A freshman phenom on the University of Utah football team accidentally shot himself to death on Christmas—four months after his mother lost her battle to cancer. The death of running back Ty Jordan, 19, sent shock waves through the Pac-12, which had named him best offensive freshman. “We knew he would be great before he even set foot on our campus. He was a light, always with a smile on his face. One of the hardest working and most humble guys we’ve seen come through this program. We love you, Ty,” Coach Kyle Wittingham wrote on Twitter. Police in Denton, a suburb of Dallas, said they were called to a home for a shooting and found the victim with a single wound. “Following a preliminary investigation, we do believe that this was an accidental shooting, where the victim accidentally shot himself,” police spokeswoman Allison Beckwith told ESPN.