Kuithe records hat trick, Rising throws 5 TDs in return as No. 12 Utes roll to victory

SALT LAKE CITY — Brant Kuithe has waited almost two years to get back on the field after suffering an ACL injury in 2022.

And what a return it was for the veteran tight end.

Kuithe was untouchable against a Southern Utah defense that forgot about him time after time, leading to three first-half touchdowns — a so-called hat trick, borrowing the term from other sports — en route to a 49-0 win for No. 12 Utah in the team's season opener.

The Katy, Texas, native scored his first touchdown on a well-executed fake handoff from Cam Rising to Mike Mitchell that tricked the entire Thunderbirds defense, leaving a streaking Kuithe for a wide open 29-yard touchdown catch.

For good measure, Rising found Kuithe wide open again on Utah's next possession for an 18-yard touchdown to give the Utes an early 21-0 lead. But Kuithe saved his best for last when he caught a 7-yard pass at the 4-yard line, and then forced his way into the end zone against four defenders to complete the three touchdown night.

Kuithe finished the game with four catches for 69 yards and three touchdowns in his first game back with Utah in two quarters before being pulled before halftime. With the hat trick, Kuithe also became the first tight end in Big 12 history to record three touchdowns in a half.

"What about the oldest?" Kuithe joked. "Honestly, I don't really care, but I just want to win games. And whatever it takes — score touchdowns or it doesn't — doesn't matter. I just want to win."

And though Kuithe was the tried and true player Utah has known him to be over the years, it was redshirt freshman Dijon Stanley who was the early star of the game.

Stanley showed off his speed early on a perfectly executed wheel route, where Rising had all day to hit the streaking running back down the sideline with nobody near him in what turned out to be a 64-yard touchdown and the first score of the season.

He followed it up with a 79-yard touchdown on another wheel route in the second quarter to give Utah a 28-0 lead with nine minutes left to play in the first half. The touchdown pass gave Rising his 50th career passing touchdown, eclipsing Alex Smith (47) and Mike McCoy (49) to move him into fourth all-time at Utah.

"It's kind of a surreal moment," Rising said of passing Smith on the night the former Utes QB was honored as the first inductee into the Ring of Honor. "A guy I have just a tremendous amount of respect for. Hope I can have half the career he has had, and just honored to be in that situation."

Rising recorded his fifth touchdown (Kuithe's last score) of the night for a new career high, becoming the first quarterback since Travis Wilson to throw five touchdowns in a game.

The senior quarterback finished the night with 254 passing and five touchdowns on 10-of-15 passing before watching from the sidelines at the end of the first half. He even added 25 rushing yards on four attempts in his first action on the field since the 2023 Rose Bowl.

"It's good. It's nice and easy when you've got a guy like this that's gonna go and kind of make your job easy," Rising said, referencing Kuithe. "Just a great team win. Just got to keep it rolling and focus on next week."

Freshman backup Isaac Wilson entered the game with 38 seconds left in the half, taking a sack on his first play and ending the quick possession with an interception.

"I think he got put in a bad situation his first few snaps," Rising said of his backup. "When you go in there and you're in that two-minute situation, I think it's hard when you just get thrown into that. And that's kind of not the ideal way to start, but I think he did a good job responding and coming back. Definitely needs to clean some things up, but we all do pretty much."

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham agreed with his starting quarterback's assessment.

"It was a tough spot he got put in the first half, you know, 38 seconds, and trying to try to get us down the field," Whittingham said. "Maybe it was a little bit unfair to put him in that spot, but better safe than sorry."

Wilson settled in to start the second half, and led Utah on a 12-play, 57-yard touchdown drive that was capped off with a 4-yard rushing touchdown by redshirt freshman Mike Mitchell, who finished the night with 21 yards on six carries.

After later throwing his second interception of the night, Wilson bounced back and completed a 20-yard touchdown pass to former basketball player Caleb Lohner on the ensuing drive — the first touchdown of either player's collegiate career.

Wilson finished the night throwing for 74 yards and one touchdown and two interceptions on 7-of-11 passing.

"I thought Isaac came back in the second half, did some much better things," Whittingham said. "He'll learn from it. He'll grow. He's got all the tools. He's got a strong arm. He's very mobile, as you saw, he made some nice runs for us. But it's a process, and he was in high school just last year, so we still think — we'd be crazy not to think — he's got a big upside, because he does, so we'll see."

Outside of the offensive performance, Utah's defense held firm to keep a clean sheet. Southern Utah threatened late with a 38-yard field goal attempt, but the kick went wide left to preserve the shutout.

"When (Morgan) Scalley is happy, everyone else is happy," veteran defensive end Van Fillinger joked. "That's all we could ask for, so it was great."

Fillinger finished the night with two of the team's five sacks, leading a defensive front that made it difficult for Southern Utah all night.

"It's always nice to shut someone out. I mean, that's the ultimate goal for a defense," Whittingham said. "I think that we made some plays on there. ... We really controlled the game with our defense and really never — they got a couple runs out on us — but never really gave up any sustained drive, and, of course, didn't get on the score, so very positive."

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