Utah’s annual hand-painted helmet will be worn on Oct. 15 this season. Against USC. A special night just got a little more meaningful.

The Utes’ hand-painted helmets and accompanying uniforms last season — worn during the team’s 38-7 upset of then-No. 3 Oregon — paid tribute to the U.S.S. Salt Lake City ship that fought in the Pacific during World War II. Those helmets were all hand-painted by Armando Villarreal, the same artist who painted the Utah helmets in 2019.

Villarreal is back for 2022. This season, his design pays tribute to Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, two Utah teammates and friends who tragically lost their lives within a year of one another. The helmets will feature portraits of both players along with the “22 Forever” logo.

The USC game already represents a crucial moment in Utah’s upcoming season. The seventh-ranked Utes are expected to challenge for a spot in the College Football Playoff, but after a rapid offseason overhaul for Lincoln Riley at USC, many think the Trojans can overtake the reigning Pac-12 champs as the best in the West.

But the USC game has meaning in the stories of Jordan and Lowe as well, making it the perfect weekend to unveil the helmets on the field.

In 2020, Jordan made his on-field debut against the Trojans. The game ended in a USC victory, but Jordan flashed potential with seven carries for 32 yards that day. From then on, over the final four weeks of the Utes’ season, Jordan ran for 565 yards at 7.4 yards per carry. That was the jumping-off point for what would have been a tremendous career.

Last season, Lowe was killed in late September after a game against Washington State. The Utes entered into a bye week with a decision to make — play the following week or not. The opponent Utah would face? USC. The Utes took apart the Trojans, 42-26, winning in Los Angeles for the first time since joining the conference.