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The University of Utah Athletics
Carvalho, Defensive Line Earn Big 12 Weekly Awards
11/3/2025 11:30 AM | Football
Carvalho named Special Teams Player of the Week; defensive line honored for standout game
IRVING, Texas — The Utah football team earned a pair of Big 12 Conference weekly awards on Monday after a dominant 45-14 win over then-No. 17 Cincinnati on Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Punt returner Mana Carvalho is the Special Teams Player of the Week, while Utah was named Defensive Line of the Week, as announced by the league office.
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Carvalho showed his explosiveness on special teams, logging three punt returns for 94 yards, highlighted by a 75-yard touchdown scamper late in the third quarter. It marked the first Utah punt return for a touchdown since the 2021 campaign and the first by a freshman since 2015.
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Carvalho's 94 punt return yards were the most in a game for a Ute since Britain Covey had 132 at San Diego State in 2021, and the most by a Utah freshman since at least 2000.
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Utah's defensive line had a hand in holding Cincinnati's offense and quarterback Brendan Sorsby to some of their lowest numbers of the season. Sorsby completed just 11-of-33 passes for 221 yards with an interception. Cincinnati had not thrown an interception since Aug. 28 against Nebraska and had not lost a fumble since Oct. 4 vs. Iowa State but coughed up two against the Utes. Jonah Lea'ea recovered a fumble forced by Johnathan Hall and Kash Dillon knocked one loose that was fallen on by Levani Damuni. Defensive tackle Aliki Vimahi set a new career-high with two pass breakups on the night.
It's the second time this season Utah's defensive line has been honored by the Big 12 and the first time a Ute has taken Special Teams Player of the Week.
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UP NEXT
Utah enters its second bye week of the season before traveling to Baylor on Saturday, Nov. 15 for a 5 p.m. MT kickoff on ESPN2.
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FOLLOW THE UTES
Follow the Utes on social media through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok along with visiting www.UtahUtes.com. Download the Utah 360 app here.  Â
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Carvalho showed his explosiveness on special teams, logging three punt returns for 94 yards, highlighted by a 75-yard touchdown scamper late in the third quarter. It marked the first Utah punt return for a touchdown since the 2021 campaign and the first by a freshman since 2015.
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Carvalho's 94 punt return yards were the most in a game for a Ute since Britain Covey had 132 at San Diego State in 2021, and the most by a Utah freshman since at least 2000.
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Utah's defensive line had a hand in holding Cincinnati's offense and quarterback Brendan Sorsby to some of their lowest numbers of the season. Sorsby completed just 11-of-33 passes for 221 yards with an interception. Cincinnati had not thrown an interception since Aug. 28 against Nebraska and had not lost a fumble since Oct. 4 vs. Iowa State but coughed up two against the Utes. Jonah Lea'ea recovered a fumble forced by Johnathan Hall and Kash Dillon knocked one loose that was fallen on by Levani Damuni. Defensive tackle Aliki Vimahi set a new career-high with two pass breakups on the night.
It's the second time this season Utah's defensive line has been honored by the Big 12 and the first time a Ute has taken Special Teams Player of the Week.
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UP NEXT
Utah enters its second bye week of the season before traveling to Baylor on Saturday, Nov. 15 for a 5 p.m. MT kickoff on ESPN2.
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FOLLOW THE UTES
Follow the Utes on social media through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok along with visiting www.UtahUtes.com. Download the Utah 360 app here.  Â
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Players Mentioned
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