3 things to smile about from Utah’s season-ending win over UCF

The worst season in the Kyle Whittingham era came to an end Friday night as Utah overwhelmed UCF in a 28-14 win at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando.

That snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Utes, who finished the year with a 5-7 overall record and 2-7 in Big 12 action in their first year in the league.

With the win, the Utes avoided losing eight games for the first time since 1989.

3 takeaways

Utah’s defense had itself a night. The Utes have been stout on defense most of the season despite their record, and against UCF, the defense came up with three turnovers that led to 17 points.

On this night, that was more than enough against an offensively inept Knights squad.

One week after Lander Barton had the first pick-six of the season for Utah — extending the Utes’ streak of pick-sixes to an NCAA record 21 years — they had two more against UCF.

In the second quarter, Zemaiah Vaughn intercepted an errant Dylan Rizk pass and raced 60 yards to make it a 10-0 game. Then, in the fourth quarter with the contest well in hand, Smith Snowden intercepted an EJ Colson pass deep in UCF territory and returned it 13 yards for a score to make it 28-7.

Utah’s defense also set up the first score of the night. On UCF’s opening drive, the Knights were driving and found themselves at the Utah 29, but on third down, Barton stripped Rizk of the ball, which bounced backward and resulted in a 25-yard loss before Logan Fano recovered the fumble at the UCF 46.

Utah drove 27 yards on the ensuing possession and scored on a 37-yard Cole Becker field goal.

Utah held UCF to 379 total yards as Rizk completed just 11 of 27 passes for 118 yards and an interception before being pulled in the fourth quarter for Colson.

Colson completed 8 of 12 passes for 70 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

At one point in the second half, Utah forced a turnover on downs on three straight UCF possessions — the Knights had reached the Utes’ 26, 37 and 39 on those drives before the Utes came up with their fourth-down stops.

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Micah Bernard’s pursuit of 1,000 yards had a happy ending. Going into the game, Utah senior Micah Bernard needed 78 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the season, which would be a first in his career.

He got off to a strong start and had 56 rushing yards at halftime on 10 carries.

Late in the third quarter, Bernard reached 999 yards on a 2-yard carry to the UCF 34, then two plays later he gained another yard to hit the 1,000-yard milestone.

Bernard ended the night with 87 rushing yards on 22 carries, giving him 1,009 for the year. He also ran for four touchdowns this season.

He is the first 1,000-yard runner for Utah since 2019, when Zack Moss ran for 1,416 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Did we see the emergence of a playmaker in Zacharyus Williams? Before Friday night, freshman wide receiver Zacharyus Williams had four receptions to his name, and those four came in the past two weeks.

Against UCF, though, the 6-foot-2 Williams was a constant presence in the Utes’ offense. He ended the night with a team-high six receptions for 72 yards, while adding two carries for 11 yards.

Not bad for a guy that was buried on the depth chart when the season began.

Williams came up with some pretty big plays, too. On Utah’s second play from scrimmage, he caught a 17-yard pass to move the ball to the UCF 23, and that drive ended with a field goal.

Then, with two minutes left in the second quarter, Williams’ longest play of the night — a 33-yard reception — moved Utah down to the UCF 7, and that set up another field goal.

His 11-yard run in the third quarter kickstarted the Utes’ lone touchdown drive, and later in the possession, he caught a 4-yard pass to convert a fourth and 3 from the UCF 31.

That helped offset an otherwise difficult night for the Utah offense, which accounted for 15 points — one touchdown drive, two field goals and a two-point conversion.

Luke Bottari threw for 111 yards and his first career touchdown while completing 13 of 20 pass attempts. Williams, though, made a clear impression in the season finale. Could it mean a bigger role next season?