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Utah football bringing back special helmets for Week 12 game vs. Baylor

Utes will wear their 10th different uniform combination for Saturday's date with the Bears
Cole Forsman|
A view of the hand painted helmet worn by Utah Utes cornerback Blake Cotton (16) during the second half of a game against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
A view of the hand painted helmet worn by Utah Utes cornerback Blake Cotton (16) during the second half of a game against the Cincinnati Bearcats at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

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Utah hopes whatever magic the hand-painted helmets the team wore during its dominant win over Cincinnati carries over into its Week 12 game at Baylor.

Those same handcrafted helmets, featuring a unique circle and drum logo on the side, will be making a return Saturday when the Utes (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) head down to Waco, Texas, for a pivotal Big 12 matchup with the Bears (5-4, 3-3 Big 12).

A 25-second video posted to social media by the official Utah football account on Wednesday revealed the Utes will also wear their standard red jerseys and matching pants against the Bears, who announced an all-white look for Saturday's game earlier in the week.

It'll be the second straight game Utah dons its hand-painted helmets, which made their debut during the Utes' 45-14 victory over the Bearcats in Week 10, and mark the 10th different uniform combination of the season.

Utah rocked an all-black look the last time out, with matching jerseys and pants to match its special helmet, giving validation to the saying, "look good, play good" as it crushed a nationally-ranked Cincinnati squad in all three phases of the game and boosted its own College Football Playoff aspirations.

From the front seven to the secondary, the Utes made life difficult for Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby and company. Sorsby, who hadn't thrown an interception since Week 1, was picked off and lost a couple of fumbles, including one near the red zone, while completing a season-low 33.3% of his pass attempts against Blake Cotton, Don Saunders, Tao Johnson, Smith Snowden and the rest of Utah's deep defensive backs group.

Meanwhile, the Utes' offense maintained the status quo, controlling the time of possession battle behind its potent run game. Wayshawn Parker posted his second straight 100-yard day on the ground, finishing with 104 rushing yards and a touchdown as Utah tallied 267 rushing yards.

Utah will look to keep their postseason hopes alive after coming in at No. 13 in the latest CFP rankings. That leaves no wiggle room for error heading down the stretch of the regular season, with the potential for an appearance in the Big 12 championship game if everything breaks Utah's way in the league standings.

Leaving McLane Stadium with a win is the first step toward bringing those College Football Playoff hopes to fruition.

"We're still in the hunt mathematically as a couple teams got losses this past weekend, but we just got to keep doing our thing," said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham during his weekly press conference. "We just know that we have to win this week. I mean, that's our bottom line, and if we are able to get a win on Saturday, then we stay in the hunt and we'll see what happens with everybody else."

In addition to the Utah-Baylor matchup, Utes fans will be keeping an eye on a contest between Arizona and Cincinnati (10 a.m. MT, FS1); Texas Tech's meeting with UCF (1:30 p.m. MT, Fox); and BYU's date with TCU in Provo, Utah (8:15 p.m. MT, ESPN).

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Cole Forsman
COLE FORSMAN

Cole Forsman has been a contributor with On SI for the past three years, covering college athletics. He holds a degree in Journalism and Sports Management from Gonzaga University.

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