Wyoming
Takeaways From Utah’s Gritty Win Over Wyoming
Laramie, WY—Saturday’s 31-6 win at Wyoming highlighted both the flaws Utah must clean up and the strengths it can lean on moving forward.
For one half, Utah looked like a team searching for answers, undone by penalties and missed opportunities. For the other, the Utes looked like the Big 12 contender they aim to be, dominating both sides of the ball and controlling the line of scrimmage.
Utah’s win in Laramie wasn’t always pretty, but it was decisive. After a sloppy, penalty-filled first half, the Utes hit the gas in the second, burying Wyoming with physical defense and a run game that finally found its groove.
Couldn’t have gotten the W without this crowd backing us‼️🫶#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/o4lgR6H9x3
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) September 14, 2025
Utah’s First Half vs. Second Half
This was a fascinating game that seemed to provide two distinctly different halves of football. However, the only real difference was that Utah simply finished drives better in the second half. Here’s a rundown of how similar the two halves were:
In one half, Utah gained 267 yards, and in the other, they gained 274 yards.
In one half, Utah gained 155 rushing yards, and in the other, 156 rushing yards.
In one half, Utah threw for 112 yards, and in the other, 118 passing yards.
In one half, Utah averaged 6.7 yards per play, and in the other, they averaged 7.1 per play.
In one half, Utah was penalized six times for 63 yards, and in the other, four times for 35.
That’s how similar the two halves of football were from a production standpoint. The issue was the most important stat of any game: points. Utah only finished with 3 first-half points, and in the second half, scored 28.
#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/8nW05pkhDG
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) September 14, 2025
The first half was sloppy and undisciplined, marred by untimely penalties that stalled drives and left points on the field. In the second half, though penalty issues remained, Utah was determined to convert all scoring opportunities with touchdowns.
The defense was tough throughout most of the game. Wyoming did have a couple of extended drives, but only one ended in points. The secondary looked better, but there are still some things to address.
In general, Utah clearly needs to clean up its play. The penalties simply cannot continue at this same rate. It cost them points in the first half, and against better competition in the future, that will hurt them.
Questions still linger around Utah’s passing game
Through three games, Utah’s passing attack is a mixed bag. Devon Dampier is completing passes at a very high clip, 73% to be exact. However, the yards per attempt still sits right at 7.0 yards, which would be in the bottom half of the country.
The passing game has been a heavy dose of short throws, which has created enough production to preserve Utah’s offensive balance. Until the Utes generate explosive plays downfield, the passing game will remain the biggest question mark heading into Big 12 play.
Still, with emerging weapons like Ryan Davis and Dallen Bentley, there seem to be enough sureties to build with. The passing game is going to have to evolve, and that starts with Beck and Dampier, not the receivers.
.@Utah_Football starting to fire on ALL cylinders 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sd1Bb0Qc4i
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) September 14, 2025
Dallen Bentley’s emergence
The tight end position has been a hallmark of Utah’s offense in recent years. After the change in coordinator, many believed the tight end spot would fall by the wayside. However, Dallen Bentley had other plans.
Against Wyoming, Bentley hauled in 4-of-7 targets for 46 yards. That included the game-defining 3rd and 21 conversion, where he hauled in a pass down the sideline and trucked a defender to gain the final yard he needed to get the 1st down.
His involvement in the passing game is a promising sign. The 6-foot-5, 259-pounder is now up to 11 receptions for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and seems to be emerging as a go-to target for Dampier.
Whittingham credited Bentley for the work he put in this offseason. Bentley gives Utah a reliable target in critical moments and reinforces the importance of the position at Utah.
Also, tight end Hunter Andrews quietly put together 106 total yards- 44 receiving, 62 rushing, and one touchdown on 11 total touches.
Run game explosiveness
Utah as a whole ran for 311 yards, which included two ball carriers eclipsing the 80-yard threshold, and two others running for at least 60 yards.
Dampier led the team with 86 yards on 13 carries, while Wayshawn Parker got to 80 yards on 10 carries. Hunter Andrews ran for 62 yards on six carries, and NaQuari Rogers totaled 60 yards on 13 carries.
😳 @WayshawnParker GOT UP‼️#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/Sr2g5LhaGr
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) September 14, 2025
A complement to the offensive line is the lack of negative run plays. Out of 45 total runs, Utah only had four run plays that gained 0 yards, and just two that went for a loss.
This is remarkable run game production and player involvement. Perhaps the biggest positive was the explosiveness Utah displayed in the run game.
Against a competitive, tough, and well-coached defense, the Utes finished with 12 big run plays (gains of at least 10 yards) that generated 193 rushing yards, both being season highs.
Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.
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Wyoming
Wyoming authorities call on Rocky Mountain Power to explain role in massive November power outage
by Dustin Bleizeffer, WyoFile
The massive, multiple-utility power outage last fall that left some 250,000 customers across parts of Wyoming, South Dakota and Montana without electricity was the result of miscommunication and inadequate procedures during planned maintenance that required de-energizing a power line in southcentral Wyoming, according to a report.
The Nov. 13 incident left thousands of homes and businesses without power for 9.5 hours — longer, in some cases — and knocked out a coal-powered generator outside Glenrock. The unit at the Dave Johnston Power Plant remains offline, leaving Rocky Mountain Power to backfill some 300 megawatts of electricity — enough to power about 225,000 homes.
Without expressly assigning blame to any one party, the report — conducted by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation — indicates a series of communication breakdowns between PacifiCorp (parent company of Rocky Mountain Power), the Western Area Power Administration and, to some degree, electrical grid coordinating teams.
While it’s unclear whether authorities such as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation might pinpoint fault and assess penalties, the Wyoming Public Service Commission has called on Rocky Mountain Power to appear at a hearing scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. The commission wants to hear from the utility about “the specifics and details of the event and report,” a public notice announced, and it “may consider and take any action that is in the public interest.”
The hearing at the Public Service Commission’s office located at 2515 Warren Avenue, Suite 300, in Cheyenne, will also be livestreamed at this link.
What happened
According to the 49-page report published in June, PacifiCorp and the Western Area Power Administration were coordinating maintenance on their respective systems that, together, required temporarily de-energizing PacifiCorp’s Aeolus–Clover 500 kilovolt line, which runs east-west and is anchored, in part, by a substation near Medicine Bow.
The effort also required curtailing some local wind energy from feeding the grid, according to the report. But on the day of the planned maintenance, Nov. 13, there was confusion about whether the Western Area Power Administration would scrap its work, so wind energy wasn’t curtailed as originally planned.
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Wind turbines near Cheyenne poke into a colorful sunrise in January 2025. (Tennessee Watson/WyoFile)
The report indicates that modeling tools might have failed to accurately measure local grid conditions, so when the power line was de-energized, “power flow rapidly redistributed throughout the northeast portion” of the local grid. “Within six seconds,” according to the report, “an electrical island formed and collapsed, causing widespread effects across that portion of the interconnection.
“The disturbance,” the report continues, “culminated in the loss of more than 4,800 [megawatts] of generation from coal, natural gas, photovoltaic and wind resources.”
The cascading power failure began at about 12:45 p.m. on a Thursday, dragging down portions of service territories operated by Rocky Mountain Power, Black Hills Energy, Montana-Dakota Utilities and some rural electric co-ops.
The report points to failures in communication, process deficiencies and inadequate modeling tools. Wind energy was not “identified as a contributing factor,” according to the report. It credits both battery storage and wind energy throughout the impacted area for supporting “a faster frequency recovery across the interconnection” and for providing “readily available capacity during system restoration.”
This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
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