Ute freshman brought to earth

Fort Worth » Utah freshman quarterback Jordan Wynn has never seen a defense like to one that pounded him Saturday night.

Of course, even with three years of eligibilty remaining, Wynn might never see another defense as fast to the football as the Horned Frogs were during their 55-28 win over the Utes.

In only his third collegiate game -- and his second start -- Wynn played like the rest of the Utes.

They tried.

They made some mistakes.

They were overwhelmed by the inspired Horned Frogs.

"That's a damn good defense right there," Wynn said. "And when you hurt yourself, that's what they are going to do. They are going to finish you. And it's back to the drawing board on Monday."

Wynn completed 16 of his 32 passes for 219 yards and a touchdown. He quarterbacked the first Football Bowl Subdivision team to score more than 17 points against TCU.

But ...

"I didn't play well, obviously," Wynn said. "I didn't play well enough to win. I didn't play well enough to keep us in the game. It's just back to work next week."

Kyle Whittingham liked how his young quarterback stood his ground against the swarming Horned Frog defense.

"I thought he hung in there," Whittingham said. "He got whacked pretty good a few times and kep coming back. He's to be commended for that. He's a tough kid."

Thanks to a fumbled kickoff after TCU's first-possession

score, Wynn and the Utah offense didn't get on the field for over five minutes.

When the Utes finally got the ball, they trailed, 7-0.

"With a great football team like that, you just can't [make mistakes]," Wynn said. "That's what killed us but, hey, I wish them the best of luck from here on."

It was 28-7 early in the second quarter when Wynn made his worst mistake.

On second and 11 from the Utah 10-yard line, Wynn's pass to the sideline was slow to arrive. TCU's Tank Carder intercepted and strolled into the end zone.

"I was late and a bad read and all sorts of things," Wynn said. "I should have just thrown the ball away. I'll learn. I'll definitely learn from that."

Wynn threw for 88 of his 219 yards on back-to-back plays in the second quarter.

He hit David Reed for 38 yards to midfield and then found Reed for a 50-yard touchdown that cut the Frogs' lead to 35-14.

"I just settled down and went over my progressions," Wynn said. "But that's just a good defense over there. They played tough."

In the third quarter, Wynn's 14-yard scramble to the TCU one set up Eddie Wide's touchdown that made it 41-21.

luhm@sltrib.com