No. 25 Utah throttles Cal Poly 63-9 behind Devon Dampier's 3 TD passes
SALT LAKE CITY -- — Devon Dampier matched his career best with three touchdown passes to lead No. 25 Utah to a 63-9 win over Cal Poly of the Football Championship Subdivision on Saturday.Dampier connected with Wayshawn Parker for a 52-yard touchdown to cap Utah's first drive. He then found Ryan Davis for a 4-yard TD in the second quarter. Dampier, who finished 17 of 23 for 192 yards, added an 11-yard scoring strike to Dallen Bentley in the third quarter before taking a seat.
“It was awesome. Just being in the stadium, it was as electric as everyone had talked about it,” Dampier, a New Mexico transfer, said about his first game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
NaQuari Rogers added two 1-yard TD runs in the last 1:44 of the second quarter for a 35-6 lead at halftime.
“It brings me joy, seeing everybody happy. Like, I know I scored, but it was like, the whole team scored,” said Parker, who also had a 43-yard TD run.
The Mustangs (1-1) got two field goals from Noah Serna and one from Gianluca Dimauro.
Utah (2-0) moved to 17-1 in its last 18 home openers under coach Kyle Whittingham as plenty of reserves got playing time, including quarterback Byrd Ficklin, who rushed for two TDs.
“Controlled the game, really, from start to finish and a lot of guys made good contributions,” Whittingham said.
Utah: The Utes held out five starters due to injury and were whistled for some sloppy penalties, but it hardly mattered as Utah’s new go-go offense rolled up 518 yards and the defense was stout as usual. Utah should rise in the AP Top 25.
“When he threw it, I was kind of in disbelief, but right as I caught it, I just didn’t look back,” said Bennee, who Whittingham called the “biggest surprise” for the Utes this season.
The Utes nearly tacked on another pick-6 when linebacker Johnathan Hall blocked Anthony Grigsby’s pass behind the line of scrimmage and tipped it twice before grabbing the ball and lunging toward the end zone. He landed on the Cal Poly 1-yard-line.
Utah visits Wyoming next Saturday.
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