54 Days till Kickoff: Baylor’s #54s Brayden Utley and Micah Mazzccua
As always, keep track of both the stats and roster countdowns in the Offseason Hub!
Brayden Utley is a fifth-year senior defensive lineman from Huntington Beach, California. He will have one extra year of Covid eligibility if he decides to come back. When reflecting on 2021, Utley believed that the defensive line started to come into its own towards the end of the season, allowing them to dominate up front and win a lot of games. Utley will not hold the same gravitas that names like Siaki Ika, Gabe Hall, or Jaxon Player will have, but he will be a key rotational piece on Baylor’s defensive line in 2022. While at BU, he has made the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll five times and plans on majoring in marketing and management.
Utley recorded a stat in nine of the fourteen games during the 2021 season. He racked up 19 total tackles, one sack, and one interception on the season. The highlight of Utley’s season came in the Big 12 Championship, where he returned Spencer Sanders’ fourth and final interception of the afternoon back for fifteen yards. He also helped Jairon McVea secure the third interception of the game when he forced Sanders into an errant throw. Utley topped that performance with five tackles and a sack against No. 8 Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.
In 2020, Utley appeared in six games and totaled 20 tackles, 2.0 TFLs, a fumble recovery, and a quarterback hurry. He had three tackles in the season opener against Kanas (9/26). And then had five tackles and a fumble recovery against TCU (10/31) and a career-high six tackles against Iowa State (11/7). The Bears’ defensive line suffered a lot of injuries throughout the Covid-shortened season, and Utley took full advantage of the opportunity when his name was called. He was awarded a scholarship in June of 2021.
As a redshirt freshman in 2019, Utley appeared in all fourteen games, mostly on special teams, and collected a career-high two tackles and half of a sack against SFA (8/31).
Utley played o-line, d-line, and linebacker at Loyola High School in Los Angeles. As a senior in 2017, he was Mission League, Honorable Mention. Utley also lettered in track and field and competed in the shot put. After arriving in Waco, he walked on to the football team and redshirted the 2018 season.
Micah Mazzccua is a sophomore offensive lineman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The 6-foot-5, 325-pound guard should have two years of eligibility remaining past this season. Although he did not see the field much in 2021, Mazzccua will be competing with Mose Jeffery for the starting left guard spot for the upcoming season.
Mazzccua prepped at St. Francis Academy in Baltimore, Maryland. He helped anchor an offensive line on a team that went 11-1 with a national schedule. He was a consensus three-star prospect and an Under Armour All-American game selection. Mazzccua was the No. 24 player in Maryland and the No. 48 offensive guard in the country. He committed to Baylor over Michigan and Maryland and elected to redshirt the 2020 season.