Wayshawn Parker expected to play for Utah at Arizona

Utah fans spent Saturday night wondering if the season's best weapon had just broken down. Pete Thamel had the answer by Sunday.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

Sources: No. 3 Utah got good news on star tailback Wayshawn Parker, who was limited on Saturday due to an issue with his heel. He’s dealing with a bruise, and is expected to play on Saturday at No. 22 Arizona. He was limited against BYU after appearing to injure himself on the opening drive, as he carried the ball only twice in the first half.

It was a strange afternoon for Parker even as Utah won. He got hurt on the opening drive. Heavy reported he picked up 6 yards on his first carry and limped off under his own power. The broadcast suggested the injury was something he had been dealing with before that week. He came back on the next drive, then left again, and finished the first half with 2 carries. You do not usually see that from your leading rusher in a rivalry game with a perfect season on the line.

Utah won anyway. The No. 3 Utes beat BYU 28-20 at home and moved to 9-0. Bear Bachmeier threw 4 interceptions, BYU went scoreless after halftime, and the Cougars lost to Utah for the first time since 2019. So the defense carried a day when the offense was down its main guy. That works once. Doing it every week through November is a different ask.

The numbers show how much Parker was missing. His per-carry average came in well under half of his season pace, and his year-long production puts him near the top of the Big 12.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

For the game, Parker averaged just 2.6 yards per carry on Saturday after entering the game averaging 6.6 yards per carry. His 762 yards rushing are seventh in the Big 12 and his nine rushing touchdowns are fourth in the Big 12.

He's also more than a pure runner. Rotowire has the 5-foot-10 junior with 29 catches for 269 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns, so he scores both ways. Without him, Utah's offense gets a lot easier to scheme against. With him, even at 85 percent, defenses still have to account for him on every snap.

That's why a bruise is the best news Utah could have gotten. It's not structural and it's not a multi-week injury. The word is he's expected to play, though not necessarily at 100 percent. One caveat: early reports out of the BYU game pointed to his left knee or ankle, and the sourced update now says heel. Heel bruises can hang around for a while, especially for a back who cuts on every carry.

Watch how Utah handles him in Tucson. Arizona is ranked and at home, which makes it a real trap game for an unbeaten team in a playoff race. If Parker gets his normal workload and looks like the guy who was averaging 6.6 a carry, Utah is fine. If he's on a snap count again and the backups are handling first and second down, BYU's 4 interceptions won't be there to bail anybody out this time.