Freshman QB Jordan Wynn rallies No. 19 Utah to 22-10 win over Wyoming

By Doug Alden, AP
Saturday, October 31, 2009

Freshman QB rallies Utah to 22-10 win over Wyoming

SALT LAKE CITY — Freshman Jordan Wynn passed for 82 yards and a touchdown in his college debut, replacing starter Terrance Cain in the second half and rallying the 19th-ranked Utes to a 22-10 win over Wyoming on Saturday.

Eddie Wide tied a school record with his fifth straight 100-yard rushing game and added a late touchdown to seal the win for Utah (7-1, 4-0 Mountain West), which trailed 10-3 at halftime.

Wynn sparked the offense in the third quarter and Utah’s defense shut down the Cowboys (4-4, 2-2) in the second half, holding Wyoming to 74 yards in the final 30 minutes.

Austyn Carta-Samuels was 19 for 30 for 121 yards and caught a touchdown pass on a trick play as the Cowboys surprised the Utes early.

Wide had 24 carries for 135 yards and a 5-yard touchdown run with 1:41 remaining as the Utes beat the Cowboys for the ninth time in 10 years.

Utah outscored Wyoming 90-7 in last two meetings, but the Utes had to come from behind this time after sputtering through the first half.

The Utes failed to score the first two times they drove inside the Wyoming 20, then had to settle for two field goals by Joe Phillips on drives that reached the Wyoming 4 and 15 in the third quarter.

Utah also went three-and-out on a possession that started at the Wyoming 48, then Wynn finally got the Utes in the end zone with a 22-yard pass to Jereme Brooks with 7:35 left in the game to put Utah up 16-10. Utah’s defense set up the offense again, forcing the Cowboys to punt from their own 9 and giving the Utes the ball at the Utah 45.

The defense had to come up with two more stops before finally putting away the Cowboys. R.J. Stanford intercepted a pass that was tipped right to him, then Derrick Selby sacked Carta-Samuels on a fourth-and-6 from the Wyoming 20 with 1:53 left.

That led to the touchdown run by Wide, who became the fourth Utah back to rush for 100 yards in five consecutive games.

Cain was 10 for 13 for 121 yards in the first half, but also took two sacks that knocked the Utes back 12 yards and take them out of scoring range. The Utes had a false start in between the two sacks, so they went scoreless after driving to the Wyoming 17.

Wynn lost out to Cain in a preseason battle for the starting job. Wynn completed his first four passes and led the Utes to a first-and-goal at the Wyoming 7, but Utah stalled again, then got called for another false start and had to settle for 26-yard field goal by Phillips to get Utah within 10-6.

The Cowboys caught the Utes off guard with about 5 minutes left in the second quarter on a perfectly executed play. Wyoming lined up former starting quarterback Robert Benjamin at receiver for a backward pass from Carta-Samuels, who immediately turned up field and caught the re-pass from Benjamin in stride down the Utah sideline for a 30-yard touchdown pass that put Wyoming up 10-3.

Benjamin started the first three games but was replaced by Carta-Samuels early in a 24-0 loss to Colorado.

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