The nonconference portion is in the books, and Utah walked through it the way a veteran program usually should. The Utes are 3-0, and Saturday’s 33-0 win over Utah State at Rice-Eccles Stadium looked a lot like the first two games: controlled, lopsided and over early.
That matters because Utah is carrying momentum into conference play, and the early returns say this team hasn’t taken a step back from last year’s 11-2 finish and No. 14 ranking. If anything, the offense looks more varied and more dangerous, which is saying plenty for a group that already led the Big 12 in total offense at 482.9 yards per game last season.
“3-0 going into conference play, so we're excited," said coach Morgan Scalley. "We definitely got some things to clean up."
Devon Dampier has been the biggest reason the Utes look sharper on that side of the ball. In his second season at Utah and his first under new coordinator Kevin McGiven, the senior quarterback has raised his level as a dual-threat threat, and there’s a case to be made that only an injury could keep him from putting together one of the best statistical seasons in school history.
His feel for the offense looks cleaner, and so does his patience. Dampier is not just tucking it and running at the first sign of trouble.
Against the Aggies, he held the ball, let routes develop and found openings before taking off. That showed up immediately on Utah’s opening drive, when he extended the play long enough for Utah State transfer Braden Pegan to get loose for a 28-yard touchdown.
The same duo connected again on a 36-yard score just before halftime to push the lead to 29-0.
By the end of the first quarter - after which the game was effectively over - Dampier had already thrown for more than 100 yards and was averaging nearly 8 yards per carry on four rushing attempts. Stretch those kinds of numbers across Big 12 play, and Utah starts looking like a legitimate conference championship contender, with Dampier right in the mix for MVP talk.
Still, the schedule has to be acknowledged for what it is. Utah has not exactly been stress-tested yet, and that’s the obvious pushback to all the early praise. The Utes have cruised through a soft opening stretch, and the competition level figures to rise soon enough.
That tougher run could start next week at Iowa State. The Cyclones have a new look after losing their coach and several key players to Penn State in the offseason, but they still scored 55 points against Bowling Green on Saturday and came close to knocking off nationally ranked Iowa last week.
This is the tradeoff with the modern schedule. Power Four teams usually line up an easy opener, then add a second game against another P4 opponent and a third against a Group of Six team before settling into conference play. Utah’s version of that plan never really gave it a true test, because all three of its nonconference opponents landed in the C range - maybe low B if you want to be generous.
Idaho and Utah State were supposed to be comfortable wins, and they were. Arkansas was the outlier, and not in a good way.
Utah hammered the Razorbacks 43-10 last week, and Arkansas enters the season after a 2-10 year that ended with its coach getting fired. After that loss to Georgia on Saturday, the Razorbacks have been outscored 91-27 in their two games against FBS opponents.
Utah State, meanwhile, brought effort but not much else to the table. In Bronco Mendenhall’s second season, the Aggies still don’t look like a team ready to push the Utes, even if they played hard. Mendenhall’s track record of second-season improvement - at BYU and Virginia - is part of the conversation, but this year that kind of leap may be harder to find.
In Other News...
Utah High School Results Could Stir Plenty Of Utes Recruiting Talk
High school football across the Mountain West offered plenty for Utah fans to track over the weekend, with several results and individual performances that could ripple into future recruiting conversations. Jefferson topped Brandon Valley, Big Sky got past Butte, Uintah finally snapped an 11-game losing streak against Wasatch, Corner Canyon handled the Knights, Lone Peak fell to Sugar-Salem, and Star Valley came up short against the Tigers, giving evaluators a fresh batch of tape to sort through.
For the Utes, the appeal goes beyond the final scores. The state and regional results provide another look at players who are already on the radar or could soon be, while team records and game situations help frame who is making the biggest weekly leaps. As the fall schedule rolls on, these are the kinds of nights that can quietly reshape recruiting boards, especially when a prospects impact shows up in a matchup that already has people paying attention. [Read more 🡒]
Utah Is Giving Fans Another Reason To Believe Before Iowa State
Saturdays results gave Utah and the rest of the Big 12 another reminder that early September can still shape the national conversation. BYU kept rolling with a win over Colorado State and climbed to No. 9 in the AP poll, while Utah handled Utah State to stay unbeaten and move up to No. 15, a solid step for a program that already looks like part of the leagues upper tier.
The bigger picture matters, too, because West Virginias win over Virginia added another conference boost and helped fill out a top 25 landscape that already includes several Big 12 teams near or inside the rankings. For Utah, the timing is useful with Iowa State ahead, since the Utes are not just protecting an unbeaten start but also trying to keep pace in a conference race that is starting to look crowded in all the right ways. [Read more 🡒]