SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Devon Dampier accounted for four touchdowns, Utah intercepted four Bear Bachmeier passes and the third-ranked Utes remained undefeated with a 28-20 victory over No. 7 BYU on Saturday.
Dampier hurt the Cougars with with his arm and legs, finishing with 266 yards of offense to help the Utes (9-0, 6-0 Big 12, No. 3 CFP) snap a three-game losing streak in the Holy War rivalry series. He threw two touchdown passes to Braden Pegan and ran for two more scores.
“All I know is I love him,” Utah coach Morgan Scalley said. “He’s a competitor. He’s a warrior. He wins us football games.”
Trailing by six at halftime, Utah forced three turnovers and shut out the Cougars (7-2, 4-2, No. 9 CFP) in the second half to keep alive its College Football Playoff hopes. BYU has lost two of three to dampen its CFP chances.
Bachmeier threw for 272 yards and a touchdown and ran for 59 yards, but he had two of his four interceptions in the fourth quarter — both in the end zone. He had four interceptions in BYU’s first eight games.
“That’s an incredible amount of turnovers that we had,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “If you know anything about this rivalry, that is not the way to win it."
Down 20-14 at halftime, Utah went ahead in the third quarter on Pegan’s 14-yard TD catch while its defense held BYU to 39 yards and had an interception during that stretch.
Dampier’s second TD run — this one from 3 yards out — gave Utah a 28-20 lead with 12:03 left.
Bachmeier marched BYU down to the Utah 2 but threw an interception to Trey Reynolds with 4:39 remaining. Nate Ritchie picked off another Bachmeier pass in the end zone in the final seconds after the Cougars had reached the Utah 41.
“Our team played lights out in that last quarter,” Dampier said. “That was one of our best quarters of all of us.”
Utah covered 138 yards and scored two touchdowns over its first seven plays. That helped the Utes go ahead 14-0 less than five minutes into the game.
Dampier was the catalyst for the fast start. He hit Noah Bennee for a 47-yard pass to set up his own 22-yard scoring run on Utah’s first drive. Then, Dampier hit Pegan in stride over the middle for a 46-yard touchdown on the Utes’ second drive.
“We find any way to give ourselves momentum,” Dampier said. “That’s just the mentality of our offense. Any time we get out there — let’s just spark this thing. Let’s go get in the end zone. Yeah, we start off pretty well.”
BYU erased the deficit before halftime after recovering two fumbles and forcing four punts over six second-quarter drives.
The Cougars scored their first touchdown when Bachmeier hit Legend Glasker in stride for a 75-yard pass. Then, BYU took its first lead at 20-14 midway through the second quarter when LJ Martin, back from injury, reached the end zone untouched on a 4-yard TD run.
The Cougars offense unraveled in the second half, totaling 111 yards and 4.0 yards per play.
“Going into the second half, we got too big-headed thinking the game was ours,” said Glasker, who finished with 118 yards on seven catches. "We thought we had it and we thought they were just gonna bow down to us.”
The Takeaway
BYU allowed 42 total yards in the second quarter and recovered two fumbles, opening the door for the Cougars to rally from an early double-digit deficit. Bachmeier’s three second-half interceptions doomed the comeback.
Utah has outscored opponents 103-9 in the first quarter through nine games. The Utes lead the Bowl Subdivision in first-quarter point differential (+94) and fewest points allowed in the first quarter.
Triple Threat
Turns out Dampier isn’t just a playmaking threat as a passer and a runner. He also can catch the ball.
Dampier hauled in a 29-yard catch along the sideline from receiver Creed Whittemore in the third quarter. He created separation from safety Raider Damuni and brought down the ball as he fell backward.
It was Dampier’s second career reception overall and first at Utah.
“I told Creed to throw it regardless,” said Dampier, who transferred from New Mexico in December 2024. “I don’t care if there’s two people on me. Throw it. I’m going to find a way to go catch it and I’m happy it played out like that.”
Sack Attack
BYU sacked Dampier three times for a total loss of 12 yards. Utah did not register a sack against the Cougars. It was the first time since 2003 that the Utes finished a game against BYU without a sack.
Up Next
BYU hosts Baylor on Saturday.
Utah is at No. 24 Arizona on Saturday.
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