Utah football hailed with Big 12 weekly honors following win over Baylor

Utes receive pair of weekly awards after rushing for 380 yards against the Bears

Utah Utes quarterback Byrd Ficklin (15) carries the ball for a 67-yard touchdown during the first half at McLane Stadium. | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Another dominant performance on the ground, led by a true freshman quarterback, earned the Utah offensive line and Byrd Ficklin Big 12 weekly honors following a decisive victory over Baylor on Saturday.

The Utes front line, which paved the way for 380 rushing yards in the 55-28 win over the Bears, was honored as the league's offensive line of the week for the fourth time, while Ficklin, who accounted for 166 of those yards on just six carries, took home his second freshman of the week award on Monday.

BYU and Arizona State were also recognized with multiple awards following Week 12. Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier and Sun Devils signal-caller Jeff Sims split the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honor. The conference's special teams player of the week was also divided up between the schools, with kickers Will Ferrin and Jesus Gomez taking home the honor.

The defensive line of the week award was given to BYU after recording three sacks, five tackles for a loss and allowing only 13 points in its victory over TCU. Standout linebacker Jacob Rodriguez won his third consecutive weekly honor after tallying nine tackles and an interception in Texas Tech’s 48-9 win over UCF, splitting the defensive player of the week award with Arizona State linebacker Jordan Crook following his 14-tackle performance in the Sun Devils' 25-23 win over West Virginia.

Utah recorded its third 300-yard rushing performance of the season behind two 100-yard rushers in Ficklin and Wayshawn Parker. Those two combined for three scores from 60-plus yards out, with Ficklin breaking off runs of 67 and 74 yards to bring his season average to an astonishing 27.7 yards per carry. Parker had a 64-yard touchdown in the second quarter to propel him over the 100-yard threshold for the third consecutive game.

Ficklin, whose first freshman of the week honor came after an impressive performance against Colorado in his first career start, made the most of his opportunities behind an offensive line bookended by two potential first round NFL draft picks. The Utes needed just 59 plays to rack up 483 yards of total offense while averaging 8.2 yards per play against the Bears.

"I would say, as advertised, exactly what we expected," said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham when asked if his offensive line has lived up to expectations during a weekly press conference. "And if anything, maybe even better than we expected. We're second the nation in rushing the football, and that's that's a real good indicator of the physicality and the talent level of your front."

The Utes (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) went into Week 13 putting up 278.4 rushing yards per game, which would clear the program's previous high under Whittingham of 217.6 set by the 2022 team.