Ty Jordan, Britain Covey Lead Charge For Utah In Win Over Oregon State

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah wide receiver Britain Covey and running back Ty Jordan had outstanding performances in the Utes’ 30-24 win over Oregon State.

The offensive one-two punch wasn’t the only thing that helped Utah pick up their first win of the 2020 season. The offense improved from last week before the last two drives of the fourth quarter where they stalled out.

Their defense came up big and forced Oregon State to turn the ball over on downs twice in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Here is the Crimson Corner’s “three-point stance” with three thoughts on Utah’s win over Oregon State.

Ty Jordan Is A Star In The Making

After leading the Utes with 32 rushing yards in the season opener against USC, true freshman running back Ty Jordan added to that with 97 yards last week against Washington.

At Rice-Eccles Stadium against Oregon State in the first Saturday of December, Jordan had a breakout performance. The Mesquite, Texas native finished with 167 yards on 27 carries and recorded his first career rushing touchdown. His longest run was 31 yards and averaged 6.2 yards per carry.

“I just want to give all the credit to the o-line,” Jordan said after the game. “You know, they work so hard every day. We work so hard in practice every single day, to just make sure the runs are right. We focus on the details to make sure everything is right. So that resulted in a great game.”

A breakout performance for the true freshman!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ RB Ty Jordan (@_ylfotyt)

Kyle Whittingham said Jordan is separating himself.#GoUtes #CrimsonCorner

📸: Deseret News pic.twitter.com/XTroTHDVrj

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) December 6, 2020

Britain Covey Is Back

Covey did not play in the season opener against USC due to a hamstring injury. He was limited primarily to special teams against Washington but did get a few snaps on offense in but didn’t get a catch.

The veteran receiver was on Utah’s fourth play of the game for a 24-yard gain. His next play on offense came later in the first on a three-yard rush. Andy Ludwig called for another rush for Covey as he gained four yards in the second quarter. Just before halftime, Bentley completed a six-yard pass to Covey. On the final play of the second quarter, Covey gained 16-yards but couldn’t get down before the clock ran out.

In the second half, Covey didn’t get targeted on Utah’s first drive of the third until Bentley connected with him on a slant route for an 8-yard touchdown. It capped off a 14-play, 89-yard drive.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Covey returned a punt 64-yards for a touchdown.

Punt return TD by Britain Covey! Impressive!#GoUtes #OSUvsUTAH @kslsports

— Trevor Allen (@TrevorASports) December 6, 2020

Covey finished the game with four catches for 54 yards and one TD, while rushing for 7 yards on two carries.

“I don’t even know if words can express how frustrating injuries have been for me,” Covey told reporters after the game. “This is probably my first healthy game since the Washington game of 2018. The first Washington game. Being healthy makes the biggest difference, I can’t even explain. I mean, I came in tonight more excited than any game in the past two years just because I knew that when I lined up, I wouldn’t be thinking about any injury, or any part of my body. You know, I could think about my assignment. So it felt great. You know, to keep it short, it felt amazing.”

Young Secondary Shines In Key Moments

Utah’s secondary has been tremendous at getting takeaways throughout the season. They had one interception against Oregon State but made a big impact down the stretch.

On the last two drives for the Beavers that both resulted in turnover on downs, Clark Phillips III pushed QB Chance Nolan out of bounds for just a two-yard gain. JaTravis Broughton tackled Luke Musgraves, who gained 9 yards. Then Nate Ritchie stuffed Calvin Tyler at the line of scrimmage on fourth down.

After Utah’s offense was forced to punt, the Beavers were able to get into Utah territory with a chance to win the game. Mika Tafua sacked the QB on second down. Broughton forced Calvin Tyler to run out of bounds for a seven yard gain on third and 15. Nolan threw the fourth down pass to far past the sideline as the Utah defense bent but didn’t break.

BIG STOP for Utah! Stuffs OSU on fourth and 1.#GoUtes #OSUvsUTAH @kslsports

— Trevor Allen (@TrevorASports) December 6, 2020

This is encouraging to see as these cornerbacks and safeties didn’t have any starting experience before the 2020 season and some haven’t had any college experience before this year.

Utah will travel to Boulder to face the Colorado Buffaloes on Friday, December 11. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. MST and will be broadcast on FS1.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.