Utah (4-5 straight up, 3-6 against the spread) senior tight end Brant Kuithe’s college career came to an end in Saturday’s 22-21 home loss to BYU. Here’s the play in which Kuithe suffered the season-ending injury.
“Brant Kuithe is lost for the year, sadly, looks serious. It’s unfortunate, he’s battled through so much,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said at his post-game presser late Saturday night.
Kuithe suffered a season-ending injury in 2022 that caused him to also miss the entire 2023 campaign.
In nine games this season, Kuithe had 35 catches for 505 yards and six touchdowns. He also had 26 rushing yards and two TDs.
Kuithe played in 14 games as a true freshman in 2018, hauling in 20 receptions for 227 yards and one TD. As a sophomore in 2019, he caught 34 balls for 602 yards and six TDs. Kuithe also had 102 rushing yards, three TDs and a 17.7 yards-per-carry average on only six carries.
Kuithe played in all five games of the shortened 2020 season, snagging 25 catches for 236 yards. He added 50 rushing yards on six totes for an 8.3 YPC average.
In 2021, Kuithe had 50 receptions for 611 yards and six TDs. He also had a rushing TD.
In the first four games of 2022 before going down with a season-ending injury, Kuithe had 19 catches for 206 yards and three TDs. For his career, he has 183 receptions for 2,387 yards and 22 TDs.
Kuithe is ranked third in program history in career receiving yards. He also has 188 career rushing yards, six TDs and a 7.5 YPC average.
Since 2020 when QB Cam Rising arrived in Salt Lake City, he and Kuithe have been the heart and soul of the Utah program, leading the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 championships and Rose Bowl berths in 2021 and 2022. Both missed all of last season and are out for the rest of this year.
Rising had surgery this past Wednesday. He only played in four games this year, so there’s a chance he could come back for an eighth season. Rising is expected to have conversations with Whittingham about that possibility as early as this week, according to Utah insider Steve Bartle of KSLSports.
As of Monday evening, most books had Utah installed as a 10-point road underdog Saturday at Colorado. The Utes host Iowa St. on Nov. 23 before playing their regular-season finale at UCF on a Friday night.