No. 25 Utah throttles Cal Poly 63-9 behind Devon Dampier’s 3 TD passes
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — 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.
The takeaway
Cal Poly: The Mustangs used three quarterbacks and moved the ball at times but were overmatched at nearly every position.
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.
Pick-6 U
Jackson Bennee stepped in front of an out pattern, intercepted Ty Dieffenbach’s pass and ran untouched 46 yards to make it 14-0. Bennee’s TD continued an astounding streak for Utah’s defense, which has returned at least one interception for a touchdown in 22 straight seasons, the longest known streak in the country. The Utes lead the Football Bowl Subdivision with 49 picks returned for scores since 2004.
“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.
McBride and Jefferson join Ring of Honor
Ron McBride, who coached Utah from 1990-2002 and “was responsible for the resurgence of Utah football,” according to Whittingham, joined the Utah Ring of Honor. He took the Utes to their first bowl game in 30 years and first top-10 finish in the AP poll in 1994. Roy Jefferson, a receiver, defensive back and kicker at Utah in 1960s and an All-Pro in the NFL, was also honored.
Up next
Cal Poly hosts Western Oregon next Saturday.
Utah visits Wyoming next Saturday.
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By MATTHEW COLES
Associated Press
