At long last, Brant Kuithe could let himself smile. Not just a smirk, or a grin, but one of those full-on, ear-to-ear cheesers.
All while making a heart with his hands.
After scoring first touchdown in almost two years, this raw show of emotion on Thursday night was simply for himself. Catharsis manifested.
“It is good to know I can still do it,” Kuithe said of what was running through his mind.
Utah’s senior tight end, who spent the last 705 days on the sidelines rehabbing a knee injury, finally had his breakthrough in a 49-0 Utah win. Four catches, three touchdowns, 69 yards.
In Utah’s first game as a member of the Big 12, Kuithe became the conference’s first tight end to catch three TDs in a half. Granted, that should be followed by saying it came against an FCS team, not a Big 12 member.
But Kuithe didn’t care about the history.
If you asked him, the first touchdown was the only one that really mattered.
Because that one — coming just 16 minutes into the game — was proof of concept that the former All-Conference player still had it. He faked like he was blocking on play-action. When the secondary came down, he slipped into the open field and was sprinting free. He looked fluid, healthy and when Rising hit him on a 29-yard dart, Kuith corralled it just like the old days.
“Good to see them back doing their thing,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said, sensing that play could have been a carbon copy from something Kuithe did in 2021 or even 2020.
The rest of Kuithe’s day almost felt inevitable. This fully healthy version of the man was no match for Southern Utah. He scampered in for two more touchdowns. During his last one, he shed three would-be tacklers en route to the end zone. They bounced off of him so easily that Kuithe barely thought he got hit.
“I wouldn’t say those were really hits,” he said. “I didn’t really feel those hits at all. ... Guess they couldn’t tackle me, I guess.”
Rising put it more succinctly: “Grown man.”
It’s been a long time since Kuithe’s been able to flex that strength. He hadn’t played in a game since Sept. 24, 2022, against Arizona State. That day in Tempe, he tore his ACL and meniscus in one play.
He rehabbed, tried to make it back in time for 2023, and then was hit with more devastating news. He had a cyclops lesion in his knee that would again push the timeline back.
Kuithe thought 2022 would be his last college tour before the NFL. Instead, he was looking at 2024 as the next time he could even prove himself to be on that level again.
“Yeah, it does [feel like a long time],” Kuithe said. “I was a little nervous going out there at first.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes tight end Brant Kuithe (80) celebrates a touchdown as the Utah Utes host the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, NCAA football in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024.
Kuithe was pulled with Rising after the first half. Whittingham had seen enough to feel confident that his two seniors, both of whom were returning from injury, had their footing.
Starting next week against Baylor, Utah needs them at full strength.
“For Cam and Brant, it was a confidence thing,” Whittingham said. ”Getting back in the flow. Get back on the playing field and get the live action.”
At the end of the night, Kuithe was jokingly asked again about being the first Big 12 tight end to have three touchdowns in a half.
He grinned and said, “What about the oldest too?”
The process has certainly taken time.
But the tight end looks like the Kuithe of old.
His smile is back.
And that’s exactly what Utah needs.