With 16 days left until kickoff, we focus for the second day in a row on a walkon turned scholarship player, no. 16 Zemaiah Vaughn.

As a true freshman in 2020, Vaughn took a gamble by turning down a scholarship offer from Lamar as a quarterback to walkon on at the University of Utah. That gamble immediately paid off, as he played in four of the five games, seeing time on defense in two of them. He snagged his first career interception against Washington, then proceeded to take it 73 yards while nearly scoring in the process.

Vaughn saw his first bit of action at safety, but the 6-foot-2 and 175 pounder was moved to cornerback this offseason in a move that the staff says is permanent. He’s one of three true freshmen to find themselves in the two-deep at cornerback, something opponents are sure to test early in the season. However, this group doesn’t play like typical freshmen.

UteNation take

The coaching staff is extremely high on Vaughn, expecting him to make a consistent impact in 2021. Head Coach Kyle Whittingham has even gone as far to say there’s not much of a drop-off between the 1-2’s.

Cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah has an impressive track record with taller defenders like Vaughn with his 6-foot-2 frame. Therefore, his continued development will be watched with a lot of intrigue over the next season.

Alex remembers Vaughn’s recruitment

Vaughn committed to Lamar University as a dual-threat quarterback out of Beaumont United HS. He then followed with a stunner, turning down the scholarship offer to be a preferred walkon at the University of Utah. The reason was simple, when Scalley sees some you listen, and that’s something especially known by diamond-in-the-rough prospects out of Texas.

Vaughn then played well enough to receive a scholarship on the first day of 2021 fall camp.