LAWRENCE, Kan. — The tryptophan from Thursday’s Thanksgiving turkey had seemingly not worn off in time for the morning kickoff in Lawrence.
After sleepwalking through much of Friday’s game at Kansas, No. 13 Utah needed a game-changing play to shift the momentum, which was firmly with the Jayhawks as the fourth quarter began.
Against a Kansas team scrapping to become bowl eligible, Utah was on upset alert with the Jayhawks on the Ute 12-yard line and threatening to make a 14-10 lead a two-score affair.
Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels had two 20-plus-yard passes on the drive to move the Jayhawks into the red zone, but with defensive end Kash Dillon bearing down on him, the senior quarterback made one of the more inexplicable throws of the college football season.
It’s unclear whether Daniels was trying to force a play or simply attempting to throw the ball away, but the football went straight to safety Jackson Bennee in the end zone, who snagged it to reverse Utah’s fortunes.
“Just kind of playing scramble drill out there. We’re basically taught that when the quarterback is scrambling looking for something, you just got to plaster to the closest guy and that’s what I was trying to do and he threw it my way,” Bennee said.
“I was kind of surprised but, yeah, just went and got it.”
Bennee’s interception sparked Utah’s offense, which had scored just 10 points in the first three quarters of the game after two 50-plus-point performances in the prior two contests, and the Utes eventually won, 31-21.
Utah quarterback Devon Dampier struggled through three quarters. The junior quarterback was too slow progressing through his reads at times and also fired the ball too late after a receiver had broken open.
The Utes’ only touchdown through three quarters came on a great play design by offensive coordinator Jason Beck. Dampier faked a quarterback draw and stepped towards the line of scrimmage before firing a pass to a wide-open JJ Buchanan for a 58-yard score that gave Utah a 10-7 lead.
To open the game, Wayshawn Parker had runs of 34 and 15 yards to get the Utes into the red zone, but center Jaren Kump snapped the ball while Dampier turned to motion Parker across the field on third down. Dampier had to fall on the ball, and the promising first drive ended in just three points.
Utah’s five other drives through three quarters stalled out, either due to penalties or the Utes’ inability to convert on fourth down.
“I think we held ourselves back multiple times. Whether it was loss of yardage on a down or penalties, I think that put us in very bad third-down situations,” Dampier said.
“We hoped to be more efficient than we were, but I mean that’s what happens in football. Not everything’s going to be perfect. It’s how you respond.”
The Utes had 262 yards at the end of the third quarter and not much to show for it. Dampier had a 57% completion rate and Utah had just 117 rushing yards — well below the Utes’ usual yardage on the ground this season.
At the end of three, Parker was averaging nearly 10 yards per carry, but Utah had thrown the ball more times than it had run it.
“We just never got into a real rhythm. Devon is still not himself. I mean, you can see that. Look at some tape early in the year when he’s himself and now he’s just not quite able to do the things he did early on,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.
Even with the offensive stagnation, freshman sensation Byrd Ficklin wasn’t used very much against Kansas. He had just two carries on Friday and lost a fumble on his second carry trying to fight for more yards.
Utah’s offense needed some kind of spark, and Bennee’s crucial interception flipped the switch for Dampier and the offense.
“That lifted us up a little bit on offense, like, alright, defense been balling out all game, it’s time for us to go out there and do what we got to do,” Dampier said.
Following the momentum-swinging play, Utah’s offense kicked into gear with a Dampier-to-Parker pass for 32 yards. Dampier followed that up with his best pass of the game — a 28-yard strike to Larry Simmons in the end zone that put Utah up 17-14.
Kansas responded with a heavy dose of the run game — Utah’s rush defense was once again shaky, allowing 290 rushing yards — to get to the Ute five-yard line.
“They rushed for nearly 300 yards, so we didn’t get that entirely fixed. But they did a nice job. They had a nice plan. They followed the blueprint that Kansas State followed — multiple tight ends, power run game. And so it wasn’t as bad as last week by any means, but it’s still not where we need to be,” Whittingham said.
Utah’s red zone defense once again came up big, as Scooby Davis broke on Daniels’ third-and-goal pass and took it 97 yards the other way for six.
It was the third time the Utes intercepted Daniels on Friday.
“Key to the whole entire game was our red-zone defense. There’s no doubt about that. Jackson Bennee’s pick in the end zone, Scooby’s pick-six in the red zone. Hold them to a field goal early on. There were so many things in the red zone defensively that we did well,” Whittingham said.
Up 24-14 with 7:52 remaining, Utah was in a good position, but after Daniels responded with 54- and 21-yard passes, the latter for a touchdown, the pressure was back on the Utes’ offense, up three, to score.
After seven consecutive rushes, Utah faced third and 5 for the ballgame with 2:20 remaining and Kansas out of timeouts.
Whittingham put his trust in Beck.
“After talking to Jason, I decided, ‘Hey, whatever play you think has got the best success to get a first down, don’t necessarily worry about the clock running, just convert,’” Whittingham said.
Kansas was keying on a run and Beck knew it. Utah’s offensive coordinator used that to his advantage.
On the crucial third and 5 play, Dampier faked the handoff to Parker, then looked like he was going to run it himself before stepping back and launching a pass to an open Simmons for the receiver’s second touchdown of the game.
It was a gusty call by Beck — and one that paid off.
“He’d been sitting on that play for quite a while. I guess he’s had it since he was back in Virginia or something, but it worked to a T,” Whittingham said.
Friday’s win over Kansas won’t win Utah any style points, but the victory gave the Utes 10 wins on the season and marked the first time since 2019 the program has hit that milestone in the regular season.
The Utes certainly didn’t finish the season flawlessly — the defense, in particular, regressed over the final three games — but after last season’s 5-7 mark, a 10-2 turnaround feels pretty great for Whittingham and the team.
“Well, it’s huge. I thought about maybe last year being the last go-around, but I couldn’t, as I’ve said many times, I just couldn’t stomach ending on that,” Whittingham said.
“We needed to right the ship, get things headed back in the right direction and I believe we’ve certainly done that this year.”
After closing the regular season on a five-game win streak, all Utah can do is watch Friday and Saturday’s games to see where it will end up in the postseason.
The Utes need a miracle — West Virginia beating Texas Tech, BYU beating UCF and Arizona State beating Arizona — to go to the Big 12 championship game.
