3 takeaways from Utah’s dominant victory at West Virginia

Utah’s trip back east to West Virginia was a perfect elixir for rebounding from a difficult loss to Texas Tech last week.

The Utes established control early in the matchup as they beat the Mountaineers 48-14 on Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown.

Here’s a look at three takeaways from a win that sets Utah up with a 4-1 record (1-1 in Big 12 play) heading into a bye week.

The efficiency returned for Utah’s offense

After a frustrating effort in the loss to Texas Tech last week, quarterback Devon Dampier and the Utah offense enjoyed yet another efficient day against West Virginia.

In just under three quarters of play, Dampier was masterful, completing 21 of 26 passes for 237 yards, a career-high four touchdowns and one interception, to go along with 33 rushing yards and another score.

Utah scored touchdowns on five of its first six drives and was 8 of 8 on third downs during the first half as it took a 28-0 lead into intermission and quickly made that a 35-point advantage early in the third quarter.

The Utes controlled the pace of the game from the jump and had five touchdown drives of 10 or more plays on the day.

That kind of dominance led to plenty of bench players on both sides of the field getting valuable reps over the last quarter-plus, and it didn’t stop Utah, which piled up 532 yards of total offense, including 278 in the first half.

The Utes ended up converting 8 of 13 third downs and were a perfect 3 of 3 on fourth downs.

Wayshawn Parker had a team-high 66 rushing yards while NaQuari Rogers added 61, as the Utes finished with 242 yards on the ground.

Ryan Davis also had a big afternoon, catching seven passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.

The Utes’ defense shut down an injury-riddled West Virginia offense

The Mountaineers knew they’d be without several playmakers on offense, among them Nicco Marchiol, the team’s starting quarterback over its first four games.

West Virginia also didn’t have running backs Tye Edwards and Cyncir Bowers, as well as wide receiver Jared Bray, for the matchup with the Utes.

With backup quarterback Jaylen Henderson leading the offense to start, facing a fearsome Utah defense, it often looked like it wouldn’t matter who was lining up for West Virginia on Saturday.

The Utes were going to dominate them, regardless.

Even so, Utah had an especially good day on the defensive side, holding West Virginia to 95 total yards in the first half.

While the Mountaineers ended up with 346 yards after freshman Khalil Wilkins relieved Henderson at quarterback and led two scoring drives, the Utes never let West Virginia build up much momentum.

The Mountaineers threw for only 85 yards and were 4 of 14 on third downs and 4 of 7 on fourth down, an indication of how often West Virginia was in desperation mode and in need of a spark.

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This was the kind of effort Utah needed after last week

The loss at home to Texas Tech brought a reality check for Utah, as it became clear that there were several things to improve upon for the Utes to be a Big 12 contender.

How Utah started and finished the win over West Virginia should be encouraging. The Utes played tough from start to finish in rolling past an overmatched opponent, sending them into the bye week with some confidence as well as motivation to improve.

Utah’s first loss of the 2024 season led to a collapse that ended up in a seven-game losing streak. This time? Not so, as the Utes bounced back strong.

The biggest worry from Saturday’s contest may be injuries. Safety Nate Ritchie left just two plays into the game and was on crutches with a brace on his leg, according to the Fox broadcast, after he left the field on a cart.

Additionally, two-way player Jackson Bennee had to be helped off the field after getting hurt in the first quarter and not putting weight on his left leg, though his injury didn’t seem as severe.

Thirdly, defensive tackle Dallas Vakalahi exited the contest early in the second half.

Those will be some injuries to monitor through the bye week and in the lead-up to Utah’s next game, when the Utes host defending Big 12 champion Arizona State on Oct. 11.