Utah football head coach Kyle Whittingham hyped up redshirt freshman quarterback Nate Johnson after Utah's win over Florida on Thursday.

“He's electric,” Whittingham said of Johnson, via a Friday article from ESPN Staff Writer Paolo Uggetti. “Struggled with a little bit of ball security a couple times, but he's got quite a future. You can see he makes guys miss and he looks like he's the fastest guy in the field every time he's out there.”

Nate Johnson completed three of his four pass attempts during the 24-11 win at Rice-Eccles Stadium. He tacked on 45 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown on six carries in Thursday's win. Johnson scrambled for a touchdown in the second quarter, weaving past Florida defenders before accelerating to the endzone to put the Utes up by two scores.

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Utah quarterback Bryson Barnes finished the night with 159 passing yards and one passing touchdown. Utah receiver Money Parks caught a 70-yard touchdown pass in stride early during the first quarter, scoring the game's first points with 13:10 remaining in the first. Florida quarterback Graham Mertz, a former Wisconsin signal caller who transferred to the Gators in December, finished the night with 333 passing yards, one passing touchdown and one interception on 44 pass attempts.

Nate Johnson played in four games for the Utes during the 2022 season. The 6-foot-1 quarterback completed a 16-yard touchdown pass and a 21-yard run during a 42-7 win over the Stanford Cardinal in November. Theformer four-star recruit in Utah's 2022 recruiting class initially held offers from Michigan, Arizona State, Fresno State, Oregon State, San Diego State, San Jose State, TCU and UCLA, according to 247Sports.

Utah will kick off against the Baylor Bears at 10 a.m. MDT on Sept. 9 in McLane Stadium. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN.