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GAINESVILLE — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham compared him to Cam Newton before the game. Whatever the comparison, Florida’s Anthony Richardson was a nightmare for the Utes. The second-year quarterback, who has already garnered first-round NFL draft attention, worked his magic to lead the Gators to their 33rd straight home opener on Saturday as Florida defeated No. 7 Utah by 29-26 in The Swamp. And though Richardson was electric on the field — he completed 168 yards on 17-of-24 passing and had three rushing touchdowns and 106 yards — it was a game-sealing interception in the end zone by Utah’s Cam Rising that doomed Utah’s opportunities. in a possible victory. Before the turnover, Rising orchestrated a drive from its own 25 that put Utah 6 yards out of the end zone, with a winding clock that the Utes were trying to get as close to zero as possible before the score. . Utah didn’t need a touchdown, but kept passing in an attempt to win the game in regulation and a field goal to tie the game as a backup. But neither worked as Reesing fumbled the ball short and into the hands of Florida’s Amari Burney, who had fits tightly containing Brant Kuithe all night but got the last laugh. As the referees confirmed the interception, the crowd of 90,799 erupted in deafening cheers. All Rising could say at the end, after a significantly long pause before answering how he felt: “Just not too happy about it, that’s what.” Before Utah’s final possession, Florida trailed by 4 points and needed a drive of their own to keep their chances alive. With the drive starting at Utah’s 25-yard line, Richardson and the offense drove the ball to the 1-yard line, milking the clock along the way, before calling a timeout. It provided a brief respite in an otherwise electric environment — the sellout crowd was Florida’s largest home opener and the 10th-highest-attended game of all time — before Richardson ran untouched into the end zone for the score and his third rushing touchdown of the night. “He’s going to get his, I mean, there’s no way — the guy’s 6-foot-4, 240 and runs like a 4.3, so there’s no way you’re going to keep him bottled up,” Whittingham said of Richardson. “But he did the damage at key points in the game, critical moments in the game. He’s a terrific player.” The Gators opened the game with a rushing attack that Utah couldn’t contain, but Utes defensive end Jonah Elliss forced a fumble and RJ Hubert scooped it up to return it 37 yards to the 25-yard line of Florida. From there, Rising went to work and connected with receiver Devaughn Vele before a 9-yard touchdown with Brant Kuithe for the game’s first score. It was a powerful statement to the deafening crowd at The Swamp and a sign that Utah was not afraid of SEC country. “Yeah, I wouldn’t even call it my game. I think it was a team effort,” Hubert said. “That’s something we stress a lot is just getting the ball out either through forced fumbles or interceptions. The ball really fell into my lap and I just started running.” Florida Gators linebacker Amari Burney (2) cuts the ball, ending the game against Utah as they play in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. Florida won 29-26. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News) But after that opening drive, Utah’s offense sputtered and struggled to settle against a Florida defense that collapsed at the line and made the game non-existent for the rest of the half. To open the second half, however, Utah used a heavy dose of an efficient running game between Tavion Thomas and Chris Curry to get into the red zone. But once at the 1-yard line, Utah was shorthanded multiple times, leading to turnovers on downs. Utah might have had a touchdown on a Rising run on third down that was ruled short by the officials, but Whittingham never challenged the call. Rising believed he broke the plane, but said “it is what it is” without any revision. A fourth down drive was considered after Thomas dived for the field goal, but it was not in Utah’s favor. Whittingham said they waited for the refs to review the third play, but nothing ever came. At that point, he decided it wasn’t worth calling a timeout to review the call. “They look at every project and it’s been a long time until we shoot the next one — not a long time but enough time for them to see it several times,” Whittingham said. “If they think there’s a doubt, they’ll stop and keep looking at it. That’s pretty much it — nine times out of 10 it’s a waste of time out to try to do that, because it’s happening anyway.” On the ensuing possession, after stopping and forcing the Gators to punt, Utah drove 89 yards in five minutes to close out the third quarter and take a 19-14 lead over Florida (Utah had a 2-point conversion attempt). . But the missed opportunities were hard to overcome and made the difference as the hour wound down. “Yeah, it’s tough,” said Kuithe, who was the Rising’s top target and finished with 105 yards and a touchdown on 13 catches. “It’s a lot of missed opportunities. We shot ourselves in the foot, but give them credit for making stops when they needed to. They’re a good team, but we’ve just got to bounce back from it and go on to next week and try to go 1-0 ». Utah returns to action Saturday in the schedule opener against Southern Utah (1:30 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Networks). x
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Josh is the Athletic Director for KSL.com and a writer on winning University of Utah athletics — primarily football, men’s basketball and gymnastics. He is also one of the top 25 Associated Press voters in college football.
