SALT LAKE CITY — Freshman returner Mana Carvalho had Rice-Eccles Stadium rocking late in the third quarter Saturday night.
After No. 24 Utah’s defense forced one of many three-and-out series against No. 17 Cincinnati, Carvalho split the defenders and got into a foot race to the north end zone before stretching his arms out at the end of the run as Cincinnati attempted to stop the return short of the end zone.
But Carvalho couldn’t be denied in his 78-yard run and went the distance, giving Utah a 38-14 lead with 1:36 left in the third quarter of a pivotal Big 12 matchup — one in which Utah needed to stay alive in the conference title race.
Carvalho became the first Utah player to return a punt for a touchdown since former Utah receiver Britain Covey did it against Oregon in 2021.
Utah (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) left no doubt on the field and pulled away for a 45-14 win over Cincinnati (7-2, 5-1 Big 12), who dropped its first conference game of the season Saturday.
Receiver Ryan Davis led the Utes with 132 receiving yards and one touchdown — including a 46-yard catch — to help Utah to 480 total yards of offense in the win.
Quarterback Devon Dampier, who returned back to the starting lineup after a week off due to injury, finished the game throwing for 213 yards, two touchdown and an interception on 16-of-31 passing, while adding 71 rushing yards.
His counterpart, Brendan Sorsby, on Cincinnati finished with one of his worst performances of the season, throwing for 221 yards, one touchdown and an interception on 11-of-33 passing.
Utah started the night affair off with quick defensive stop and then a 16-play, 94-yard drive that was capped off with a quick strike from Dampier to Davis, who took it 34 yards for an opening drive score.
But Cincinnati bounced back with a scoring drive of its own on the ensuing possession, with Sorsby utilizing back-to-back pitch plays that went for big yards, before Sorsby pulled off a fake pitch and then took it untouched into the end zone for a 22-yard score.
Utah, though, took advantage when Cincinnati was stopped deep in Utah territory and missed a 42-yard field goal — the first miss of the season for Stephan Rusnak and first in multiple seasons for him — and then when Sorsby fumbled on a promising drive and Utah recovered.
The Utes then went 66 yards and Dillon Curtis ended the drive with a laser a 33-yard field goal before a NaQuari Rogers bullied his way through for a 1-yard rushing touchdown on the ensuing possession to give Utah a 24-7 lead going into the halftime break.
This story will be updated.