carries and Glover with four carries.

This Saturday, however, Bernard got the rock the majority of the time, carrying the ball 19 times for 118 yards — an average of 6.2 yards per carry.

Nowhere was Bernard’s impact more evident than on Utah’s last drive of the game. Up just 11 with 11 minutes left in the game, the Utes needed a long, sustained drive to bleed the clock and leave Rice-Eccles Stadium with the win.

Backup quarterback Isaac Wilson didn’t throw the ball one time on the 11-play, 65-yard drive, instead handing it off every snap. It was a heavy dose of Bernard, who carried the ball seven times on the series and converted a few key first downs to keep the clock moving, including a 30-yard run on third-and-3 to get the Utes into…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/utah-found-primary-running-back-235525098.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-09-08 23:55:25

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