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Seismograph Stations

Utah vs Cal #UteQuake

Published on:

October 14, 2023

The University of Utah Utes took on the Cal Bears in Salt Lake City on October 14, 2023. The Utes came into the game with a #16 ranking and a record of 4-1 (1-1 Pac-12).

During the 2023 season, the University of Utah Seismograph Stations installed a seismometer on the ground floor of the stadium to record ground shaking related to football games. Below is a summary of some recordings during the Cal game. The Utes started off slow and fell behind 0-7 at the end of the first quarter. However, the Utes owned the second quarter with a Ja’Quinden Jackson 3 Yd rushing touchdown at the 7:56 mark and a Sione Vaki 1 Yd rushing touchdown with 26 seconds left in the first half.

The Utes scored their third touchdown of the game with 9:11 left in the 3rd quarter when Bryson Barnes called his own number and ran 4 yards for the touchdown to put the Utes up 24-7.

Sione Vaki would add one more touchdown with 6:51 to go in the 4th quarter when he ran 72 yards to give the Utes a commanding 31-14 lead. This touchdown was the 2nd largest amplitude seismic signal of all touchdowns thus far in the season. Cole Becker would add another field goal at the 1:57 mark to finish the scoring and put the Utes up 34-14 where it would stay until the clock hit 0:00 to give the Utes the win and move them to 5-1 (2-1 Pac-12) on the season.

This game marked the coming out party for Sione Vaki as a 2-way player as he scored 2 rushing touchdowns and ran for a total of 158 yards. The Utes scored 4 touchdowns in the game and we ranked them from most ground shaking to least:

  1. Sione Vaki 72 yard TD run with 6:51 left in the 4th quarter.
  2. Sione Vaki 1 yard TD run with 0:26 left in the 2nd quarter.
  3. Ja’Quinden Jackson 3 yard TD run with 7:56 left in the 2nd quarter.
  4. Bryson Barnes 4 yard TD run with 9:11 left in the 3rd quarter.

Learn more about the UteQuake Project

*Note: UteQuakes are not real earthquakes, they are measurements of ground motion caused by fans in the stadium.

For questions, please email Jamie Farrell at jamie.farrell@ utah.edu