Kyle Whittingham updates injury status of Utah star TE Dalton Kincaid ahead of Pac-12 Championship matchup with USC

The Utah Utes could be without one of their best players against the USC Trojans on Friday night in their Pac-12 Championship Game. Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham revealed to Allison Williams that Utah star tight end Dalton Kincaid’s status was up in the air and that he was not sure if he would play on Friday night. According to Josh Furlong, he was dressed and out on the field during warmups ahead of the game.

If he has to miss the game, it would be a brutal blow to the Utes’ offensive attack as Kincaid is one of the best tight ends in America. During the 2022 season, he’s already hauled in 66 catches for 850 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.

Kincaid torched the Trojan secondary in the regular season

In the Utes’ unforgettable 43-42 regular season victory over the Trojans, Kincaid torched the USC secondary to the tune of 16 catches for a career-high 234 receiving yards and a touchdown. He earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors for the performance. He was targeted 16 times and caught every single ball thrown his direction. Kincaid finished one catch shy of the single-game FBS record for a tight end.

The USC defense is allowing 73.7 receiving yards per game to tight ends since Week 7–ranking them second-worst in the FBS in the category.

Kincaid currently leads all FBS tight ends in receiving yards (850) and receiving yards per game (77.3).

In 2021, he hauled in 36 catches for 510 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. His eight receiving touchdowns ranked first among Pac-12 tight ends and fifth among tight ends across FBS. The senior tight end figures to be one of the top tight end prospects selected in the 2023 NFL Draft, no doubt about it.

Friday night’s Pac-12 Championship Game between Utah and USC is set to begin at 8:00 PM EST. The game will be nationally televised on FOX.