‘One for the ages’: Down 12, Utah rallies for improbable, unbelievable win over Kansas State

An emotional Kyle Whittingham said one word over and over as he embraced a large group of family members on the Rice-Eccles Stadium field.

“Wow, wow, wow.”

Time will tell if that was the final time Whittingham walked off the field that he’s spent 21 years on as a head coach, but if it is, what a game to go out on.

No. 12 Utah charged back from 12 points down with seven minutes remaining to pull off an improbable 51-47 comeback win over Kansas State on Saturday in a game that will go down as one of the most unbelievable wins of the Whittingham era.

The Utes looked dead in the water after quarterback Devon Dampier fumbled the ball with 7:49 remaining in the fourth quarter, giving Kansas State great field position at the Utah 26-yard line.

Two plays later, Wildcat running back Joe Jackson was in the end zone — a scene all too familiar for the Utes this day.

Jackson simply ran up the middle, then broke a tackle to put Kansas State up 47-35 as Whittingham took his headset off in frustration.

With seven minutes remaining, that looked like the end for Utah — especially with the way its defense had been playing. In one of — if not the worst — defensive performances of the Whittingham era, the Utes allowed 472 rushing yards.

Kansas State ran over the Utes time after time, and Morgan Scalley’s defense couldn’t stop it to save their lives. It wasn’t anything fancy — half the time the Wildcats ran the ball up the gut, only for the Utes to either be completely out of position or miss tackles — oftentimes both.

It was a near-mirror image of Utah’s domination on the ground last week against Baylor, except with the Utes’ defense giving up untouched runs.

“It was a power run game, just a basic power play and it was an ‘A gap’ power play where they started strong side and cut it back and we continually didn’t defend it the right way,” Whittingham said.

“We were out of square, we were losing gaps, and so obviously we didn’t do a good enough job as coaches of getting them ready to play, especially that particular play. But it was that one play that did the majority of the damage. They just ran it over and over and we just didn’t, didn’t do a good enough job as coaches, so that’s on me.”

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Kansas State ran wild over the Utes’ poor run fits and tackling with seven runs of 30-plus yards, including touchdowns of 80 and 66 yards. Fans booed the Utes at multiple points during the game after they allowed long rushing touchdowns.

Jackson had a career night with 293 yards, while Antonio Martin Jr. added 89 yards and a score and quarterback Avery Johnson added 72 and a touchdown.

As Jackson celebrated his third touchdown of the night in the south end zone, some fans started to stream out of the stadium with seven minutes still on the clock.

“I did see a few fans leaving when I think we got down by 10 with not much time to go and didn’t like to see that, but I guess you can’t blame them,” Whittingham said.

For the vast majority of the 51,444 who stayed, they were treated to one of the more remarkable wins in the Whittingham era.

Utah’s furious comeback began when the Wildcats went for two, up 12, to make it a 14-point game. Ute safety Tao Johnson — who like the rest of the defense, had his struggles in the run game — picked off Johnson in the end zone after cornerback Smith Snowden deflected the pass, and he took it the other way for two points.

“That play, as I mentioned, was instrumental. If that play doesn’t happen, it’s probably a different outcome. In fact, if we didn’t score on it, that would’ve changed the complexion,” Whittingham said.

“If we would’ve just defended it, it still put us in a pretty good deficit, and so like I said, that was a four-point switch and kept our hopes alive, gave us a better chance.”

Utah’s offense had kept the Utes in it all game as the defense was gashed, but the Utes’ previous two drives resulted in a three-and-out and a fumble.

Dampier, who was already playing through an ankle injury, took several blows to the head in Saturday’s game. He was medically cleared to return to the game, but Saturday’s performance — to that point — was decidedly not his best.

The question hung over Rice-Eccles Stadium — would he be able to take the Utes down the field in the game’s biggest drive?

In a game full of absolutely inconceivable moments, Utah’s drive delivered two of them. The first was a penalty by Kansas State that extended the drive.

With the ball on the Wildcat 37-yard-line, Utah went for it on fourth-and-2 and running back Wayshawn Parker was stopped short, but illegal substitution was called on Kansas State to extend the Ute drive.

After that, Dampier was called for intentional grounding on second and 10, setting up third and 22.

Dampier completed a 21-yard pass to Larry Simmons, then Parker got the first down, shaking off a tackle to convert. On the next play, it was the Dampier-to-Simmons connection once again for a 20-yard touchdown in the corner of the end zone.

Down three, Utah had life.

Its much-maligned defense had to come up with a stop, though — something that had been very rare on Saturday night.

The Utes forced a three-and-out and Kansas State had to punt the ball away.

This was the moment Dampier came to Utah from New Mexico for. Somehow, some way, Utah had the ball with 2:25 left and a chance to tie or win the game. The season — and the Utes’ slim College Football Playoff and Big 12 title hopes — was on the line.

Dampier, who had persevered through injuries all night and kept the Utes in the game despite a run defense that was as strong as wet paper, had the ball in his hands.

“Not once did I hear Dev say he was going to give up. He kept his head up the whole time, told them, ‘We’re going to go out here and score. Believe it and we’re going to do it,” said quarterback Byrd Ficklin, who spelled Dampier at times and scored three rushing touchdowns.

Like everything else on Saturday, there was adversity to overcome on Utah’s final offensive drive.

After an incomplete pass to start the drive, Dampier found receiver Creed Whittemore — the Mississippi State transfer who has sparingly played this season — for a gain of 6 yards. Utah handed it to Parker on third and 4, but after he was stopped a yard short of the marker, the Utes were facing fourth and 1.

As he has many times in that situation this season, offensive coordinator Jason Beck decided to keep the ball in his quarterback’s hands.

With Utah’s season on the line, Dampier just needed to gain about 3 feet.

Dampier took the snap, faked the handoff to Parker and charged forward into a perfectly-sealed hole — tight end Dallen Bentley was a key part of creating that hole for Dampier.

Once Dampier burst through the hole, he had a lot of green turf in front of him, racing 59 yards until he was caught by Kanijal Thomas at the 3-yard line.

That actually ended up being beneficial for the Utes, who were able to burn off more time — not intentionally — as they were stuffed on first and second down.

On third and 1, the ball was back in Dampier’s hands and he barreled his way into the north end zone, sending the crowd to volume levels not heard in this building since Cam Rising’s two-point conversion in the 2022 win over USC.

Dampier’s score gave the Utes a four-point lead with just 54 seconds remaining.

“That last score, it was surreal,” Whittingham said. “It was just a moment that, like I said, you can’t even dream it up.”

Dampier’s signature moment as a Ute had arrived.

Time and time again in those last two drives, the pressure was on Dampier to make a play, and he delivered.

“I told Dev, pressure makes diamonds but also crumbles people. Prove you’re a diamond. Show it out to people, show who you are,” Ficklin said.

After a very rough game, Utah’s defense sealed the win as senior linebacker Lander Barton picked off Johnson, sending Rice-Eccles Stadium into a frenzy.

Barton grew up a Utah fan, then spent time in Rice-Eccles Stadium watching his brothers Cody and Jackson play for Whittingham and the Utes.

His final play in the stadium was one of the most memorable of his career.

“What a fitting way for Lander Barton to finish his career here at Rice-Eccles,” Whittingham said. “... For him to seal the victory with that pick, he’s done so much for this program through the years.”

As Whittingham talked about the senior class’s final game at Rice-Eccles in his postgame press conference, he began to choke up.

“Just a great illustration of what determination and guts and a never-say–die attitude can get you,” Whittingham said.

“Just so happy for our seniors to be able to go out with a win in the last opportunity in Rice-Eccles. Excuse me — when I think about our seniors, I get emotional so I apologize — but it’s just so awesome for them to be able to have that experience.”

Was that also Whittingham’s last game in Rice-Eccles? If so, it was an unforgettable sendoff for the greatest coach in Utah history.

“That was one for the ages,” Whittingham said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Utah allowed school-record rushing yards against Kansas State.