Charlie Brewer Has Impressive Debut In Utah’s Season-Opening Win Over Weber State

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utes quarterback Charlie Brewer showed why he won was QB1 in Utah’s season-opening victory over the Weber State Wildcats.

Utah faced Weber State in front of a Rice-Eccles Stadium record crowd of 51,511.

Brewer was accurate, composed, and led the Utes to a win.

Utah defeated Weber State, 40-17.

The Utes defeat the Wildcats to open their 2021 campaign. 🙌

FINAL @weberstatefb 17@Utah_Football 40

Next up, the Rivalry Game.#GoUtes https://t.co/Z5mwg8YseT

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 3, 2021

Brewer finished the game 19/27 passing for 233 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. He posted a rating of 159.9.

Utah Shows Strength In Passing Game In First Half

The very first play of the game on offense for Utah was a deep ball throw to Brant Kuithe but a Weber State defender hit Kuithe and was called for pass interference.

That drive stalled out in the red zone, much like the struggles last season and Utah settled for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Weber State star returner Rashid Shaheed took the return for a 99-yard touchdown.

Somehow we have 3 of the best returners in the country playing college football in our state; only fitting that the first TD of 2021 is scored on a kickoff return.@RashidShaheed pic.twitter.com/UWPqLaHTEn

— Matthew L Glade (@matthewLksl) September 3, 2021

Just as the Wildcats were about to kickoff, the game went into a lightning delay. The game resumed 90 minutes later, at 7:18 p.m. MDT with Utah getting the ball.

Charlie Brewer took control on the drive and was getting the offense down the field, finding Micah Bernard, Brant Kuithe and Solomon Enis for big gains. The drive ended with Brewer finding tight end Dalton Kincaid for a 17-yard touchdown, giving the Utes a 10-7 lead.

The weather delay did not stop the Utes momentum! 🙌@CBrewerII connects with @_DaltonKincaid for their first TD in a @Utah_Football uniform.

📺 Pac-12 Network
📱 https://t.co/emiPff0UwP#GoUtes | #Pac12FB pic.twitter.com/IxflPb9kUP

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 3, 2021

Bronson Barron threw a ball into traffic and Clark Phillips III got his helmet on the ball and Devin Lloyd made a diving interception to get the ball back to the Utes. Utah stalled out again in the red zone and Jadon Redding made his second field goal of the night to put them up 13-7 in the second quarter.

Later in the second, Tavion Thomas made back-to-back strong runs with the second run going into the end zone. Utah had a 19-7 halftime lead.

Utes are FEELING it! 💥@nextupp5 finds the end zone & @Utah_Football goes up 19-7.

📺 Pac-12 Network
📱 https://t.co/emiPff0UwP#GoUtes | #Pac12FB pic.twitter.com/TE3urgp4z5

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 3, 2021

Utah Uses Balanced Offensive Attack In Second Half

Coming out of the locker room, Tavion Thomas fumbled the ball and Weber State recovered. Utah’s defense shut them down in the red zone and the Wildcats settled for a field goal to trim the deficit to 19-10 with 10:31 remaining in the third quarter.

Brewer kept his impressive play going late in the third quarter when he found Solmon Enis for an 8-yard touchdown. That was set up by an impressive catch by Kincaid for a 35-yard gain. Utah had a 26-10 lead with 4:27 remaining in the third.

Do you love this Charlie Brewer to Solomon Enis connection as much as we do? #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/GBpMHEBv6W

— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) September 3, 2021

Going into the game, Kyle Whittingham mentioned that three or four offensive linemen are not healthy and it showed on a drive early in the fourth quarter. On fourth down and goal to go at the one-yard line, the offensive line couldn’t get a push to get Chris Curry into the end zone and the Utes turned the ball over on downs.

Just minutes later, Utah went down in scoring position again but Tavion Thomas took some Weber State defenders with him for a 14-yard TD, his second of the night.

Another one for @nextupp5! 🤩

📺 Pac-12 Network
📱 https://t.co/emiPff0UwP#GoUtes | @Utah_Football pic.twitter.com/c5ysNNcMcF

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 3, 2021

Utah had a 33-10 lead with under nine minutes remaining in the game.

Weber State fumbled the ball on their next possession which was forced by Devin Lloyd. Cam Rising checked into the game and threw a touchdown pass to Dalton Kincaid to put the Utes up 40-10.

The Wildcats scored a late touchdown to make it 40-17.

Utah improved their record to 1-0 on the season. They will head down to Provo on Saturday, September 11 to face BYU. Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. MDT and will be televised on ESPN.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com, Co-Host of Faith, Family and Football podcast with Clark Phillips III and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports.