One piece of bad news coming out of the University of Utah’s win at Colorado on Saturday was Dalton Kincaid leaving the game before halftime with an injury.
On Monday, Kyle Whittingham offered some good news on his All-Pac-12 tight end as preparations for Friday night’s Pac-12 championship game vs. USC begin.
“We expect him to play,” Whittingham said. “It’s not a guarantee, but we’ll see what happens.”
Cam Rising’s third and final touchdown pass against the Buffaloes, a 29-yard toss to Kincaid in the back of the end zone, was marred when Kincaid landed hard. He stayed down for an extended period of time, before getting up gingerly. Kincaid was able to walk to the locker room under his own power, albeit surrounded by medical personnel. His day was done at that point after five catches for 102 yards and the touchdown.
Whittingham said postgame that “hopefully” Kincaid would be alright, offering that the initial diagnosis at Folsom Field did not reveal anything that appeared too serious. The 18th-year Utes head coach went on to confirm that the injury is unrelated to the shoulder injury Kincaid suffered at Washington State on Oct. 27, which cost him the Arizona game on Nov. 5 and caused him to be used in a limited capacity vs. Stanford on Nov. 12.
Kincaid’s presumed inclusion on Friday night at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas brings with it a key storyline after he caught his 16 catches for 234 yards, both career-highs, and a touchdown helped the Utes outlast the Trojans, 43-42, at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Oct. 15.
That remains 11-1 USC’s lone loss as it now finds itself in a position to likely get to the College Football Playoff with a win on Friday. Only once in the history of the CFP has a 1-loss Power Five champion, Ohio State in 2018, not been included in the 4-team event.
“We’ve just been featuring him more and more, and he’s been making more and more plays,” Whittingham said. “You saw the catch he got dinged up on in the Colorado game, that was spectacular, so it’s just a matter of continuing to maximize his skill set and understanding how incredible that skill set is. Bottom line, he’s a terrific talent, and a guy that every week, we need to target a bunch of times.”
Kincaid currently leads Utah in receptions (66), receiving yards (650) and receiving touchdowns (8). The Las Vegas native sits inside the top 8 in the Pac-12 in all three categories.
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/DBtOsdA
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