Analysis: No. 21 Utes’ new offensive creativity was on full display in blowout of Idaho

Utah’s opening game of the 2026 season against FCS opponent Idaho went how it was supposed to go.

The No. 21 Utes defeated the Vandals 66-14 in front of a sellout crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Thursday night, accomplishing what they needed to in a scheduled win.

Utah paid Idaho $600,000 to travel down to Salt Lake City for the loss, and as a result, the Utes got to ease into the season and try out a variety of player combinations and different looks on both offense and defense.

“We did what we needed to do, and you don’t always do that,” said Utes head coach Morgan Scalley, who won his first home game in his new role.

“These first games can be tricky. You can be sloppy and not get things going. One penalty, I’m very pleased with that. I thought it was a pretty clean game for the most part.”

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Offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven certainly didn’t run a vanilla offense in Week 1 with Week 2 opponent Arkansas waiting and watching. In his Ute debut, the former Utah State offensive coordinator went into his bag of tricks often.

In one second-quarter drive, McGiven’s creativity was on full display as he dialed up a Devon Dampier pitch to Byrd Ficklin that went for nine yards. Later in the drive, McGiven lined Ficklin and tight end Hunter Andrews up behind Dampier and Dampier handed it to Andrews for a 13-yard gain.

Ficklin was used as a wide receiver a couple of times and also took a pitch from Dampier and launched the ball downfield to open the second half, but it was off target. There were some fun formations with the “rhino” tight ends as well.

“Very fun. Me and Mac G (McGiven), we’ve had so many conversations about what we’re going to do when we come out here,” Dampier said.

“The team we got, especially those two guys, (Wayshawn Parker) and (Braden Pegan), it made plays a lot easier to run. They’re so talented.”

Though Utah ran the ball 49 times, especially relying on the ground game in the second half to bleed the clock, McGiven was aggressive in airing it out frequently. Dampier had three complete passes of 15 or more yards, including two 30-yard connections with Pegan and two more deep shots that should have been called for pass interference.

The party didn’t stop when Dampier exited, either, as Ficklin had three throws of 23 or more yards, including a 35-yard pass to Noah Bennee for the tight end’s first touchdown as a Ute.

In his first fully healthy game since Week 3 of last season, Dampier went 13 of 18 through the air for 176 yards and three touchdowns and added 31 yards on the ground.

Dampier and Pegan, the Utah State transfer, proved to have a good connection in the duo’s first game together. Pegan looked every bit the part of Utah’s WR1, catching four passes for a game-high 81 yards and a touchdown.

“It was so much fun. Like Way said, we put in a lot of work this offseason, so seeing it just come to life, it was super exciting,” Pegan said.

While Pegan led the way, eight different pass-catchers — Larry Simmons, Creed Whittemore, Ricky Johnson, Andrews, Bennee, Parker and Mana Carvalho — recorded a reception, showing the depth of Utah’s receiver room.

“The fact that we got so many guys involved was a big plus in this one. I think Dev threw it to eight different wide receivers, so very pleased with the production there,” Scalley said.

Between Dampier and Ficklin, who played the majority of the second half, the Utes gained 269 yards through the air.

Ficklin showed why Utah has one of the best overall quarterback rooms in the Big 12 with a 93 yard, two touchdown performance through the air that was highlighted by an on-the-run throw to Carvalho for 23 yards while the lefty was rolling to his right.

Ficklin also added 70 yards on the ground.

“I feel like we have two starting quarterbacks. They’re both great leaders, unselfish, and you saw the efficiency tonight. Both can run the ball. When they’re in there at the same time, as a defensive coordinator — a former defensive coordinator — that scares me,” Scalley said.

“... Teams are going to continue to see more of that because we are going to continue to be creative and innovative and find ways to give defensive coordinators headaches.”

But for all of the fanfare about how Utah might air it out more this season — and the Utes certainly did Thursday — the majority of the production came on the ground.

Utah started Zereoue Williams, Solatoa Moea’i, Alex Harrison, Roger Alderman and Cedric Jefferson on the new-look offensive line (Keith Olson, an expected starter, did not play).

As expected with a new starting five, the group had some shaky moments early on, but ended up protecting Dampier well enough (no sacks) and got decent push most of the night. The competition ramps up in a major way next week, though, as Arkansas comes to town.

“I mean, all you got to do is look at the stat sheet there. Good offensive line units finish plays, and so they’re pushing guys, they’re running down the field, pushing the pile, and that’s what you saw out of that crew today,” Scalley said.

Parker looks to have taken the next step in his game, racking up 71 yards on 12 carries on the ground and catching three passes, two of which went for touchdowns, for 23 yards.

The junior running back ran violently, shrugging off Idaho defenders on multiple runs, and his athleticism was on full display Thursday night.

“I’ll toot Wayshawn Parker’s (horn) all day long,” Scalley said. “That guy can catch the ball, run the ball. He’s tough as nails. You watch him block, he is a complete running back, which is why we have a ton of NFL scouts coming and watching practice.”

The biggest takeaway from Utah’s offensive display on Thursday was the depth of the running back room. Parker led the way, of course, but freshman LaMarcus Bell shined in the second half with a game-high 87 rushing yards, including a 34-yard touchdown.

Steve Chavez-Soto (35 yards and one touchdown) and Mateaki Helu (25 yards) each had their moments, and while Daniel Bray (13 yards) didn’t get a lot of touches, expect Utah to utilize him more as the season goes along.

Defensively, the Utes held the Vandals to 225 yards of offense and forced two turnovers. Scalley mentioned that new defensive coordinator Colton Swan would have full autonomy of the defense, and that was obvious Thursday. Swan dialed up plenty of blitzes and made Idaho quarterback Joshua Wood uncomfortable.

“I would say with an athletic quarterback like they have, you want to bring it from different angles. It’s very easy for a guy like that to step into the pocket. I still think he was their leading rusher, but you just want to make sure that there are no lanes for that kid,” Scalley said.

“Swan did a great job of coming from everywhere, coming from different angles. Like I said, without the 13-play drive, I thought that they played lights out.”

Utah opened the game with a three-linebacker look and it paid off immediately as linebacker Trey Reynolds picked off Wood’s pass deep in Idaho territory to set up Utah’s first touchdown of the game.

Against a different opponent, Utah’s first-half performance would have resulted in a much closer score than the 31-7 mark at the break, especially when you consider that the Utes were given a gift in the first quarter when Mana Carvalho appeared to muff a punt, which was recovered by Idaho, but the referees did not overturn the call on replay.

Utah used Thursday’s game as an opportunity to further refine the depth chart, rotating players early and often.

“We have a really good sports science group led by Anna Cruse and I want to really take advantage of if we’ve got guys that they’re showing — at least their output is showing — that they’re not playing at 100%, we’ve got depth to bring other guys in that can be playing at 100%,” Scalley said.

“I think the more that we can get those guys involved, the more we get them experience, it strengthens your depth. So really pleased to see a bunch of guys get action tonight and we just got to continue to play smart.”

The Utes started Lance Holtzclaw, Karson Kaufusi, Jireh Moe and Ethan Day on the defensive line, but two series later, there was a completely new defensive line in the game.

If the Utes left anything to be desired in the rout, it was stronger play from the defensive line, especially the backup defensive tackles. The Utes had just one sack and four tackles for loss against the overmatched Vandals, and during a 13 play, 75-yard drive, the defensive line was not up to snuff.

“Well, I’m going to have to really look at the film to give you a true evaluation on that. I do feel like sacks are great, but hitting the quarterback is what you’re really after and I thought we did a pretty good job making life uncomfortable for him,” Scalley said.

”We have the depth to be able to rotate, but I’ll have to watch the film, but definitely pleased with the numbers for sure.”

The secondary also had their lapses at times, with Idaho receivers dropping a ball that would have gone for a big gain or Wood just missing wide-open receivers.

It’s hard to nitpick a 52-point win, but Scalley and Swan will have some pointers to go over in the film room as the Utes prepare for a big showdown with Arkansas.

That will be handled later, though. On Thursday night, there was a locker room celebration with Scalley — who had his first home win as Utah’s head coach — and the team as they opened the season 1-0.

“I made sure I gave him his shout out because he’s such a loving guy. He cares about us so much, he barely takes in what he does as a head coach,” Dampier said of Scalley. “So I made sure I gave his shout out and made sure he knows that like all of us, we appreciate the heck out of Scalley and what he does for us. That was kind of the vibe after the game just to make him feel loved.

“That’s the first win in 2026, so we definitely enjoyed it.”