There weren’t a whole lot of bright spots in Utah’s 17-14 loss at Houston on Saturday, but one stood out.
After seven games on the bench, running back Jaylon Glover finally got back on the field, rushing for 33 yards on four carries in his first action since the season-opening win over Southern Utah.
“Mike Mitchell has just outperformed him in practice as of late,” Whittingham said on Monday, addressing Glover’s absence this season. “He’s with the travel squad, he’s working hard and we’ll see if he gets opportunities. It’ll be based on performance in practice whether that happens or not.”
On Saturday, that opportunity finally came.
Glover’s first rush since August came pretty early in the game, a 2-yard gain on second-and-7. His next three rushes all resulted in first downs — a season-high 22-yard gain on second-and-6 and a four-yard gain to move the chains on second-and-4 in the second quarter.
Glover converted a first down once again in the third quarter, rushing for a five-yard gain on second-and-4.
In a game where Utah passed it more than it ran it (37 pass attempts to just 26 runs), Glover didn’t get anymore touches. Micah Bernard got the majority of the reps and had 14 carries for 51 yards.
Some Utah fans were hopeful interim offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian would involve some of the players such as Glover who hadn’t seen the field much this year, and he did.
In addition to Glover, receiver Munir McClain saw his first action of the season — catching one pass for seven yards — and tight end Carsen Ryan had his first reception since the Utah State game.
Fellow tight end Landen King also saw his first target since the Utah State game, but Rose couldn’t connect with him on a third-quarter third-and-10 pass.
INJURY UPDATE: The good news on the injury front for Utah? Defensive end Connor O’Toole returned, playing in his first contest since September against Utah State, and led the Utes with 1.5 tackles for loss.
Defensive tackle Tevita Fotu returned for the first time since Arizona, registering five tackles. Linebacker Sione Fotu also dressed for the first time since the Arizona game, but did not play.
The bad news? Starting receiver Money Parks left the game in the second quarter with an injury and didn’t return. Starting defensive tackles Junior Tafuna (who last played against Arizona State) and Keanu Tanuvasa (who returned against TCU), along with starting offensive guard Michael Mokofisi, also missed Saturday’s game with injuries.