WACO, Texas — With a Baylor defender standing in his way down field, freshman quarterback Byrd Ficklin simply brushed the player away with a stiff arm en route to a 74-yard rushing touchdown.
And just like that, a one-possession game midway through the third quarter was suddenly a 15-point Utah lead.
The play wasn’t an anomaly for the freshman, either.
Ficklin rushed for a 67-yard touchdown earlier in the game to give Utah a 21-7 lead in the second quarter, and was what Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham described as “the biggest catalyst” for the team Saturday.
He may not have been the team’s starting quarterback, but he finished with a team-high 166 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and helped offset Devon Dampier’s off night.
As such, No. 13 Utah got out of Waco, Texas, with a 55-28 win over a pass-heavy Baylor team.
“Proud of our guys,” Whittingham said. “It was a lot of back and forth there for a while, but we just kept at it and answered the bell every time. Credit Baylor, they’re a scrappy team.”
Ficklin never took over the reins under center completely during the game, but Whittingham said there was a decision during the halftime break to “up a little higher dose of Byrd” in the second half, and “it proved to be helpful.”
“He’s maturing and becoming more seasoned every single week,” Whittingham said. “He has not had a game that he was inserted where the stage was too big. He’s responded well every single time during the game.”
Dampier, who threw for just 80 yards and two touchdowns on 6-of-13 passing while playing with a nagging injury, said he’s got a “loving relationship” with Ficklin, and that there’s “no hate involved in anything.”
“Anytime we get to see each other shine, we’re all for it,” Dampier said. “Byrd stepped up as freshmen; he’s earned those rights to get in the game. I mean, he proved it tonight why he’s in.”
Baylor (5-5, 3-4 Big 12) was a thorn in Utah’s side for much of the night with a heavy dose of passing — 430 passing yards on 58 attempts by quarterback Sawyer Robertson — to keep the game within a one- or two-score lead.
But that all came to a stop with just over three minutes left in the third quarter when Utah (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) defensive end John Henry Daley brought down Robertson on fourth-and-8, stalling what appeared to be a make-or-break drive in an up-and-down game for both teams.
On the ensuing possession, Utah then turned to running back Wayshawn Parker, who previously had a 64-yard untouched rushing touchdown in the second quarter, to help add to the Utah lead and get the team down in the red zone. NaQuari Rogers capped off the drive with a 3-yard rushing touchdown for the score.
Parker finished as the team’s second-leading rusher with 129 yards and one rushing touchdown on 15 carries, and topped the 100-yard mark for the third consecutive game. He added a late 5-yard reception for a touchdown.
“Wayshawn Parker did a nice job and went over 100 yards again,” Whittingham said. “And he’s really motivated to do that, because whenever he does it, he gets to wear those pink cleats again the next week. I’ve made a deal with him, so you get to see him in pink cleats next week.”
In the end, Utah put up 380 rushing yards and finished with 483 total yards, but was outgained by Baylor’s 563 total yards — with the bulk of that through the air.
“Passing yards are different than rushing yards,” Whittingham said. “if you throw for over 400, you have less than a 50-50 chance to win — that’s statistically proven. Just proud of the way that the whole team hung in there.”
Though a win, it was a mostly tough night for the Utah secondary, who suffered several big plays through the air to help Baylor move the ball down field with ease. Whittingham said it was trouble getting to “fade” passes, and allowing Baylor to get multiple deep passes.
But it wasn’t all bad.
Utah corner Scooby Davis read a play to perfection in the first quarter. The redshirt junior jumped the route as Robertson made his read, and Davis picked off the pass and went the length of the field to give Utah an early 14-0 cushion in the first quarter.
Robertson made up for his early mistake, though, and threw for 244 passing yards — a yard more than Utah’s total yards — in the first half to keep the Bears in a game that had potential to get away from them on their home field.
The veteran signal caller topped an up-and-down first-half performance by dodging a near sack and then connecting with a wide open Josh Cameron, who went 29 yards for a touchdown with four seconds left in the half to make it a 28-17 game.
In the end, Ficklin’s big run unlocked Utah’s offense, and the team battled through some defensive missteps to come away with another blowout win. It was a performance where Utah’s offense stepped up for an uncharacteristically off night defensively — something the defense has done many times over the years for the offense.
“It’s about time, man,” offensive tackle Spencer Fano said. “Those guys have done those so many times, it’s about time that we have their back. Feels good.”
Utah will be without Davis for at least the first half of next week’s game against Kansas State after getting in an altercation with a Baylor player late in the game. The Baylor player said something to Davis, who reacted by hitting him in the helmet and small scuffle resulted.
“Heat of the moment, competitive, but you’ve got to keep your cool,” Whittingham said. “I’m not making excuses for Scooby; I can’t. I don’t know enough about the situation right now to tell you a definitive course of action for us, but we’ll find out.”
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