Connect with us

Utah

How Utah overcame its worst defensive outing of the season to beat Baylor in decisive fashion

Published

on

How Utah overcame its worst defensive outing of the season to beat Baylor in decisive fashion


Kyle Whittingham most likely wouldn’t have believed it if he had been told prior to Saturday’s Big 12 bout against Baylor that Utah would go on to win by double-digits while giving up over 500 total yards, running 30 fewer plays and losing the time of possession battle by a difference of roughly 6 minutes.

Oh, and that the engine of his offense would be limited all night due to injury, requiring some in-game adjustments and faith in a true freshman quarterback to close out a must-have win on the road.

Those factors and obstacles made for one of the more unique outcomes Whittingham’s been a part of in his 24 full seasons at the helm of the Utes, who managed to overcome an abnormal defensive outing in a 55-28 victory over the Bears from McLane Stadium on Saturday.

“It’s the most unique win, I guess you could say in the the short term past,” Whittingham said after the game. “It was definitely a back and forth and defensively, we usually control things a little bit better.”

Advertisement

Indeed, Utah had been stout all season, allowing just 156.8 yards through the air per game going into Saturday’s matchup against the league’s top-ranked air attack.

The Utes caught some breaks early on but eventually let a few big plays slip through the cracks, leaving the door open for the Bears to hang in the first half despite a rough start from Sawyer Robertson. The nation’s leader in touchdown passes heading into Week 12 missed on eight of his first 11 throws — some of which were gimmes for someone of his talent — though he connected on a 64-yard bomb to Kole Wilson to get Baylor in field goal range, making it 21-10 in the second quarter, then hit Josh Cameron for a score in the final seconds of the first half after a perfect pass to Ashtyn Hawkins got the Bears within striking distance.

Utah’s pass rush was disruptive in key spots, though outside of a few stops in the red zone, the secondary had to try to keep up with Baylor’s plethora of talented receiving threats.

“That receiving core is outstanding, and the tight end (Michael Trigg), you’ll be seeing him play on Sunday for a long time,” Whittingham said. “But we got to do a little better job of winning more of the 50-50 balls.”

Just as Whittingham could’ve expected in the lead up to Saturday’s game that Baylor’s potent air attack would present quite the challenge for his defensive backs group, it would’ve been reasonable for him to think the Utes offense would have success on the ground much they like did through their first nine games of the season.

Advertisement

Even so, he probably didn’t account for three 60-plus yard scores being the difference makers.

Utah, which entered the game with 16 scoring drives of 10 plays or more on the season, didn’t need to worry about moving the chains with Wayshawn Parker and Byrd Ficklin ripping off chunk plays every time they touched the ball. Ficklin broke off a 67-yard score in the second quarter courtesy of some solid blocking up front, giving the Utes a spark while Devon Dampier took it easy due to an injury.

Parker’s turn came a few minutes later, as the sophomore back took advantage of Baylor putting just five defenders in the box with a 64-yard burst right up the middle, extending Utah’s lead to 28-10 with just over 4 minutes left in the first half.

Just like that, Utah went from 11 rushes for 43 yards in the first quarter to 19 for 179 at the halftime break. Baylor, though, racked up 362 total yards of offense, the most Utah had allowed in a first half since 2022, but had to settle for three field goal tries inside the Utes’ 25-yard line after failing to put the ball in the end zone.

Baylor finished with 563 total yards of offense — the most Utah’s allowed through its first 10 games — and ran 91 total plays to the Utes’ 59. Scooby Davis’ 65-yard interception returned for a touchdown in the first quarter probably skewed how the final stats looked, though the junior’s first touchdown of the season set the tone for the kind of night it was going to be for Utah.

Advertisement

Ficklin kept it rolling in the third quarter with an incredible individual effort on a 74-yard touchdown run, in which he shrugged off a tackle attempt from Bears safety Tyler Turner with a stiff arm to record the Utes’ longest rush of the season from scrimmage. That made it 35-20 in favor of the Utes after Robertson and company cut their deficit to eight on the previous drive.

The Utes continued to lean on their offensive line to get the job done in the trenches for the remainder of the second half. Between Ficklin and Dampier, Utah attempted just five passes after halftime, yet the Utes never relinquished control when it seemed like the Bears were ready to make a late push.

Led by Ficklin’s 166 rush yards, Utah tallied 380 yards on the ground while averaging 8.8 per carry. Parker crossed the 100-yard threshold for the third consecutive game, finishing with 129 on 15 attempts. As a team, the Utes went for over 200 rush yards for the fifth consecutive game, their longest such streak since 2018.

“That offensive line is a huge reason why we’re able to do that week in and week out,” Whittingham said. “Credit the way they played.”

Despite its inconsistencies all night, Utah’s secondary helped deliver the final nail in the coffin early in the fourth quarter with a second interception off Robertson, who got drilled on a nickel blitz by Jackson Bennee as his pass was picked off by Trey Reynolds, setting the Utes up on the Bears’ 9-yard line following a 31-yard return from the 6-foot-1 junior.

Advertisement

Utah scored moments later after Dampier swung a short pass out to Parker for his second touchdown of the night, making it 49-20 with just over 11 minutes left in regulation.

And so, in a game where Robertson throws for 430 yards and Baylor has two 100-yard receivers, plus a running back who had almost 100 yards on the ground, Utah’s knack for explosive plays wound up outweighing its defensive lapses and subsequently, keep the Utes’ College Football Playoff hopes alive with a decisive victory.

Even if it wasn’t the script Whittingham had drawn up in his head going in.

“There was a lot of back and forth there for a while, but we just kept, kept at it, and answered the bell every time,” Whittingham said. “A lot a lot of things in that game that both sides did well, but we did enough to get the win.”

MORE UTAH NEWS & ANALYSIS



Source link

Advertisement

Utah

22-year-old arrested in Utah in connection to Las Vegas double-homicide

Published

on

22-year-old arrested in Utah in connection to Las Vegas double-homicide


LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Officials have identified a 22-year-old man as the suspect in a Las Vegas homicide case that killed two people in a Southern Highlands neighborhood.

Detectives say 22-year-old Ziaire Ham was the suspect in the case. According to officials, Ham was located on Tuesday, March 3, by the Ogden City Police Department and the Utah Highway Patrol.

Ham was taken into custody and booked into the Weber County Jail. Las Vegas authorities said he will be charged with open murder with the use of a deadly weapon and will be extradited back to the valley.

MORE ON FOX5: LVMPD corrections officer arrested on multiple felony charges

Advertisement

The shooting occurred Monday night at the 11000 block of Victoria Medici Street, near Starr Ave and Dean Martin Drive.

According to police, officers were conducting a vehicle stop in the area when they heard gunfire. After searching nearby neighborhoods they found a car with bullet impacts with a woman and a toddler inside suffering from gunshot wounds.

The pair were transported to hospital where they later died. The Clark County Coroner’s Office identified them as Danaijha Robinson, 20, and 1-year-old Nhalani Hiner.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Utah

Utah nonprofit creates events, experiences for disadvantaged children

Published

on

Utah nonprofit creates events, experiences for disadvantaged children


A simple moment watching a child laugh changed everything for Ivan Gonzalez.

Eight years ago, Gonzalez was working at the Ronald McDonald House when he had an idea to throw a birthday carnival for the kids staying there.

“Let’s do a carnival, birthday carnival for the kids,” he said.

MORE | Pay It Forward

What happened during that event stuck with him.

Advertisement

“There I was watching this kid play whack-a-mole, just having a blast, laughing,” Gonzalez said. “And then I see his mom kind of with happy tears because he’s enjoying himself.”

That moment led to something bigger.

Gonzalez realized the experience shouldn’t stop with just one event or just one group of kids.

“I said, wait, we can do this not just for kids in the hospital,” he said with excitement.

So he started a nonprofit called Best Seat in the House, which creates events and experiences for children who often face difficult circumstances.

Advertisement

“We provide events and experiences for disadvantaged kids,” Gonzalez said.

The organization serves children battling cancer and other medical conditions, refugee children, kids living in poverty, those in foster care and children with special needs.

“These kids grow up too fast,” Gonzalez said.

For Gonzalez, the mission is deeply personal.

“I grew up very poor,” he said.

Advertisement

He remembers the people who stepped in for his family when they needed it most.

“The local church, we weren’t even a part of it,” he described. “My parents couldn’t afford Christmas gifts and I still remember the gifts they gave me. They didn’t even know me.”

Today, he hopes to create that same feeling for other children through his nonprofit.

“Kids live in poverty and they don’t know where the next meal is coming from, let alone going to a play or to a game,” Gonzalez said.

But for Gonzalez, the reward isn’t the events themselves, it’s the joy they create.

Advertisement

“You can give me a billion dollars, all the money in the world,” he says as tears roll down his face. “I won’t trade these opportunitieskids just enjoying life.”

Because of his work giving back, KUTV and Mountain America Credit Union surprised Gonzalez with a Pay it Forward gift to help him continue creating those moments for kids across Utah.

For more information on supporting Best Seat in the House, click here.

_____



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Utah

‘Don’t release him ever. Please.’ Family of slain Utah teen calls for justice at parole hearing

Published

on

‘Don’t release him ever. Please.’ Family of slain Utah teen calls for justice at parole hearing


SALT LAKE CITY — Francisco Daniel Aguilar says he’s sorry for shooting and killing his girlfriend, 16-year-old Jacqueline “Jacky” Nunez-Millan, a Piute High School sophomore, in 2023.

But just as he did when he was sentenced, he didn’t have much of an explanation on Tuesday as to why he shot her not once, but twice.

“It just kinda happened. I was mad. And I stepped out (of my truck) and started shooting,” he said. “When I saw her fall, I just kind of panicked, I just went and shot her again.”

But Jacky’s friends and family members say even before she was killed, Aguilar already had a history of violence, and they now want justice to be served.

Advertisement

“You don’t accidentally take a gun, you don’t accidentally grab a knife … you don’t accidentally shoot someone, those are all choices,” a tearful Rosa Nunez, Jacky’s sister, said at Tuesday’s hearing. “Keep him where he needs to be.

“Don’t release him ever. Please.”

On Jan. 7, 2023, Aguilar, who was 17 at the time, got into a fight with his girlfriend, Jacky, shot her twice and left her body near a dirt road outside of Circleville, Piute County. He was convicted as an adult of aggravated murder and sentenced to a term of 25 years to up to life in prison.

Because of Aguilar’s age at the time of the offense, board member Greg Johnson explained Tuesday that the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole is required to hold a hearing much earlier than the 25-year mark, mainly to check on Aguilar and “see how things are going.” Aguilar, now 20, is currently being held in a juvenile secure care facility and will be transferred to the Utah State Prison when he turns 25 or earlier if he has discipline violations and is kicked out of the youth facility.

According to Aguilar’s sentencing guidelines, he will likely remain in custody until at least the year 2051.

Advertisement

During Tuesday’s hearing, Aguilar told the board that he was feeling “stressed out” during his senior year of high school. He said he and Jacky would often have little arguments. But their bigger fight happened when he failed to get her a “promise ring” around Christmastime, he said.

On the night of the killing, the two were arguing about the promise ring and other items, Aguilar recalled. At one point, he grabbed a knife and then a gun because, he said, he wanted to “irritate” and “scare” Jacky. According to evidence presented in the preliminary hearing, Aguilar and his girlfriend had been “trying to make each other angry” when Aguilar took ammunition and a 9mm gun from his father’s room and then drove to the Black Hill area in his truck with Jacky.

Jacky’s friend, McKall Taylor, went looking for her that night and found her. But after Aguilar shot Jacky in the leg, he began shooting at Taylor, who had no choice but to run to her car to get away. Her car was hit multiple times by bullets. Aguilar then shot Jacky a second time as she lay on the ground and Taylor drove away.

On Tuesday, Taylor’s mother, Lori Taylor, read a statement to the board on her daughter’s behalf.

“My innocence and freedom was taken from me,” she said.

Advertisement

McKall Taylor says the “horrifying events of that night will forever play in my head,” and the sounds of Jacky screaming and the gunshots as well as the sight of Jacky falling to the ground, will never go away.

“Francisco is a murderer who has zero remorse,” her letter states.

Likewise, Rosa Nunez told the board that for her and her family, “nothing in our world has felt safe since” that night as they all “continue to relive this horrific moment.”

After shooting Jacky and driving off, Aguilar says he called his father and “told him I was sorry for not being better, for not making good choices, I told him that I loved him. I was just planning on probably shooting myself, too.”

His father told him that although what he did wasn’t right, “he’d rather see me behind bars than in a casket,” and then told his son to “be a man about it. … This is where you have to change.”

Advertisement

Aguilar was arrested after his tires were spiked by police.

“An apology won’t fix what I did. I’ll never be able to fix what I did. But I want to say I’m sorry,” he said Tuesday. “I don’t even know how to fix what I did. I’m hoping I’m on the right track now.”

Johnson noted that Aguilar has done well during his short time being incarcerated. But that doesn’t change the fact “the crime was horrific,” he said.

The full five-member board will now take a vote. The board could decide to schedule another parole hearing for sometime in the future or could order that Aguilar serve his entire life sentence. But even if that were to happen, Johnson says Aguilar could petition every so often for a redetermination hearing.

The board’s decision is expected in several weeks.

Advertisement

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending