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BYU to honor late Ute Ty Jordan at Saturday’s rivalry game

Utah has dedicated the season to Jordan, who was tragically killed in an accidental shooting last December

(@byueqipment via Twitter) Members of the BYU football equipment staff hold a flag that honors former Utah Utes running back Ty Jordan, who died last year.

  | Sep. 8, 2021, 7:13 p.m.

The rivalry will be paused for a moment.

On Saturday, as the BYU football team gets ready to take on the Utes, the Cougars will honor late Utah running back Ty Jordan with a flag at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

The Utes are dedicating the 2021 season to Jordan, who died tragically last December by an accidental shooting in Dallas. They have dedicated Portal 22 (Jordan’s uniform number) at Rice-Eccles Stadium to him and set aside a locker for him.

The Cougars will join in honoring Jordan’s life, too.

The BYU football team will run out and then present a flag to the Utah team before the game on Saturday, a BYU spokesperson said. Cougar equipment manager Billy Nixon shared an image of the flag on Wednesday.

Jordan was a force, especially over the final three games of Utah’s pandemic-shortened season a year ago. During that stretch, Jordan rushed for 468 yards and six touchdowns in three Utah wins. For the season, he rushed for 597 yards and the six touchdowns, plus 126 receiving yards on 11 catches on his way to being named Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and the league’s Newcomer of the Year by the Associated Press.

The red flag will be presented on the field by a Cougar player, alongside the U.S. flag and a BYU flag.

“The flag was done in coordination with Utah using the same logo Utah players will wear on their helmets this year to honor his memory. Utah will use the flag as the program pays tribute to Ty throughout the season,” a BYU spokesperson said.