Pasadena, Calif. • Devon Dampier’s phone buzzed.
Hours before his Utes debut against UCLA in the Rose Bowl Saturday, Dampier’s offseason quarterback trainer, Mike Giovando, sent him a motivational text.
“Some people want it to happen. Some people wish it would happen. And others make it happen,” Giovando wrote.
The quote is from Michael Jordan’s The Last Dance docu-series. Giovando sends the message to each of the quarterbacks he’s trained before their games. It was just a small reminder for Dampier to do what he wanted against UCLA: make a statement.
Last season, the Utes’ offense ranked second-to-last in the Big 12. New offensive coordinator Jason Beck and Dampier wanted to prove that Utah “could score the ball” to wash away the woes from a season ago.
“We made a big emphasis [that] last year was last year, and it’s time to move on,” Dampier said following his first Utah start. “We came out here and the big mentality was a win for sure.”
The Utes overpowered their old Pac-12 foe, UCLA, 43-10. Dampier dazzled in the contest, finishing with 206 passing yards, 87 rushing yards and three total touchdowns.
Dampier outplayed former five-star recruit Nico Iamaleava, who was stymied by the Utes’ defense. He also put the college football world on notice, while preseason Heisman frontrunners Arch Manning and Cade Klubnik struggled in Week 1.
Former USC Heisman winner Matt Leinart compared the quarterback to quarterback Kyler Murray, who won college football’s most prestigious award in 2018.
Utah quarterback Devon Dampier, left, runs the ball as UCLA defensive lineman A.J. Fuimaono gives chase during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025, in Pasadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
“Well, that’s a heck of a comparison,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Coming from him means something. Devon, he’s electric. He’s a highlight film waiting to happen.”
Dampier said the compliment from Leinart was “awesome for sure,” but that he cares more about what his “boys think.”
That’s more than expected from Dampier. He’s the quarterback who takes his offensive line out to breakfast at Penny Ann’s Cafe on Sunday mornings. He’s the quarterback who graciously hugs his teammates after each touchdown toss or run.
He’s the quarterback who donated $9,000 to his little brother Dominic’s high school in Phoenix so they could have new uniforms.
“He was just excited to play for his teammates, more than prove something to anybody,” Giovando told The Salt Lake Tribune. “He doesn’t carry himself like that. ... He’s just better than you.”
One could assume that Dampier would have something to prove. He was a three-star recruit in high school, with only one Power Four offer.
He spent two seasons at New Mexico before entering the transfer portal. Only then was he getting calls — and major offers — from power programs from the SEC and Big Ten.
Instead, he followed Beck to the Utes in Salt Lake City.
“I still don’t think he walks around with a big chip on his shoulder,” Matt Frazier, Dampier’s little league football coach, told The Tribune. “I think he totally gets that it’s not just him.”
After every Dampier touchdown on Saturday, Frazier smiled and cheered from his Arizona home. His former quarterback was having his moment on primetime television.
But that’s not why he was happy.
“I don’t think the word ‘attention’ is in Devon’s vocabulary,” Frazier said. “He’s just out there doing what he was made to do.
“If they were losing by 14, his demeanor would have been identical to what it was when they were up 24 points. He’s just special.”
Whittingham sees him that way, too.
“He had to draw the attention to some people tonight,” Utah’s coach said. “He’s a guy that the players love. They’ve just embraced him. And that’s huge when your quarterback is thought of [that way].
“They really seem to have taken a liking to him.”
At the end of Utah’s blowout win, Dampier meandered around his teammates and sang “Utah Man” while being engulfed in a horde of red and white. He wasn’t in front of the cameras; instead he was at the center of his huddled Ute comrades.
On Saturday, Dampier made it happen.
But, he won’t take credit for Utah’s resurgence.
Even as more people come to know his name.
“I think it was a statement game,” Giovando said. “But I think it was for his team.
“He wanted to come out and say ‘Hey, we’re back, man.’ That’s all that mattered to him.”