SALT LAKE CITY - Utah got the spotlight, the doubt and the challenge all at once Saturday, and then spent the afternoon answering for it.
Hours after Pat McAfee used ESPN’s “College GameDay” stage in Salt Lake City to back Houston and say Utah still had not played anybody, the Utes outlasted the Cougars 21-13 in a second-half battle that turned on toughness, defense and a late strip sack. The victory came against a Houston team that had just beaten Oklahoma State and arrived with plenty of momentum, but Utah handled the moment and the noise.
Morgan Scalley made clear after the game that the outside chatter was not lost on his team.
"We've had adversity already," head coach Morgan Scalley declared after his team beat Houston 21-13 Saturday in a second-half thriller. "We've had - (the players) hear Utah hasn't played anybody.
They hear that, and they hear that Houston's gonna get them. And so, that's why they play the game.
So proud of them."
Devon Dampier was the steadying force. The Utah quarterback accounted for two touchdowns, rushed for 150 yards and passed for 204 more, helping the Utes deliver when the pressure was highest. He said the message inside the program was about embracing the stage rather than shrinking from it.
"I kind of told our team before we went out there: There's no need to be nervous in this moment, being 'College GameDay,' and this and that," Dampier said. "We talked about reaching the college playoffs.
This is the road. This is the road you've got to take to get there, so there's no need to be nervous.
"We believed we were going to be here since spring ball. So that was kind of the message: Just let's go out there, let's do what we do."
Dampier said the team knew exactly how it was being viewed.
"I guess that's a respectful way to say that," Dampier added. "We definitely felt that.
We definitely heard about it. We definitely came out here and it was the game we had to prove ourselves.
We knew what situation we were in."
Houston brought plenty to the table. The Cougars entered as one of the country’s most productive offenses, averaging 39.3 points, and they had been rolling at 220.3 rushing yards per game. Utah’s defense, though, tightened up and held Houston to 13 points and 86 rushing yards while forcing empty possessions in the red zone.
The finish belonged to the Utah defense, with Colton Swan turning up the pressure in the final minutes through all-out blitzes on Conner Weigman. Jackson Bennee finished the sequence with a strip sack deep in Houston territory, and Dampier punched in a rushing touchdown moments later to put the game away.
For Dampier, the second-half surge was about more than one win. He pointed to the way Utah responded together and the culture Scalley has been building.
"(It shows) how much brotherhood and love can take you," Dampier said. "That's our foundation. ... I can say we showcased that tonight."
The result pushed Utah to No. 6 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Utes also received a first-place vote and multiple votes inside the top five, a clear sign the win over a ranked opponent changed how the rest of the country views them.
Still, Scalley made sure to keep the message grounded.
"Pressure is a privilege," he said. "There's pressure because you're winning, and so we believe in what we do.
We believe in the process, and we've got to keep it going, though. Everyone's going to pat us on the backs now and tell us how awesome we are.
"Beware of the soothing sounds of praise."
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Pat McAfee Just Put Utah In An Awkward National Spotlight
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McAfee said he did not appreciate the school amplifying negative comments about him, which only added to the tension around the broadcast. He also suggested the relationship may not be one he wants to revisit, leaving future appearances at Utah in doubt and putting even a possible return for a big matchup like BYU-Utah into question. [Read more 🡒]