WACO, Texas — The momentum had shifted the home team’s way.
Baylor, which at one point in the first half was down 18 points to visiting No. 13 Utah Saturday night at McLane Stadium, had closed the gap to just eight points early in the third quarter, and the pressure was on the road side.
A disastrous end-of-half sequence by the Utes gave Baylor new life after Wayshawn Parker put Utah up 28-10 with 4:28 remaining in the second quarter. The Utes forced a turnover on downs and got the ball back on their own 28-yard line with 1:06 remaining, and the promise of the ball first in the second half.
They just had to get one first down to head into the locker room with a commanding 18-point lead.
Instead, they went three-and-out after quarterback Devon Dampier was sacked and his third-down throw was incomplete. Orion Phillips’ punt went just 30 yards, and Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson and the Bears took over on their own 45-yard line.
Two passes from Robertson later, Baylor was in the end zone.
Utah’s secondary struggled against the Bears’ receivers throughout the first half but were saved by Robertson simply missing an open target more than a few times throughout the opening two quarters.
This time, Robertson was on target, firing a 29-yard touchdown pass to Josh Cameron to cut Utah’s lead to 11 points at halftime.
After Utah didn’t do much with the opening possession of the third quarter, Baylor went on a 10-play, 63-yard drive that ended in a field goal after the Utes held strong in the red zone and sacked Robertson, then broke up a third-down pass.
But even with the red-zone stop for the Utes, the Bears had made it a one-possession game. The 38,186 fans in attendance — a portion of which were shirtless in the north end zone in college football’s latest fan trend — roared to life as Baylor’s upset hopes grew.
The Utes absolutely needed a touchdown on their next drive.
Dampier — who went to the locker room earlier in the game — wasn’t 100% healthy, and at the halftime break, had completed just 4 of 11 passes for 52 yards and a score. He wasn’t his usual self on the ground, rushing for just 21 yards on three attempts in the first two quarters.
Utah had a bye ahead of Baylor, and that bye week was crucial to get Dampier onto the field this week. Whittingham said that if the Utes played last week, Dampier would not have been able to play.
“Devon’s a little bit beat up. There’s no secret about that. That’s no secret, but he’s a competitor. He is a warrior. He goes out unless he absolutely can’t function at all,” Whittingham said.
“He’s going to want to play and he wasn’t his normal self tonight, but good enough to go out and do some good things.”
Dampier has dealt with injuries since Week 3 at Wyoming, and his health has been up and down ever since. He got to a better place health-wise at the beginning of October, but suffered another setback against BYU.
Byrd Ficklin started the next game against Colorado, but Dampier returned for Utah’s game against Cincinnati.
Whittingham said that there’s some weeks that Dampier doesn’t participate physically in practice at all, but as long as he’s OK to play on game day, Utah has rolled with him.
“We just need him on game day to say ‘I’m ready to go.’ He knows this offense inside and out as I’ve said many times, and the reps for him, even if they’re just mental or even just not moving but just taking the snap and going through his progression,” Whittingham said.
“... He’s a veteran, and if he didn’t feel like he could help us win, then he’d let us know.”
With Dampier not fully healthy, Utah’s offense needed a spark, so Whittingham and the Utes turned to Ficklin, the freshman quarterback who had already delivered once on Saturday.
“Byrd Ficklin was probably the biggest catalyst for us when we needed it,” Whittingham said.
Ficklin’s first rushing touchdown came in the second quarter — a 67-yard score that put Utah up 21-7 — and he produced another signature moment in a season full of them when called upon again.
“He’s maturing and becoming more seasoned every single week and he has not had a game that he was inserted (in) where the stage was too big,” Whittingham said.
“He’s responded well every single time he’s been in the game and so like I said, the moment is not too big for Byrd and he’s going to be a really good one.”
Ficklin took the snap, faked the handoff to Daniel Bray, then tucked it and ran. He made a quick juke and hit the hole and had just one man to beat — safety Tyler Turner.
The freshman hit Turner with a stiff arm, sending the safety the other way, and Ficklin saw nothing but green grass in front of him.
“Hole opened up from my great O-line, Wayshawn setting off a good block. It was all set up and perfect. From that point on, it was just getting into the open field and make one man miss and go score,” Ficklin said.
Ficklin glided into the gold end zone with a 74-yard touchdown that put Utah up by 15 points, making a symbol of a bird flapping his wings to the Ute fans in the corner of McLane Stadium.
Byrd was flying and the Utes flew to victory in the second half.
The freshman’s timely touchdown started a 21-0 scoring run for the Utes, who blew out Baylor 55-28 to improve to 8-2 on the season. All eight of Utah’s victories have been by 25 points or more.
“It was just more of, take care of the ball, don’t give them more momentum,” Ficklin said of his mindset on the touchdown drive. “Come out here and be a vibe killer and when we broke that long run, that’s pretty much what it did. It killed their whole entire vibe for the rest of the game.”
Utah rushed for 380 yards, led by Ficklin’s 166. Parker crossed the 100-yard mark for the third straight game, rushing for 129 yards — including a 64-yard touchdown.
“Wayshawn Parker did a nice job and went over a hundred yards again. He’s really motivated to do that. Whenever he does it, he gets to wear those pink cleats again the next week and so I’ve made a deal with him so you get to see him in pink cleats next week,” Whittingham said.
Utah’s secondary, which struggled in the first half aside from a first-quarter pick-six by Scooby Davis that put the Utes up 14-0, was improved in the second half.
Baylor scored just 11 second-half points, eight of which were with the game practically decided, and linebacker Trey Reynolds picked off Robertson.
Still, Utah gave up 568 yards of offense — 430 of those through the air — and in a rare moment for the program, it was Utah’s offense saving its defense instead of the other way around.
“It’s about time, man. Those dudes have saved us so many times. Yeah, it’s about time that we had their back. Feels good,” offensive tackle Spencer Fano said.
A Peach Bowl representative — the site of the College Football Playoff semifinals — was in Waco and talked with Whittingham after the game, but Utah’s at-large CFP hopes — a huge long shot to begin with — were likely extinguished after Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh and Oklahoma upset Alabama Saturday.
It looks like the only path for the Utes to make their first-ever CFP appearance will be by winning the Big 12 — and Utah needs help to get to the title game.
Arizona defeating Cincinnati this week was beneficial for the Utes, who now need the Bearcats to beat BYU next week.
The only thing the Utes can control is winning, and they did just that on Saturday.