Pasadena, Calif. • Devon Dampier insisted that Utah’s new-look offense would “score the ball.”
And the New Mexico transfer quarterback wasn’t wrong.
Utah (1-0) defeated former Pac-12 foe UCLA (0-1) 43-10 on Saturday night.
After finishing with the second-worst offense in the Big 12 in 2024, Dampier and the Utes had an offensive explosion in the Rose Bowl.
“Thought Devon did a great job running the offense,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “He made great decisions. You saw his playmaking ability. He did a great job taking care of the football, did a great job distributing the football, kept it when he needed to keep it.”
The junior quarterback finished with 206 passing yards, 87 rushing yards and three total touchdowns. Dampier’s performance had 2004 USC Heisman-winner Matt Leinart comparing him to Oklahoma legend Kyler Murray on X.
Murray won college football’s most prestigious award in 2018.
“My personal goal was to come in here and show that Utah [has a] scoring offense,” Dampier said postgame. “That was the biggest thing, just talked about last year. We made it an emphasis that we were going to play all four quarters and we’re going to put points on the board. So just for us to do that on our side was great.”
Two-way stars Smith Snowden and Lander Barton each scored a touchdown in the game — an 11-yard rush and a 14-yard reception, respectively. They are first Utes defenders since Sione Vaki to score an offensive touchdown, according to ESPN 700.
Snowden led all Utah receivers with 51 receiving yards on six catches.
Utah’s defense also had a strong performance in the win. Morgan Scalley’s unit finished the night holding UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava to 136 yards on 11-of-22 passing and 47 rushing yards. He had one touchdown pass and one interception.
They also had four sacks on the night and five tackles for loss.
Next, the Utes will face Cal Poly in their home opener in Rice-Eccles Stadium at 4 p.m. MT next Saturday in Salt Lake City.