Utah Football Wraps Up 2024 Season With 28-14 Road Win At UCF

Friday, November 29

Orlando, Fla. / FBC Mortgage Stadium

6 p.m.

University of Utah

5-7 , 2-7

UCF

4-8 , 2-7

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Utah

UCF

Utah Football Wraps Up 2024 Season With 28-14 Road Win At UCF

11/29/2024 11:01 PM | Football

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ORLANDO, Fla. – The University of Utah Football program ended the 2024 season with a road victory against the UCF Knights on Friday evening, taking home a 28-14 win. Utah finished the season 5-7 overall and 2-7 in Big 12 play.

Despite being out-gained on offense, senior quarterback Luke Bottari stayed undefeated as Utah's starting quarterback with the Utah defense also finishing the game with 14 points of its own. The Utes had 196 yards on offense (111 pass, 85 rush), going a perfect 3-for-3 inside the red zone.

The Utah defense set the Utes up for its first points of the game right out of the gate with Lander Barton grabbing a strip sack with Logan Fano recovering it on the UCF 46-yard line. The Utes would put up three points on a 37-yard field goal from Cole Becker with 6:52 to go in the first quarter with Utah never relinquishing the lead.

In the second quarter, Utah would score its first pick-six of the game with Zemaiah Vaughn returning an interception 60 yards to the house, putting the Utes up 10-0 with 7:45 to go. UCF found the end zone on a five-yard rushing score to make it a three-point game, but Trey Coleman would add another three points with 1:17 remaining in the quarter, solidifying a six-point advantage at halftime.

The Utes and the Knights went scoreless in the third quarter with Utah's defense holding UCF to just 34 yards on offense. Late in the quarter though, Vaughn would step up big once again, forcing a fumble on a fourth-and-10 to put Utah on the UCF 49-yard line heading into the fourth.

Bottari would find tight end Landen King under double coverage for a 15-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone just seconds into the fourth quarter, extending Utah's lead to 21-7. As time ticked away, Utah's defense would score its second touchdown of the game with Smith Snowden grabbing his first-career pick-six as well, giving Utah a 28-7 lead with 3:34 remaining in the game.

UCF would sneak one into the end zone with 19 seconds to go, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome the Utes with Utah leaving Orlando with the road win.

GAME LEADERS
Bottari, who finishes his career 2-0 as a Utah starting quarterback, wrapped up the game with 111 passing yards (13-20-0) with a touchdown.

His favorite target on the day was freshman Zacharyus Williams, who racked up a career-best six catches for 72 yards. On the ground, senior Micah Bernard rushed for 87 yards on 22 carries, breaking the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season.

On defense, senior Karene Reid recorded his third-career double-digit tackle outing, recording 10 tackles (1.5 TFL, 1.0 sack) and one quarterback hurry. Senior Van Fillinger added seven stops (1.0 TFL) with Vaughn also contributing six tackles along with his pick-six and forced fumble.

Junior Lander Barton led the Utes in sacks with 2.0, which included his strip-sack, with Rabbit Evans adding five tackles that included 2.0 tackles for loss.

On special teams, Coleman and Becker were a perfect 2-for-2 on field goals with Coleman also going 2-for-2 on PATs. Punter Jack Bouwmeester also finished the game averaging 46.1 yards per punt, which included a season-long 62-yarder, landing three inside the 20-yard line.

STANDOUT STAT
Running back Micah Bernard ended the night with 1,009 rushing yards in 2024, making him the 16th different Ute to eclipse 1,000 yards in the season. Bernard's total also goes down as the 21st 1,000 yard rushing season in school history.