UTAH UTES
Junior Tafuna INT Leads To Chris Curry’s First TD In Utah Uniform
Sep 10, 2022, 12:36 PM | Updated: Sep 16, 2022, 11:17 am
Junior Tafuna #58 of the Utah Utes celebrates sacking Jarrett Guarantano #18 of the Washington State Cougars during their game September 25, 2021 at Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Junior Tafuna caught an interception on a deflected pass at the line of scrimmage which led to Chris Curry scoring his first TD in a Utah uniform.
Junior Tafuna, Chris Curry and the Utah football team hosted Southern Utah in their home opener at Rice-Eccles Stadium. After Tafuna caught the interception, Curry ran the ball twice and scored a 12-yard touchdown to give the Utes a 21-7 lead with 13:27 remaining in the second quarter. It’s Curry’s first touchdown in a Utah uniform.
Curry had two carries for 24 yards and one touchdown. Tavion Thomas had eight carries for 42 yards and two scores.
BIG MAN INT‼️@JuniorTafuna45 pic.twitter.com/oZPxlQXlz3
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) September 10, 2022
After further review: TD 👏@thereal_chris24 pic.twitter.com/KJ5imwC4jo
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) September 10, 2022
The 2021 campaign was a rough one for SUU only winning a single game and going 0-8 in conference play. Not only are the Thunderbirds breaking in a new conference in 2022 (Western Athletic), but also a new head coach in DeLane Fitzgerald- so far so good for the team. In 2022 they have already matched their win total in 2021 after beating the St. Thomas Tommies 44-13 last week.
The Thunderbirds bring back experience at the quarterback position this year with three-year starter Justin Miller. Despite a rough overall year for the team last year, Miller was consistently a bright spot and appears poised to help Fitzgerald right the ship in Cedar City. In 2021, Miller racked up 4,186 passing yards, 25 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and averaged 220 yards per game. Last week, Miller impressed with a 63.9% completion rate off of 359 yards and three touchdowns.
A familiar name to Utah fans on the Thunderbird roster is former running back Braedon Wissler. He didn’t get a ton of play in last week’s game for SUU, but Wissler’s name might be called on occasion. Last week he had seven rushing yards and 33 receiving yards in the Thunderbird’s win over St. Thomas.
The Utah/SUU game can be seen on the Pac-12 Network.
