CINCINNATI — Bearcats head coach Scott Satterfield wasn’t mincing words when describing the challenge the Bearcats are facing Saturday at Utah.
“[It’s] a tough opportunity for us to go to Utah and play one of the hotter teams I think that’s out there, especially playing them at home. They have an outstanding home field advantage in that stadium. I think obviously it’ll be a tough challenge for us, but we’re looking forward to it.
“When you think about Big 12 venues, there’s some great venues, and we all get to go play at and some awesome atmospheres, and this will be one of those.”
Let’s look at the Utah Utes ahead of Saturday’s showdown in Salt Lake City.
Quarterback: No. 4, Devon Dampier — 5-11, 210 lbs. Jr. Phoenix; New Mexico Transfer
Everything this Utes offense does begins and ends with Devon Dampier. He’s one of 14 FBS quarterbacks with 1350-plus passing yards and 400-plus rushing yards, and his 68.7 completions percentage leads the Big 12 and ranks No. 18 in the country.
Dampier has led the Utes in rushing twice this season, and he had a 120-yard rushing performance on 10 attempts against No. 21 Arizona State three weeks ago.
The Big 12 Media Preseason Newcomer of the Year, Dampier is now on the Midseason Watch List for the Davey O’Brien Award. He has 1,375 passing yards and 13 touchdowns and 442 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.
Prior to Utah, Dampier became the first New Mexico quarterbacl to earn All-Mountain West First-Team honors in 2024. He was second in the Mountain West with 3,934 total yards, and he was also third in the Mountain West with 1,166 rushing yards and second with 19 rushing touchdowns. Dampier had six 100-yard rushing games in 2024.
Four Players to Watch on Utah
1. No. 1: Running Back, Wayshawn Parker — 5-10, 205 lbs. So. Richmond, Calif.; Washington State Transfer
Parker is coming off a 145-yard rushing performance against Colorado last week, his first 100-yard rushing game as a Ute. He leads the Utes with 74.1 all-purpose yards per game, while ranking third in the Big 12 with 7.2 yards per carry.
Speed is Parker’s game. When he was in high school, he averaged 14 yards per carry as a Senior in a season where he rushed for 1,907 yards and 24 touchdowns. On the track, Parker ran a 10.9 100-meter sprint.
Prior to Utah, Parker was the Pac-12’s Freshman “Top Performer” at Washington State in 2024, rushing 137 times for 735 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 5.4 yards per carry.
2. No. 21: Running Back, NaQuari Rogers — 5-10, 210 lbs. Sr. Virginia Beach, Va.; New Mexico Transfer
Rogers leads the Utes with seven rushing touchdowns, and he’s also tied for the team lead with 80 rush attempts. His seven rushing touchdowns are fourth in the Big 12.
At New Mexico in 2024, Rogers had five touchdowns and 382 yards on the ground with 5.2 yards per carry.
3. No. 9: Wide Receiver, Ryan Davis — 5-11, 180 lbs. R-Sr. Roswell, Ga.; New Mexico Transfer
A seventh-year player, Davis leads the Utes with 48 receptions and 518 receiving yards, ranking second in the Big 12 and 12th nationally in receptions.
Davis is ninth in the Big 12 with 64.8 receiving yards per game.
4. No. 90: Defensive End, John Henry Daley — 6-4, 255 lbs. R-So. Alpine, Utah; BYU Transfer
Utah has a really good defense, and Daley is the leader up front in setting the tone. Daley has 9.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss with 36 tackles and two fumbles forced.
The nephew of former BYU standout Taysom Hill, Daley is on the Watch List for the Chuck Bednarik Award and a quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy.
Head Coach: Kyle Whittingham (22nd Season, 173-88) — 65 years old
If you think Whittingham has been the Utes’ head coach for a long time, he’s actually been with Utah since 1994. Ironically, he played college football at BYU where he played for LaVell Edwards and was the WAC Defensive Player of the Year in 1981.
Taking over the Utes program as the head coach in 2005, the season after Urban Meyer left for Florida and Alex Smith was the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Whittingham brought instant winning to Salt Lake City with a win over Alabama in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in 2008. That season, Whittingham was the AFCA Coach of the Year and was the recepient of the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award. He’s a two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year and a two-time Pac-12 Conference Champion. In addition, Whittingham won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year in 2019.
Prior to being the Utes head coach, Whittingham was the defensive coordinator for 10 seasons. He started as the Utes’ defensive line coach in 1994.
Offensive Coordinator: Jason Beck (1st Season) — 45 years old
Beck comes to Utah after spending the last season as the offensive coordinator for the New Mexico Lobos. Under his direction, the New Mexico offense finished the 2024 season ranked first in the Mountain West in red zone offense and total offense, ranking fourth in the FBS with 484.3 yards per game.
If you want to know why the Utes are so good at running the football, the Lobos also ranked second in the Mountain West and No. 5 in the FBS in rushing offense (253.6) while leading the league and ranking fourth in the country in first downs offense (298) in 2024.
Prior to New Mexico with Dampier, Beck was the offensive coordinator at Syracuse in 2023. He was the quarterbacks coach at Syracuse, Virginia, and BYU. Beck began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at BYU in 2007, where he played quarterback for three seasons.
Defensive Coordinator: Morgan Scalley (10th Season) — 46 years old
The inagural recepient of the Pat Tillman Award at the 2005 East-West Shrine Game, recognizing him for his character, intelligence, sportsmanship and service, Scalley starred as a defensive back at Utah from 2001-2004. He was a Second-Team All-American and Mountain West Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2004, after playing high school football at Highland High School in Salt Lake City.
As a senior, he captained Utah to 12-0 record, a Fiesta Bowl win over Pittsburgh and a No. 4 national ranking in a historic season in which Utah became the first non-BCS team to play in a BCS bowl game.
In his coaching career, Scalley started as a graduate assistant in 2007, before moving to safeties in 2008. He added recruiting coordinator in 2009, before becoming the special teams coach in 2015.
Athletics Director Mark Harlan announced on July 1, 2024 that Scalley has formally been designated as Utah’s head coach in waiting.
Keys to the Game
1. Stop the run. Or at least contain it
Utah is averaging 267.1 rushing yards per game, ranking fourth in the country. For context, the only three programs ahead of the Utes are Navy, Air Force, and Army. Let that sink in. The Utes rushed for 422 yards at Colorado last week and, aside from being held to 101 rushing yards against Texas Tech, their second-lowest total is 226 yards at BYU.
2. Impose your will
This game demands it. The Bearcats, though, have shown they can impose their will and physicality. They will have to do it on both sides of the ball.
3. Score in the third quarter
It’s the one quarter where Cincinnati has stalled in multiple games this season. They simply cannot take their feet off the gas Saturday coming out of halftime, for the Utes are out-scoring opponents 69-17 in the third quarter this season.
4. Red zone defense
The Utes are 33-36 in the red zone this season, with 29 touchdowns. That’s as close to automatic as it gets. Getting stops and holding the Utes to three points will be paramount on Saturday for the Bearcats.
Score Prediction: Bearcats 38 – Utes 34
This game could be an offensive shootout, especially with both teams ready to unleash after sitting around all day leading up to the late kickoff. This Bearcats team has shown their ability to hit big plays on offense. Even without Evan Pryor, one or two deep-ball touchdowns from Brendan Sorsby to a much-improved and talented receiving corps could be the difference.
In a game that will go a long way on the road to Dallas, Cincinnati will get either a late score or defensive stand to win the game. With a win, the Bearcats will be in firm control of their own destiny to play in Dallas for a Big 12 Championship.
