Utes honor moms of late Aaron Lowe and Ty Jordan with game ball after USC win

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utes’ thrilling 43-42 victory over the previously undefeated USC Trojans on Saturday night was a special victory.

The team paid tribute to two of its former players who lost their lives in the last two years.

Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe both wore #22 when they took the court for the Utes. Both also lost their lives to gun violence.

An random shooting on christmas 2020 took Jordan’s life. Not even a year later, Lowe was killed in a shooting in September 2021.

The mothers of the two players, Takka Jordan and Donna Lowe, were in the stands at Rice-Eccles Stadium Saturday night.

The Utes took the field with custom-made helmets, which both Jordan and Lowe wore, with the letters “TJ AL” emblazoned on the back.

READ: Utes win special for family of recently deceased superfan

After the game, emotions were still running high as both mothers received game balls.

“Whenever you see them, just such strong people and so resilient,” Utah quarterback Cameron Rising said in a postgame press conference. “Whenever they . . . come out, they bring an energy with them that just radiates through the whole building or room or whatever . . . and we just build off of that.”

Right between the two women as they each received a ball was longtime Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham, who coached both of their sons.

“It was great to be able to get that win with the moms of Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe here at the game, and internally we dedicated this game, you know, we didn’t announce it to anybody, but we dedicated this game to our fallen teammates,” Whittingham said. “How nice to be able to give those moms a game ball in the locker room after the game.”

Those two game balls were presented by freshman Ja’Quinden Jackson.

Jackson is from the Dallas, Texas area, as are Jordan and Lou. He is the recipient of the TJAL Memorial Scholarship.

The emotional game included a “moment of volume” between the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter. Tradition became central to the observance of the lives of both Jordan and Lowe.

VIDEO BELOW: Artist hand-painted 150 Utah football helmets to honor Ty Jordan, Aaron Lowe

Artist hand paints 150 Utah football helmets to honor Ty Jordan, Aaron Lowe