Utah played host to a ranked Arizona State team on a cold and rainy Saturday night with the hopes of earning its first-ever home Big 12 win.
The reigning conference champion Sun Devils entered the game without their starting quarterback, Sam Leavitt. While Leavitt is undoubtedly a key piece to Kenny Dillingham’s team, his absence wasn’t the difference in the beatdown that Utah handed Arizona State.
A 42-10 victory pushes the Utes to 5-1 on the season and gives them a no. 23 ranking in the AP Poll. After taking an early lead, Utah never looked back, effortlessly moving the ball on offense and stifling Arizona State’s production with a physical defensive scheme.
“Overall, a solid game from start to finish. We started fast and never let up. There were no lulls in the game. I think we only punted one time in this game, so we’re not punting very much, and that’s a good thing,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said.
Utah quarterback Devon Dampier took what the defense gave him, heading a near-perfect offensive night. The Junior transfer from New Mexico only threw the ball 12 times, but was efficient when doing so. The real damage for the Utes came on the ground.
276 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns accounted for all of Utah’s 42 points. Three touchdowns by Dampier, two by NaQuari Rogers and one by Byrd Ficklin allowed the skill positions and offensive line to shine. Involvement from speed guys like Daniel Bray and Larry Simmons implemented a new threat in the sweep game for ASU to worry about.
“You know, we’re on a roll right now. Let’s keep rolling. Simple as that,” Dampier said.
Home-field advantage proved to be a difference maker for the Utes, despite the suboptimal conditions. A 10-minute lightning delay provided uncertainty for fans, players, coaches, officials and just about everybody in attendance. Through it all, the Utah faithful showed up in a big way. When asked about their presence throughout the game, John Henry Daley and Jackson Bennee had many positives to say.
“Man, I don’t think it can be overstated. We love our fans, and we appreciate when they come out. I don’t know if they’ve noticed, but the past couple of games, there’s been a lot of false starts, and that’s all because of our fans, so we really appreciate them,” Daley said.
“Yeah, they’re great. I mean, when they’re in the game, it gets us going, it gets us more adrenaline, and it’s just, it’s really fun to be out there. They’re really like the 12th man. If they can get us some false starts, that changes the games, so it’s awesome,” Bennee said.
The players aren’t the only ones who notice the impact that fans make at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Whittingham made sure to give respect to the fans who stuck it out in the cold conditions. When asked about how he would rate their performance, he smiled before his statement.
“Pretty darn good. We appreciate the fans who toughed it out and stayed, you did a great job. We love our fans. There’s a great home-field advantage here, and even though it wasn’t maxxed out tonight, the fans that were there really were loud, and they did a great job in the MUSS,” Whittingham said.
Looking forward, Utah will take the short drive south to take on an undefeated BYU team. The Holy War is a bitter rivalry that almost always provides some fireworks. It feels as if this matchup won’t be any different.
