SALT LAKE CITY – The 12th-ranked Utah football team built an early lead and pulled away in the fourth quarter on the way to a 41-24 win over Kansas in front of 51,467 fans at a sold-out Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night.
The Utes (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) have now scored 30-plus points in 11 straight games dating back to the 2025 season, the longest streak in the nation. Kansas fell to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in Big 12 play.
Utah has won its first five games of the season by at least 14 points, marking just the fourth time in program history (1953, 1994, 2004).
Devon Dampier recorded four total touchdowns with three through the air and another on the ground, tallying 238 yards passing and 71 rushing. Wayshawn Parker paced the Utes in the running game, racing to 171 yards with a career long 90-yard score, the longest play of the season for the team (rushing or passing). Parker is the first Utah player with a rushing play of 90 or more yards since 2021.
Utah jumped on the Jayhawks from the start with a 10 play, 75-yard drive on the game's opening drive that ended with a Parker 5-yard rush to make it 7-0. After Kansas went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, the Utes made it 14-0 on a 12-yard scamper to the end zone from Dampier, set up by a 44-yard connection through the air between Dampier and Ricky Johnson. Johnson recorded a career-best 104 yards receiving on the night, catching all five of his targets.
The Utes' defense was stout through the first 15 minutes of the game, limiting Kansas to just 30 yards of offense and 0-for-3 on third downs. Noah Bennee scored Utah's third touchdown of the game on a 6-yard catch from Dampier, capping another 75-yard drive to make the score 21-7.
Kansas was able to put the next 10 points on the scoreboard, making it 21-17 as the teams went to the locker room. Johnson's touchdown catch from Dampier in the third restored the lead to 10, but after a missed extra point the Jayhawks made it a three-point game heading to the fourth quarter.
Utah turned in another long offensive drive to start the final period, going 75 yards in nine plays, culminating with Semi Taulanga's first touchdown from 1-yard out on a pass from Dampier. The Utah defense came up big from there. Kansas drove to the Utes' 1-yard line before Rabbit Evans and Johnathan Hall beat Jayhawk quarterback Isaiah Marshall to the corner of the end zone on fourth down, turning the ball over to the offense.
Parker put Kansas away from there, going straight down the middle of the field for his touchdown and a 17-point lead. Utah's defense was led by eight tackles from Trey Reynolds, followed closely by Evans, who added seven stops and 1.5 TFL. Elijah Davis and Hall each contributed two passes broken up.
UP NEXT
Utah is back on the road for an 8:15 p.m. MT kickoff at Colorado on Saturday, Oct. 17. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
