Dampier spearheaded the attack, recording a season-high 120 rushing yards and three touchdowns with his legs to guide his team to a 42-10 win over Arizona State. He also went 7-of-12 through the air for 104 yards in his team’s fourth 30-point win of the season, helping snap Utah’s five-game home losing streak to Big 12 foes while breaking Arizona State’s eight-game win streak over conference opponents.

Meanwhile, the Utes’ defense made it difficult for the Sam Leavitt-less Sun Devils to establish any sort of rhythm offensively, holding the visitors to just 259 total yards while sacking backup Jeff Sims five times, including a stretch of three straight quarterback takedowns during one of the Sun Devils’ second-half series.

Defensive end John Henry Daley led the charge with 1.5 sacks, bringing his total to 8.0 on the season. Jackson Bennee was among the bright spots for Utah’s secondary and had one of the top plays of the night with a blocked field goal attempt.

Here’s what Dampier, Henry Daley and Bennee had to say after the game.

“We trust those boys up front. Our front five — I trust those guys over anybody. So, yeah, I mean, we take whatever the defense gives us, and our run game was moving. We were moving the ball efficiently [and] stuck to it.”

“Huge shoutout to obviously coach [Jason] Beck. Play-calling was magnificent. And again, our O-line, it’s pretty easy running behind those guys. So, I thought they gave me great space for me to be able to make plays.”

“Yeah, I think just every game I go into there’s always a chip on my shoulder. I had a long journey to get to the point I’m at right now, and yeah, I mean, every game, I got something to prove every time I’m out there.”

“Man, I don’t think it can be overstated. We love our fans, and we appreciate when they come out. And I don’t know if they’ve noticed, over the past couple games, there’s been a lot of false starts, and that’s all because of our fans. So we really appreciate them.”

“I mean, the game plan stayed the same. We wanted to control the pass lanes, make sure that he couldn’t scramble out and extend plays and be able to make some of those throws farther downfield. I mean, obviously it was a bummer that Sam wasn’t there, but we played the exact same way that we would have if he was playing; going out there, playing Utah football, and I’m glad with the result that we were able to come up with tonight.”

Yeah, [defensive coordinator Morgan] Scalley, he’s a master when it comes to scheming something up like that. They showed what we were looking for, and honestly, we were kind of moving around; I didn’t think we were going to get it off. But yeah, it worked out.”

MORE UTAH NEWS & ANALYSIS

TEMPE — The #21 Arizona State Sun Devils have found themselves in a difficult position on Saturday night in a road battle against a fellow Big 12 contender in the Utah Utes.

The Sun Devils and Kenny Dillingham entered week six (the bye week) not extremely optimistic that players that had previously been out would be able to return – while some good news did come early in the week in the confirmed return of an impact player, things came crashing down with an untimely drop in the report on Thursday night.

The program officially unveiled the gameday report just before kickoff – with everything that was expected to unfold being confirmed.

Arizona State on SI breaks down the final status of key players below.

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Warren returns this week after being out the previous two games against Baylor and TCU. Kyndrich Breedlove is likely to remain the starting player at nickelback, but Warren will be welcome and capable depth – he should see time on the field.

Brown was listed as questionable earlier in the week, but is officially active. The junior missed the win over Texas State and was not able to find proper footing in the two games that followed in response to an injury suffered in week two.

Moss is a welcome return to the lineup after missing the last four games following the season-opening victory over Northern Arizona. It is unclear how many snaps the slot receiver will see, but the Fresno State transfer has potential to make a major impact in short-yard situations.

Leavitt is officially inactive and was seen walking in Rice-Eccels Stadium with a boot after being downgraded to doubtful on Thursday night. Jeff Sims will receive the start at quarterback.

Alford has been out since week three due to an undisclosed injury, with Adrian “Boogie” Wilson set to continue stepping into a starting role for the time being. Swanson returned for the win over TCU after working back from a foot injury suffered in April but is once again out for this battle. Fiaseu will miss his second consecutive game tonight – with sophomore LB Martell Hughes set to step into the role held by the senior.

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Arizona State and Utah are set to kickoff at 7:15 P.M. AZT – although the start time has potential to be pushed back due to weather.

Read more about Arizona State basketball coach Bobby Hurley speaking directly to fans ahead of the start of the 2025 season here, and on previewing key individual Utah players ahead of the Sun Devil football game on Saturday here.

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TEMPE — The 21st-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) are seeking a spotless start to conference play as they hit the road against the Utah Utes (4-1, 1-1) in what is a major battle between conference contenders.

An already challenging matchup became even tougher when Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt was downgraded to doubtful on Thursday night coming off of an off week, while the Utes are fresh off of a bye week of their own.

Arizona State on SI covers all of the vitals for the game below – information surrounding the battle, things to watch, a game prediction, and more.

WHO: #21 Arizona State at Utah

WHERE: Rice-Eccels Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah

WHEN: 7:15 P.M. AZT/MST

T.V. Network: ESPN

The Skinny: The Utes have reshaped their offense in the 2025 season behind the hiring of Jason Beck as offensive coordinator and bringing former New Mexico QB Devon Dampier in at quarterback.

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Head coach Kenny Dillingham has spoken at length as to how unique the Utah offense is this season – as they always have the plus-one at their disposal, rarely gift the opportunity to generate negative plays, and have a consistent ability to generate explosive plays.

Utah’s defensive front is also a challenge in and of itself – as is the potential inclement weather that will likely favort the Utes.

The super senior is likely to start his second game with the Arizona State program with the unfortunate truth that Leavitt is unlikely to play.

One of the biggest struggles surrounding the Sun Devils’ 4-1 beginning to the season has been uneven starts from within the game script – the former Nebraska starting QB will be tasked with easing into a game that favors Utah, with his running ability and the complimentary backfield that has been one of the best attacks in the conference.

Dillingham has said that there will be no changes made to the approach with Sims – showing belief in Sims’ ability to lead the offense is paramount, as is the predication on feeding Jordyn Tyson and other supporting pieces in the passing game in pockets.

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Utah has not one – but two phenomenal offensive tackles. LT Caleb Lomu and RT Spencer Fano have built up cases to be selected in the first half of the first round of the 2026 NFL draft behind standout play for multiple seasons.

The Utes’ phenomenal line, Beck’s playcalling, and Dampier’s dynamic dual threat ability all lend pointed challenges for an Arizona State front seven that has been noticeably improved compared to a year ago.

Arizona State DC Brian Ward stated that he was strongly convicted that the game would be determined in the trenches in his talk with media earlier in the week.

The Sun Devils’ 19 sacks as a unit places them among the best in the entire FBS – Prince Dorbah, Clayton Smith, Elijah O’Neal, and even interior lineman such as C.J. Fite will be tested against not only the elite tackle duo, but also with the quality that is on the interior of the offensive line.

Arizona State still has the ability to win this game – even if Leavitt is absent. The Sun Devils have potential matchup advantages when it comes to leveraging field position, winning the turnover battle, and possibly having another efficient game on the ground – Tyson remains a major matchup quirk as well.

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The game is shaping up to be one that is determined by who has the ball last, and Utah’s unique offense sets them up to hold the ball for lengthy periods of time themselves – a last-second field goal from either squad is a reasonable conclusion to the game, but Utah gets the slight edge for the moment.

Read more about Arizona State basketball coach Bobby Hurley speaking directly to fans ahead of the start of the 2025 season here, and on previewing key individual Utah players ahead of the Sun Devil football game on Saturday here.

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