Utah Football Top Three Plays From September
Oct 3, 2023, 2:19 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – The month of September is in the books for Utah football and while it wasn’t always the cleanest football ever executed, there were some memorable plays.
Utah currently sits 4-1 on the season, 1-1 in conference play and No. 18 in the country while playing four Power Five teams, three ranked opponents, and doing it all without starting quarterback Cam Rising and a slew of other key contributors. Not bad.
It’s true that the Utes’ schedule only gets harder from here, and that the level of play they have produced on offense will need to significantly improve, but that has been nit-picked enough for now. Here are the top three Utah football plays from the month of September.
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Play No. 3: Linebacker Karene Reid’s Pick Six Against UCLA
Talk about wasting zero time. Just 12 seconds into Utah’s Pac-12 opener, linebacker Karene Reid took UCLA freshman quarterback Dante Moore’s first pass at Rice-Eccles Stadium 21 yards to the house.
Reid’s play not only resulted in half of the Utes’ total game-winning score that day but also set the tone for the defense the rest of the game.
Utah would go on to win 14-7.
FIRST DOWN OF @pac12 PLAY IS A PICK-SIX!! 🙌
📺https://t.co/ASj5Ph2un1#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/O3NCHMJcnI
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) September 23, 2023
Play No. 2: Lineback Lander Barton Keeps Pick Six Streak Alive Against Weber State
Did you know that Utah football has the longest active streak in country of seasons with a pick six dating back to the 2004 Fiesta Bowl season?
Barton intercepted Wildcat quarterback Kylan Weisser and returned it for 23 yards, giving Utah their final score of 31-7.
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Play No. 1: Bryson Barnes Throws 70-Yard TD To Open 2023 Season Against Florida
No one had this on their bingo card. In fact, this play is rather the antithesis of Utah football which is why it made our number one spot even though technically this game was played in August.
Adding to the irony is that the Utes have struggled quite a bit on offense since, but the proof is there they can air it out. Hopefully they will figure out ways to capture more of that in part two of their season.
Anyway…
Bryson Barnes bombed a 70-yard touchdown pass to receiver Money Parks in his very first snap of the game that put the Gator defense on their heels. Barnes played in place of starter Cam Rising who has been recovering from an ACL surgery earlier in the year but is hoping to return soon.
Utah went on to win the game 24-11.
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Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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