Postgame Notes: No. 12 Utah vs. Weber State

9/16/2023 4:27 PM | Football, General

Postgame Notes
(at) No. 12 Utah 31, Weber State 7
Salt Lake City, Utah (Rice-Eccles Stadium)
Saturday, September 16, 2023
Kick: 12:01 p.m. MT | End: 2:55 p.m.
Attendance: 51,532 (sellout)

General

Today was the 150th Utah Football game in Rice-Eccles Stadium history. RES opened on September 12, 1998 with a 45-22 win for Utah over Louisville. It replaced (on the same site) the former Rice Stadium which stood from 1927-97.
Including today, Utah is 114-36 when playing inside RES and 86-25 at home under head coach Kyle Whittingham (2005-present).
Utah has won 16 straight games inside Rice-Eccles (dating back to Dec. 5, 2020) and 26 of its last 27 home games. The 16 straight is the second-longest such streak under Whittingham, short only of a 21-game run from Sept. 15, 2007 through Oct. 23, 2010.
Whittingham, the all-time winningest leader in program history, is 157-74 in his 19 seasons as head coach. Including his time as an assistant coach (1994-2004), he has coached in 357 games and contributed to 242 wins, both the most by any coach in program history.
The Utes are 32-4 in regular season non-conference games since joining the Pac-12 and are 22-0 at home during that era.
Utah is 3-0 at the end of non-conference play in 2023, the first time the Utes have been undefeated in regular-season non-conference games since 2019 and the 12th time under Whittingham.
Utah has sold out Rice-Eccles Stadium in 78 straight games, dating back to the 2010 season opener. Capacity currently sits at 51,444 with the completion of the Ken Garff Red Zone in 2021. Previously, capacity was 45,807.
Utah won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. The Utes defended the North end zone to begin the game.
Utah won the time of possession battle against Weber State today, 40:05 to 19:55. It was the most possession time for the Utes since their game against Cal on Oct. 1, 2016 when they held the ball for 42:01. It is the fourth time that the Utes have had 40:00 or more possession time since 1996, with three of the four being in the Pac-12 era, all in the regular season.

Offense

Utah totaled 424 yards of offense; it was a season-high and most for the team since posting 533 vs. USC in the 2022 Pac-12 Championship. Both the standalone rushing (231) and passing (193) yardages were also season-highs.
Quarterback Nate Johnson made his first collegiate start. His passing line was 13-of-21 for 193 yards and one touchdown, with no interceptions. He also rushed 16 times for 71 yards and a touchdown.
Johnson set passing career-highs in yards, completions and long pass (49 yards to Munir McClain). He also reset his career-high rushing yards. His 193 passing yards were the most by a freshman at Utah since Travis Wilson threw for 311 yards vs. Arizona in 2012.
Wide receiver Munir McClain reset career-highs in receptions (3) and receiving yards (92). Fellow wide receiver Mikey Matthews also had a career-best 38 receiving yards and a career-long 40-yard reception.
On Utah's opening drive, Johnson completed a 33-yard pass to wide receiver Munir McClain; at the time it happened it was a career-long pass for Johnson and career-long reception for McClain. Just before halftime, Johnson found McClain on a 49-yard pass to reset career-longs for both. It was the fifth of a game-best six straight completions for Johnson.
Johnson marched Utah downfield for a 10-play, 69-yard touchdown drive on the team's first possession. It was the second time this season (vs. Florida) that Utah scored on its opening drive of the game.
Wide receiver Money Parks made his second touchdown reception of the season on a 13-yard second quarter grab. It was Parks' fifth career receiving touchdown and the second career passing touchdown for Johnson (first since the Stanford game in 2022).
Running back Jaylon Glover rushed for a 2-yard touchdown during the third quarter; it is the first time that Glover has a rushing touchdown in consecutive games.
Wide receiver Luca Caldarella made his first catch as a Ute during the third quarter.
Returning from a season-ending injury in 2022, running back Chris Curry entered the game in the fourth quarter. Curry earned six carries for 23 yards with a long of nine yards.

Defense

The Utah defense allowed 127 yards; it was the fourth time under defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley (since 2016) that a Utah opponent was held under 130 yards. The last was on Sept. 10, 2022 vs. Southern Utah (85).
Through the non-conference slate, Utah has allowed a total of 31 points. It is the fewest allowed by the Utes in the regular season against non-conference opponents since 2019 (total of 29 points).
Cornerback Miles Battle had five tackles, his most as a Ute and most since Nov. 24, 2022, when Battle had five for Ole Miss against Mississippi State.
Defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa had a career-best five tackles and linebacker Lander Barton (5) had a season-high in tackles and his most since the 2022 Pac-12 Championship vs. USC (6).
Barton had his first career pick-six (23 yards) during the third quarter. It was Barton's first career interception as well.
It extended Utah's FBS-leading active streak to 20 straight seasons with an interception returned for a touchdown. It is the longest active streak, and ties Arizona State (20 seasons from 2000-19) for the longest such streak dating back to 1996.
Barton's pick-six was the first by a Ute since Clark Phillips III brought back an interception 80 yards in the game at UCLA in 2022. Phillips also had the last pick-six inside Rice-Eccles Stadium (vs. Oregon State in 2022).
Safety Cole Bishop had a nine-yard sack during the third quarter; it was Bishop's second sack of the season.
Defensive end Logan Fano came up with a strip-sack during the fourth quarter; the forced fumble and Fano's recovery were both his first as a Ute. His last sack was a six-yard takedown vs. Florida.
Linebacker Justin Medlock contributed his first career TFL during the fourth quarter.
Fano, Medlock and Tanuvasa each contributed a solo third-down stop in the game.
Utah held Weber State to punts on four of its first five possessions (touchdown on the other); on those four possessions the Wildcats were held to 30 total yards.
The Utah defense has held opponents to a three-and-out to open the game in all three games this season.

Special Teams

Kickers Chase Carter and Joey Cheek both made their collegiate debuts. Carter handled kickoffs and Cheek was called upon for PAT and field goal duty.
Cheek made his first collegiate field goal attempt; it was a 37-yarder with 13:29 on the second quarter clock.
Playing on the kickoff team, Elijah Davis made his first tackles (2) as a Ute.
Mikey Matthews contributed a career-long 29-yard kickoff return during the second quarter. It helped Matthews rack up 100 all-purpose yards in the game.
Punter Jack Bouwmeester sailed a 60-yard punt during the third quarter; it was his third punt of 60-plus yards this season (he had two vs. Florida).
Snapper JT Greep contributed his second tackle of the season; his other was vs. Florida and both have come on punt coverage.