Utah’s defense is ‘suffocating’ in season-opening 24-11 win over Florida

With walk-on quarterback Bryson Barnes starting just his second-ever game at the collegiate level, it would have stood to reason for Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig to draw up a handoff or a short pass on the Utes’ first offensive snap of the season Thursday night.

But Ludwig took a big risk as Utah hosted its first-ever SEC opponent in the Florida Gators, calling a deep play-action pass.

Barnes faked the handoff to Ja’Quinden Jackson, the Utes’ offensive line gave the former Milford High quarterback four solid seconds and he rocketed a 70-yard touchdown pass to Money Parks to open scoring for the 2023 season.

No Cam Rising, no problem.

You couldn’t write a better script if you tried. The Utah native walk-on from a tiny town of 1,431, who grew up on a pig farm, shocked a national audience on his first snap of the contest.

“That’s pretty great. That stuff you talked about when you’re a little kid like, ‘Man, what if we threw a touchdown the first play of the game?’” Barnes said afterward.

With Barnes at the helm for the majority of the game and a dose of redshirt freshman Nate Johnson mixed in on some drives, Utah defeated Florida 24-11 to win its first out-of-conference game against a Power Five team since 2017.

Barnes finished 12 of 18 for 159 yards and a touchdown through the air, adding 11 yards and a rushing touchdown on the ground.

While Utah’s defense was the undisputed star of the show, the offense did enough throughout the game for the Utes to win comfortably in front of a stadium-record 53,644 fans who packed in before kickoff.

Florida wanted to make Utah pass, holding the Utes to just 105 rushing yards, the lowest total since the Utes lost to San Diego State in September of 2021.

Ludwig was not going to be able to lean on the ground game with Rising out, still rehabbing his torn ACL suffered in the Rose Bowl last season.

Asked to provide the bulk of their production through the air — without leading tight end Brant Kuithe, who was out due to his ACL injury sustained last season — the Utes didn’t flinch.

Barnes and Johnson combined for 165 yards passing, a touchdown through the air and — importantly — no interceptions or lost fumbles.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham promised Johnson would play in the game, but what was a little surprising is how much the Californian featured on some drives.

Instead of coming in for a play or two, for example, Johnson was in for nearly the entirety of Utah’s second-quarter drive that resulted in him rushing for a touchdown.

Barnes was tasked with the majority of the passes (Johnson was 3 for 4 for six yards), Johnson provided another dimension for Utah’s offense, leading the Utes with 45 rushing yards and a touchdown on six carries.

The two-quarterback situation worked about as flawlessly as it could as Ludwig tailored each drive to each quarterback’s strength.

“I thought Andy called an excellent game,” Whittingham said.

Aside from two fumbles by Johnson that he recovered and three offensive penalties — two false starts in the first quarter and a holding penalty in the third quarter — the offense stayed out of its own way.

On a warm night at Rice-Eccles Stadium, that was all that was needed. A better offensive performance will be needed against Baylor, but help could be on the way.

Barnes said he was tabbed as the starter a week-and-a-half ago if Rising couldn’t go. When Rising was ruled out this week, Barnes had the most time of his career to prepare as the starter.

Postgame, Whittingham said Rising will be able to practice without limitations for the first time as the team prepares for its trip to Baylor.

The Utes didn’t score in the final 26 minutes of play Thursday as the offense had two three-and-outs and had a a drive stall in Gators territory, but thanks to Utah’s defense stopping Florida when it counted, a pedestrian offense effort wasn’t a problem.

A year ago in the opener between the two teams, Whittingham described Utah’s defensive effort as “soft.”

On Thursday?

“Stout, very stout,” he said.

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The Gators outgained the Utes in total offense, 346-270, but only 13 of those yards came on the ground.

After missing 29 tackles and allowing 283 rushing yards a year ago in Gainesville, the Utes’ defensive line was able to stifle Florida’s potent running attack, even though they were missing starting left end Connor O’Toole and left tackle Junior Tafuna, plus contributing defensive tackle Simote Pepa.

“We were boasting about our defensive line depth and we had to tap into that tonight,” Whittingham said.

Another player out on the defense was linebacker Karene Reid, who exited early after tackling Gators quarterback Graham Mertz. Stanford transfer Levani Damuni stepped up in his place with eight tackles.

Trevor Etienne had seven carries for 25 yards, and Montrell Johnson Jr. had three carries for six yards.

Those stats just about sum up the night for Utah’s defense.

“The defense was suffocating,” Whittingham said.

Mertz threw for 333 yards with a 70% completion rate, doubling Utah’s total passing yards.

So how did Florida score just one touchdown, which came in the fourth quarter?

For one, the Gators couldn’t get out of their own way. Florida had a turnover — an interception by Sione Vaki — and nine penalties.

The biggest mistake came in having two No. 3s on the field on a punt return when they had stopped Utah on third down in the early second quarter.

That equipment violation resulted in a first down for Utah, and the Utes cashed in with a 27-yard rushing touchdown from Johnson, who put a nice juke on a Gator defender to go up 14-3.

Without consistent rushing yards on first and second down, the Gators faced long third downs often.

Florida’s average distance on third downs was 10.2 yards, and Utah made them pay. Florida was 1-for-13 on third down, though the Gators moved the chains twice in total, once due to pass interference by Utah.

“First of all, we were behind the sticks, and then on third downs that we did have that were manageable, we had penalties,” Florida coach Billy Napier said.

Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley called a good game, dialing up exotic blitzes at the right time. At times last season, play calls seemed to come in late, but that did not seem to be an issue on Thursday night.

Utah sacked Mertz five times, led by Jonah Elliss, who had two.

“They just always seemed like they had one extra guy,” Mertz said.

The Gators reached the red zone four times, coming away with just a touchdown and a field goal.

Much to Whittingham’s delight, Utah’s special teams were a real positive for the first time in a while.

Punt returning and kick returning can use some work, but punter Jack Bouwmeester made serious strides this offseason and the Aussie was one of the most impactful players on Thursday, averaging 51.8 yards per punt, and he became the first Utah punter since Tom Hackett in 2014 to have two punts of 60-plus yards in the same game.

Kicker Cole Becker, meanwhile, made a 51-yard field goal (he missed a 55-yard attempt) and had three touchbacks.

With a big out-of-conference win under its belt, Utah has nine days to heal up before another tough nonconference game at Baylor.

Perhaps that’s enough time for Rising to return to action, but if not, Barnes, Johnson and Utah’s defense proved that they can win while missing starters.