Utah celebrates the lives of Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe with moment of loudness

Utes honor the fallen players in a unique way to open the season on Thursday night

Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

The Utah Utes football program suffered two unimaginable losses over the past two years. On Christmas of 2022, Ty Jordan died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the abdomen at the age of 19. Just nine months after the accidental shooting, Utah defensive back Aaron Lowe was murdered outside a rowdy house party in Salt Lake City. He was 21.

Before the start of the fourth quarter during No. 12 Utah's 49-0 victory over Southern Utah on Thursday night, the memory of both fallen Utes was honored at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The "22 seconds of loudness" filled the air with everyone raising up two fingers in the air. It was an emotional moment to say the least. The Utes fans were encouraged to use their voices to honor Jordan and Lowe, who are gone too soon.

The University of Utah retired the No. 22 to pay homage to both men on Oct. 30, 2021.

Buk Mawut Buk, now 25, pleaded guilty to Lowe's murder eariler this year. He also admitted to injuring a woman in the shooting on Sept. 26, 2021, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a statement. Police say he fired multiple shots at the two during a heated argument after the football player asked Buk's friends to move their car. Lowe died at the scene. The Utah State Medical Examiner's Office later recovered four bullets from his body, according to the autopsy.

Alex Smith inducted into Utah's Ring of Honor

What makes the entire story bittersweet is that Lowe was named as the first recipient of the Ty Jordan Memorial Scholarship out of West Mesquite HS in Texas. He also switched his jersey number from No. 2 to No. 22 to honor Jordan's legacy after they were friends growing up outside of Dallas.

"Ty made everyone around him better," Lowe said right before the 2021 season. "He made me better. My friendship with Ty means a lot because he was always pushing me to be my best. He never let me settle for less. I want to make sure his legacy lives on through me."