Utah took a trip across the country to Morgantown, West Virginia on Saturday and left with a dominant 48-14 victory over an in-conference opponent.
In a much-needed bounce-back game after falling to 3-1, the Utes took control in the first quarter and never looked back. Led by star quarterback Devon Dampier, the Utes’ offense was nearly flawless, scoring on all but one drive.
“We used last week as fuel. Don’t let a team beat you twice; that’s the mentality. In the facility, we had a two-day rule. As soon as we go on to the next game, we focus on our next opponent. We were 0-0 again going into this game, and we’re leaving 1-0,” Dampier said.
Utah didn’t dwell on last week’s loss against Texas Tech, as they opened up the game on a 35-0 run. Touchdowns by JJ Buchanan, Dampier, Ryan Davis, Dallen Bentley and Wayshawn Parker powered the Utes to a dismantling of the Mountaineers. The victory powers the Utes to a record of 4-1 on the season after five games, but head coach Kyle Whittingham knows there is more work to be done.
“I’m proud of our team for the response from last week. We talked about not letting that be a detractor for this week. We wanted to flush it and move on without having a hangover, so to speak. I think they did exactly that. They were able to prepare for West Virginia with a great attitude all week long,” Whittingham said.
Dampier had arguably his best game of the season. Completing 21/26 passes for 237 yards was impressive in and of itself. Adding a career-high four touchdown passes made a great day excellent for the junior out of Phoenix, Arizona. He also added 33 yards and a touchdown on the ground to balance out the rushing attack. When asked if there was an emphasis on pushing the ball downfield through the air this week, Whittingham explained that it was all part of the plan.
“That was something that hurt us last week. We needed to be able to push the ball down the field better; we did that this week. Our receivers stepped up to the challenge. I thought we had a good scheme going in with the right dose of run and pass, play action and off the run game; our tight ends were good for us. So yeah, the throw game was in much higher gear this game than in weeks past,” Whittingham said.
While it can be tricky to find negatives to point out in such a dominant victory, Utah has a glaring issue that hopefully isn’t as bad as it seems: injuries. Throughout the contest, Utah players continually received medical attention after physical plays. Some of the main victims of this issue are Nate Ritchie, Jackson Bennee, Dallas Vakalahi and Parker. Good news has come through regarding Parker and Bennee, and it seems as if they will be back healthy by the next game, but Whittingham remained cautious with his words postgame.
“We lost three or four guys. I’ll reserve judgment until we get final medical evaluations because I don’t want to say something now that maybe isn’t accurate. I’ll let you know in the next day or two what’s going on with that,” Whittingham said.
Overall, a near-perfect road trip is just what the Utes needed. With a bye week coming up, players and coaches will have time to heal up and prepare for a challenging game vs. Arizona State on Oct. 11.
