An incredible ‘kick six’ contrasts a lot of low moments for Utah’s special teams in win over Baylor

The ball ricocheted high in the air.

With Utah leading 17-0 with 5:36 remaining in the second quarter Saturday in its game against the Baylor Bears, Baylor kicker Isaiah Hankins lined up for a 49-yard field goal attempt to try to get the Bears on the board.

Logan Fano and Van Fillinger timed the snap perfectly, hopped over the Baylor line, and Fano got a hand on Hankins’ kick, sending it careening high into the late-afternoon sky.

All of the sudden, safety Tao Johnson was in the perfect place to catch the blocked field goal.

“I was debating on getting out of the way or catching it and I was like, ‘Screw, I’m about to catch it,’” Johnson said.

Johnson initially made a move like he was going to run left, but after seeing the convoy that the Utes had set up for him on the right side of the field, quickly cut that way.

Linebacker Karene Reid had a key block, and so did cornerback Smith Snowden, and once Johnson was around the corner, he was home free.

“I caught it and then I took off and it was just green grass,” Johnson said.

Cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn, on the left side of the field, saw Johnson turn the corner and ran just as fast down the field, meeting up with his teammate around the 10-yard line for a high-five.

“Saw my dog Z running up the sideline, gave him a high-five. Just a fun moment,” Johnson said.

Utah’s version of the “kick six” gave the Utes a commanding 23-0 lead, and was the first time the Utes’ specialists had returned a field goal attempt for a touchdown since current BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill did it in 1999 against Wyoming.

It was the most impressive play by a Utah special teams unit since Britain Covey’s 78-yard punt return vs. Oregon in 2021, but it ended up being just about the only bright spot in a rough game for the Ute specialists.

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Kicker Cole Becker was 1 for 3 on field goal attempts, making his first of the day from 30 yards out but missing a 45-yarder at the end of the second quarter and a 43-yarder in the late fourth quarter.

Last season, Becker was 2 for 2 between 40-49 yards.

On the PAT following Johnson’s kick six, punter Jack Bouwmeester bobbled the snap, picked it up and looked to throw it but fumbled it.

To his credit, Bouwmeester tackled Baylor linebacker Matt Jones to prevent a score the other way, but it was another bad moment in a long list of them in Utah’s 23-12 win over Baylor.

“Special teams was disappointing. We need to be better on special teams. Missed two very makable field goals. We botched a PAT,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said.

Besides the bobbled snap, Bouwmeester, who punted six times for 308 yards, had two touchbacks and pinned Baylor within its own 15-yard line twice.

“You shouldn’t have a couple touchbacks all year, let alone in one game,” Whittingham said.

Mycah Pittman and Rayshawn Glover handled punt return duties, with Pittman having three returns for 32 yards and Glover one for 5 yards.

Baylor punter Palmer Williams may have been the best player on the field for the Bears, with six punts for 376 yards, booting the ball so far that he was outkicking his coverage.

“It was a shame we couldn’t get something set up and get something going there. We had space, but we just never really got anything going in the punt return game,” Whittingham said.

It’s not going to be a fun film week for the Utes’ specialists, which will try to clean things up before taking on Utah State next Saturday.

“There’s things to work on there,” Whittingham said. “We’ve got to coach it better. We got to coach that better and be more effective.”