Nate Johnson leads No. 12 Utah to come-from-behind win over Baylor

WACO, Texas — Nobody would blame No. 12 Utah if it hit the snooze button and went back to bed Saturday morning instead of showing up for its early-morning start in the hot and humid climate at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.

The nightmare, though, existed on the field in Utah's first road test of the 2023 season against future conference opponent Baylor. But in what appeared to be a Baylor victory for a majority of the game, Utah rallied for a come-from-behind 20-13 win to stun the home crowd.

"Great job by our fellas finding a way to win," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "There's a way to win every single game, and you've just got to figure out what that is."

With starting quarterback Cam Rising still sidelined due to injury, Utah's offense was anemic and mostly outmatched for much of the day. Backup quarterback Bryson Barnes held the ball too long and failed to generate a strong passing game, while Utah's run game — outside of a 44-yard run by Ja'Quinden Jackson in the first half — lacked physicality.

But when Barnes, who threw for 71 yards on 6-of-19 passing and one interception, couldn't get it done on the field, Utah (2-0) turned to redshirt freshman Nate Johnson to lead the charge at quarterback.

Johnson split reps with Barnes in the first half for the second straight week before getting the nod full time in the fourth quarter. Backed up to Baylor's 12-yard line, Johnson led Utah on a fourth quarter drive that was capped off when the Clovis, California, native ran up the middle for a 7-yard rushing touchdown to tie up the game with 1:59 left.

Utah's defense, which at times struggled to contain a good offensive game play by Baylor (0-2), held serve, and Cole Bishop picked off Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson at the Bears' 29-yard line to give Utah life.

On the ensuing series, Jackson escaped on third down for a 22-yard rushing touchdown, but it was called back for a holding penalty. Jackson made up for it on the next play and rushed for a first down to buy Utah a fresh set of downs before Jaylon Glover ran up the middle for an 11-yard rushing touchdown for the go-ahead score.

Glover ran parallel to the end zone for a time to wear out the clock before he was eventually pushed into the end zone for the go-ahead score with 17 seconds left in regulation.

"He and (Quinton Ganther) may have talked about it, but I certainly didn't instruct him to do that," Whittingham said. "The rule of thumb is if you're ahead by one you don't score, because that's the only way you can lose is to score right there and give them a chance to get a touchdown and a 2-point conversion.

"I talked to him after the game, he said he was just trying to burn more time. He was fully intent on getting in the end zone but he was just going to wait as long as they were going to let him have that touchdown. He wanted to make an effort to milk the clock a little bit, which is heads up on his part."

With 17 seconds left in regulation, Baylor managed a deep pass down field to Utah's 22-yard line with one second left on the clock. But a hurried throw by Robertson on pressure from a Utah defender was broken up and Utah escaped with a win.

"Credit Baylor; they made it very difficult on us," Whittingham said. "They're well coached — extremely well coached on both sides of the ball — and credit them for putting up the fight they did. They had us on the ropes, there's no doubt about it. They had us on the ropes, we were able to respond and, like I said, find a way to win."

Johnson finished the day throwing for 82 yards, including a 22-yard pass, on 6-of-7 passing, while adding 32 rushing yards in relief work. And while his reps were limited until the end of the game, it was the spark Utah needed to make the comeback.

Whittingham said the coaching staff has always had "confidence in Nate," but he felt like Johnson "took a big step forward" Saturday.

"He's going to be a better quarterback because of this performance," Whittingham added. "We're excited about his future here."

"Things weren't going well the whole game, and coach called my number," Johnson said. "I live by this quote, 'stay ready and gotta get ready,' and I just stepped in, trusted the game plan, trusted the calls, trusted our offense, and trusted God. He blessed us to come out with a win tonight."

Robertson managed the offense well for Baylor, who was without injured starter Blake Shapen, and finished the day throwing for 218 yards on 12-of-28 passing, and added a 4-yard rushing touchdown.

Related topics