Utah’s 41-24 win over Kansas had a strange rhythm from the start, and it only got stranger as the night went on.
The game was originally set to kick off at 8:15 before being moved up because of forecasted showers, and once it got going, Utah grabbed control early. The Utes raced to a 14-0 lead while Kansas had almost nothing working on offense. For more than 28 minutes, the Jayhawks’ only touchdown came after David Santiago stripped Devon Dampier inside Utah’s 10.
That didn’t mean Utah was cruising, though. After those first two scoring drives, the Utes had a harder time finishing possessions unless Kansas helped them along with a pile of penalties.
Then, in the final 1:09 before halftime, the Jayhawks flipped the script. Isaiah Marshall started finding openings through the air, Kansas picked Dampier off near midfield, and the Jayhawks turned that into three points before the break.
Utah still found a way to answer, and the defense delivered the kind of stops that changed the feel of the game. The biggest one came on fourth down inside Utah’s 1-yard line, a sequence that took the air out of Kansas’ comeback push.
One clear takeaway from the offensive side: Dampeir’s deep ball remains a question mark. On Utah’s third scoring drive, he threw two balls that were underthrown but worked out because the receivers were bumped as they tried to come back to them.
If the pass interference had not been called on the first one, that possession likely would have stalled. Instead, Utah kept extending the drive, Kansas corners never got turned to find the ball, and Lance Leipold was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty - which he later said was not anger directed at the the officials - that made the field even shorter.
That sequence ended with a short Noah Bennee touchdown catch.
The problem for Utah is that those throws could have gone the other way if Kansas’ corners had located the ball. And eventually, a long throw did hurt Dampier. Kansas turned an interception with about 30 seconds left before halftime into three points.
Dampier cleaned things up after the break, but the first half showed enough to suggest the long ball may not be where he’s strongest.
If there was a player Utah needed to feature, it was Wayshawn Parker. He had five touches in the first quarter as the Utes found success leaning on his speed, then only three in the second as Kansas started to close the gap. Some of that came from Kansas’ defensive ends, who were active all night and helped slow the run.
Even so, Utah came back to Parker in the second half and got the payoff. He finished with 16 carries for 171 yards, and his 89-yard touchdown basically put the game away after that huge fourth-down stop at the 1.
For Utah, the message moving forward is pretty simple: get the ball to Parker. Handoff, pass, pitch, direct snap - it doesn’t matter.
The Utah defense had its rough moments, especially once Kansas finally settled in through the air. Marshall and the Jayhawks found some success against a defense that had not dealt with this kind of passing attack in quite some time, and Cam Pickett was a problem, finishing with 134 receiving yards on 14 targets.
Still, the Utes did enough where it mattered. Their front limited Kansas to under 60 rushing yards, and when the Jayhawks got inside the red zone, Utah kept making the plays needed to end drives.
After an overturned touchdown put Kansas at the 1, Utah’s pressure stopped Marshall from getting around the edge on fourth down, setting up Parker’s second touchdown. Kansas got another chance in the red zone on the next series after a pass interference call gave the Jayhawks a fresh set of downs, but Utah shut that one down too.
In Other News...
Utah Stayed Unbeaten But This Utes Concern Still Feels Very Real
Utah kept its unbeaten start alive Saturday with a 41-24 win over Kansas at Rice-Eccles Stadium, moving to 5-0 and continuing a run that has the Utes looking every bit like a team that expects to win. Devon Dampier managed the offense through a mixed afternoon, while Wayshawn Parker gave the ground game the kind of punch Utah has leaned on early in the season, helping the Utes steady themselves after a rough second quarter.
Morgan Scalley pointed to the resilience Utah showed in getting back in control, and that matters because winning in college football is never simple, even for a team with momentum. The larger question, though, is whether Utah can keep cleaning up the uneven stretches that let opponents hang around, because the unbeaten record is real and so is the concern about how costly those lulls could become later. [Read more 🡒]
Utah's Fast Start Suddenly Feels Very Real Heading Into Colorado
The early-season momentum around Utah has started to look less like a nice October story and more like a legitimate national arrival. With both BYU and Utah winning again to stay unbeaten at 5-0, the Utes kept pace with a Big 12 landscape that is already beginning to sort itself out, while also climbing in the AP Top 25 as the rankings adjusted after another busy weekend and a few bye weeks around the conference.
For Utah, the bigger picture is what makes the week ahead so interesting. The Utes have their best start since 2015, and they have topped 30 points in every game this season for the first time since 1994, a run that gives the offense a different kind of credibility heading into Colorado. The ranking rise is part of it, but the more meaningful test is whether this start holds up once the league schedule starts asking harder questions. [Read more 🡒]
Utahs Passing Attack Just Got More Dangerous After One Breakthrough Night
Utahs offense has spent this season leaning into shared responsibility, with Devon Dampier helping power a two-quarterback approach that also features Byrd Ficklin. In the recent win over Kansas, Ficklin continued to add value in more than one role, while the passing game got a timely lift from Ricky Johnson, the Mississippi State transfer whose emergence gave the Utes another threat to work with.
Johnsons night stood out because it fit the broader theme Morgan Scalley has been stressing: unselfish football and players embracing what the offense asks of them. For a group that has already shown it can spread the load, a breakthrough performance like that gives Utah a little more balance and another name defenses will have to account for as the season moves forward. [Read more 🡒]