by Daniel Olsen | Several Utes, Cougars and Aggies saw action in the slate of NFL games Sunday. However, Utah and BYU fans especially anticipated the matchup between Zack Moss and Harvey Langi.
Moss was drafted 86th in the 2020 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. As the leading rusher in Ute history, there was a lot of excitement surrounding the potential he displayed in the offseason.
Langi, on the other hand, had a more difficult path to the NFL. After going undrafted, he had a short stint with the New England Patriots and recently signed a contract with the New York Jets.
The Jets and Bills, two AFC East Division Rivals, both battled Sunday in Buffalo. With two minutes to go in the first quarter, Moss scored his first career touchdown on a four yard pass from Josh Allen. This was a great way for Ute fans to catch a glimpse of a former Ute in the NFL.
While Moss didn’t fill up the box score, he was the only running back to record a receiving touchdown. He finished with 16 receiving yards on three carries and 11 rushing yards on 9 carries.
Quarterback Josh Allen led the rushing attack with 57 yards on 14 carries. Devin Singletary and Moss split the running back duties equally with 9 carries each. Singletary had 30 yards on his carries, but Moss was still effective with his given carries in short yardage situations. This was quite an impressive performance for a rookie.
Moss might not be a Rookie of the Year caliber running back, but he doesn’t have to be to help his team. He can continue split running back duties as well as show his value at catching passes. The Bills look to be strong contenders in the AFC East with five-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the offseason.
Langi had a productive night of his own even though it did not result in a win for his team. He finished the night with six tackles and received mostly positive reviews from otherwise disgruntled Jets fans.
As a team the Jets did not handle the passing attack well at all. They gave up 306 passing yards and Allen shared the ball with everyone. Eight Bills players recorded at least one catch with Stefon Diggs leading the way with eight catches for 86 yards. Besides Moss, John Brown was the only other Bills player to have a receiving touchdown. On the bright side for the Jets, they did hold Buffalo to just 98 rushing yards.
It was a 27-17 loss that the Jets would like to soon forget, but the rematch on October 25th should be a good one when this Ute and Cougar go head to head again. The two only faced off once in college in 2016 with Moss and the Utes coming out on top. Both Moss and Langi excelled in that game and we will look forward to more spectacular performances from both of them in future NFL games.
Featured image via billswire.usatoday.com.