No. 20 Utah took some time getting its offense clicking against former conference rival Wyoming, but once the Utes did, they squelched any hopes for a Cowboys upset.
Utah turned a first half full of frustration into a quartet of second-half touchdowns in running away with a 31-6 win over Wyoming at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie on Saturday night.
Here are three takeaways from the Utes’ victory that moved them to 3-0 on the year.
Utah’s offense didn’t have a problem moving the ball. It had a problem finishing … until the second half
The only thing that stopped Utah’s offense in the second half was the clock.
The Utes scored touchdowns on all four of their second-half possessions and rolled up 541 yards of total offense after halftime, shutting down any Wyoming upset hopes.
When the teams went to halftime, that kind of dominance had not shown itself, at least on the scoreboard. While the Utes had 267 yards of total offense to 78 for Wyoming in the opening 30 minutes, Utah led just 3-0 at the break.
It was the worst half of football for the Utes in the young season.
Then the second half began, and Utah got back to its usual tricks — scoring touchdowns, led by another standout effort from quarterback Devon Dampier.
The Utes went on drives of 83, 80, 18 and 75 yards in the second half, while showing their dominance at the line of scrimmage.
Utah ended up running for 311 yards, with Dampier contributing a team-high 86, Wayshawn Parker with 80, utility tight end Hunter Andrews putting up 62 and NaQuari Rogers 60.
Dampier shook off some inaccuracies in the first half to guide the Utes to another night wherein they finished above 50% in third-down conversion rate (9 of 15), including 5 of 5 in the second half.
The most impressive of those was a third-and-21 on Utah’s second possession of the third quarter, a down and distance largely reached due to penalties.
Dampier, though, threw a dart and hit tight end Dallen Bentley for a 22-yard gain and a first down.
Utah’s dynamic quarterback then capped the drive with an unforgettable touchdown. Facing second-and-goal from the 8 four plays later, Dampier at first fumbled the ball, but he coolly grabbed it off the ground, looked downfield and found Larry Simmons in a tight window for the 8-yard score and a 17-0 lead.
Dampier ended the night with 230 passing yards and two touchdowns while completing 27 of 41 passes.
The work of Utah’s tight ends, in particular, stood out. Andrews finished with 106 total yards (62 rushing and 44 receiving), Bentley had four receptions for 46 yards and JJ Buchanan added a 14-yard touchdown reception.
Defense remains a strength, and John Henry Daley is a force
While Wyoming hadn’t shown off much offensive chops heading into Saturday night’s matchup, the Utes never gave the Cowboys much of a chance to get things going on that side of the ball.
The Cowboys ended up with 229 yards of total offense and ran 29 fewer plays than Utah.
Wyoming was just 3 of 12 on third down, and the Cowboys only added a late touchdown to avoid the shutout.
Of Wyoming’s 11 possessions, only two gained more than 30 yards — their late-game 75-yard touchdown drive, and a 32-yard possession that ended in a Jackson Bennee interception that was returned 57 yards to the Wyoming 18 and set up a short Utah scoring drive.
The defensive MVP, again, was defensive end John Henry Daley, who is quickly becoming a household name.
When Wyoming still had some hope early in the game, he sacked Cowboys quarterback Kaden Anderson for a 15-yard loss on third down to knock them out of field goal territory.
Just before halftime, he recorded his second sack and stripped Anderson of the ball, and Lander Barton recovered the ball at the Wyoming 46.
Daley ended up with a team-high tying six tackles, including four solo stops, while adding two tackles for loss and a pass deflection in setting the line for the Utes once again.
The only real negative for Utah defensively was the loss of safety Rabbit Evans. He missed Utah’s first two games and entered the contest Saturday late in the first quarter, but in the second quarter’s first minute, he went down with a noncontact injury and was carted off the field.
Penalties and special teams need some cleaning up
There were plenty of missed opportunities in the first half for Utah, and a lot of that tied back to penalty issues — something that also plagued the Utes in the first half last week against Cal Poly.
Utah ended up with six penalties for 63 yards in the first half, among them a defensive pass interference as well as personal foul on a kickoff. Additionally, two holding penalties stunted two drives that ended up in missed field goals.
Even the Utes’ star offensive tackle, Spencer Fano, was called for a couple penalties. By game’s end, Utah had 10 penalties for 98 yards — something they will need to clean up as Big 12 play starts next week.
At least Saturday, it didn’t end up costing Utah.
The other half of the equation for the Utes’ first-half struggles was a not-so-special day for the special teams.
True freshman kicker Dillon Curtis, who is noted for his strong leg, made his first field goal attempt of the night, hitting a 43-yarder to cap Utah’s first drive, but he missed three more in the first half.
That included one that sailed right, another that hit the left upright and a final one just before halftime that was blocked.
Curtis will have his chances to star for Utah in the future, but it was a learning night for the young man.