Kansas
What Utah players said after pivotal win over Kansas
Friday’s regular season finale for Utah football was a culmination of everything the Utes had done over the offseason to move past last season’s disappointing ending.
One play in the fourth quarter of Utah’s 31-21 win over Kansas embodied the turnaround Kyle Whittingham and his staff strove to achieve since the conclusion of their 5-7 finish to the 2024-25 campaign roughly a year ago.
Needing a first down to close out what had been a slugfest against the Jayhawks, New Mexico transfer Devon Dampier faked a quarterback draw play, stepped back and let a deep ball rip down the field to Larry Simmons, a transfer from Southern Mississippi who earned quite the reputation as a big-time playmaker as of late, for a 48-yard touchdown to put the Utes up by double-digits with just over 3 minutes to play.
“That’s something we’ve been working for a long time,” Simmons said of the play after the game. “And we finally got the chance to call it and we was able to execute it.”
It was even a longer wait for offensive coordinator Jason Beck, who originally drew up the play during his five years at Virginia (2016-2021) and had been patiently awaiting an opportunity to dial it up for the Utes.
The rest of the afternoon wasn’t smooth sailing for the Utes offense, though it got help from some big-time plays in the red zone from its defense. Three players from last season’s 5-7 squad — Smith Snowden, Jackson Bennee and Scooby Davis — picked off Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels on three separate drives that went as deep as the Utah 25-yard line, preventing Kansas from capitalizing off its effective rushing attack.
Bennee’s interception early in the fourth quarter helped set up a 4-play, 80-yard drive that was capped off by a 28-yard touchdown from Simmons’ putting the Utes back in front, 17-14, with just over 12 minutes remaining. Davis extended the lead not long after with a 97-yard interception returned for a touchdown, making it 24-14 with just under 8 minutes to play.
Kansas, which rushed for 290 yards and came just shy of eclipsing 450 total yards of offense on the day, responded with an 8-play, 93-yard drive to make it a 3-point game again.
Looking to put the game away, Utah delivered the final knockout punch with the deep ball to Simmons, keeping the Utes’ College Football Playoff and Big 12 title game hopes alive in the process.
Regardless of how the ensuing weekend slate played out, Utah doubled its win total while, at the very least, clinching a bowl game berth after missing the postseason entirely a year ago.
Here’s what Dampier and Bennee said after the game.
“First off, that was [offensive coordinator] Jason Beck. He does a lot of things week in, week out. We’ve been holding on to that play for a long time now, so the situation just presented itself. They got a little heavy to stop that run game and man, put Larry on the deep post, he’s gonna come down with it. So it’s kind of how that play just came up in that situation.”
“I think we held ourselves back multiple times; whether it was loss of yardage on the down, or penalties that put us in very bad third down situations. We hope to be more efficient than we were, but I mean, that’s what happens in football. Not everything’s gonna be perfect. It’s how you respond, and I think the offense did a great job of getting on top of that and helping the defense.”
“That’s a tremendous play that could have been useful for them and would have made it harder for us to come back.”
“Again, I’m proud of our defense. They were on it all night. Our offense was like, ‘Alright, defense been going out all game, it’s for us to go out there and do what we got to do.’”
Dampier: “It’s huge. For our goals at the beginning of the year, we hoped 10-2 gets us to what we want to do. But just from my standpoint, when I got here in January, we were not happy with how last year went. A turnaround needed to happen. We demanded it. Every day, coaches demanded out of us; players, we demanded it, and captains and all that stuff.”
“Just happy it all came together. We finished strong and saw that work we put in.”
“It just wasn’t our ball last week. Everybody knows that we just didn’t play our best football at all. But today, we just wanted to leave it in the past and continue with how we know how to play defense and gap, sound assignment, sound defense, and I thought we did well with that today.”
MORE UTAH NEWS & ANALYSIS
Indiana’s portal haul continued to grow Sunday as multiple outlets reported the addition of Kansas State edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi.
Osunsanmi has played in 36 games over the last four years and has 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. Most of that production came over the last two seasons. He has a total of 47 QB pressures during his college career.
In 2025 he played in six games and had 20 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. He suffered a season-ending injury in October.
He saw action in all 13 games in 2024 as a reserve defensive end and on special teams, recording 19 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble over 303 defensive snaps and 31 special teams plays.
In 2023 he saw time in all 13 games as a reserve linebacker, a rush end on passing downs and on special teams. He was tied for team-high honors with five tackles on kickoff coverage.
He played in four games in 2022 and preserved his redshirt.
The 6-foot-3 and 250-pound Osunsanmi has one year of eligibility remaining.
The Wichita, Kan. product (Wichita East H.S.) was regarded as the 232nd-best overall player in the nation for the Class of 2022 by 247Sports.
Osunsanmi will help fill the void left by outgoing edge rushers Mikail Kamara, Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley.
More transfer portal information:
For complete coverage of IU football recruiting, GO HERE.
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LAWRENCE — The Division I transfer portal window for college football is open from Jan. 2 through Jan. 16, and that means Sunday is another chance for the Kansas football program to shape its roster.
The Jayhawks already gained one public addition earlier this offseason in Grand Valley State transfer Jibriel Conde — whose signing was announced Dec. 4. Conde, who is making the jump up from Division II, is a 247Sports-rated three-star defensive lineman in the portal and is listed by KU as a defensive tackle. On Saturday, a number of current Kansas players — including redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Marshall, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Keaton Kubecka and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Blake Herold — also outlined in social media posts on X that they are locked in with the program for the 2026 season.
Marshall is set to compete for the starting quarterback job next season. Kubecka has the chance to step up into a more significant role at wide receiver. Herold is in line to be a key part of Kansas’ defensive line.
Those positives, though, don’t outweigh the fact that there has been a sizable group of players who have revealed their intentions to transfer away. Looking overall, when it comes to those whose decisions became public before and after the portal opened, the significant names to know include redshirt senior safety Lyrik Rawls, redshirt junior linebacker Trey Lathan and freshman quarterback David McComb. Lathan led KU in tackles in 2025.
Check in here for more updates during this transfer portal window about a KU team that finished 5-7 during the 2025 season, with transfer ratings as outlined by 247Sports.
Kansas football transfer portal additions
Jibriel Conde (3-star defensive lineman from Grand Valley State) — KU lists him as a defensive tackle
Kansas football transfer portal departures
Joseph Sipp Jr. (linebacker)
Jacoby Davis (cornerback)
Dylan Brooks (defensive end)
Jaidyn Doss (wide receiver)
Carter Lavrusky (offensive lineman)
Trey Lathan (linebacker)
Tyler Mercer (offensive lineman)
Harry Stewart III (running back)
Caleb Redd (3-star edge) — KU lists him as a defensive end
Aundre Gibson (3-star cornerback)
David McComb (3-star quarterback)
Kene Anene (3-star interior offensive lineman) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman
Laquan Robinson (3-star safety)
Jameel Croft Jr. (3-star cornerback)
Logan Brantley (3-star linebacker)
Greydon Grimes (3-star offensive tackle) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman
Jon Jon Kamara (3-star linebacker)
Lyrik Rawls (3-star safety)
Damani Maxson (3-star safety)
Jaden Hamm (tight end)
Bryce Cohoon (wide receiver)
JaCorey Stewart (linebacker)
Johnny Thompson Jr. (running back)
Efren Jasso (punter)
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Hundreds of people packed the Gem Theatre over the weekend to celebrate Kwanzaa.
The celebrations run nightly through January 1. Each night highlights a different core value, including unity, cooperation and faith.
The event features local vendors and performances. Organizers say it’s a great way to start the new year.
The Kwanzaa celebration is free and open to everyone.
Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.
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