Three Burning Questions After Two Days Of Fall Camp For Utah Football
Aug 1, 2025, 9:00 AM | Updated: 9:45 am
Lander Barton, fall camp 2025. Photo courtesy by Utah Athletics.
SALT LAKE CITY — Head coach Kyle Whittingham enters his 21st full season at the helm of the Utah football program. After a tough 2024 campaign, the Utes have opened fall camp with a rejuvenated vibe.
Utah’s makeover on the offensive side of the ball has seemed to refuel optimism that wore thin the last two seasons. Whittingham’s club has several key pieces in place to make a run for the 2025 Big 12 title.
Still, though, as the Utes are hoping to return the program to championship contention, several question marks will need to be answered. After a couple of days of practice, here are five of the most common questions about the squad and their answers.
Is Devon Dampier prepared and ready to lead Utah through the 2025 campaign?
Devon Dampier — a dynamic dual-threat junior is the man entrusted to lead the Utes this season. He was one of the most electric players in all of college football last year. He finished the ’24 campaign with 3,934 total yards and 31 touchdowns.
Perhaps more vital to this season is Dampier’s emergence as a leader. He was voted to the leadership council by his teammates after just two weeks with the program. Whittingham has already called him a “guy with the it factor,” and the belief in the building is real.
The questions revolve primarily around his adjustment to a higher level of competition in the Big 12. Dampier, while electric, struggled as a passer last season, completing just 57.9% of his passes and throwing 12 interceptions.
How much progress can be expected in a move up a level? That’s tough to answer definitively at this point. However, as he goes into his second season in the same offense, that provides him with great command of the offense, and should serve as a distinct advantage in his adjustment.
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Chemistry with receivers is another major factor, and that will be an ongoing process in fall camp. Yet, Dampier and his pass catchers entered fall camp with a head start on that process after putting in a lot of work together on their own this summer.
“Day one is different than what it used to be, with the way the NCAA allows you to do certain things in the summer now,” Whittingham shared. “Very evident and obvious that these guys worked a lot on their own this summer with the execution and timing of stuff.”
How things progress over the next two weeks will provide greater clarity to Dampier’s readiness. However, based on early indications, it’s genuinely off to a good start.
Will Jason Beck actually have autonomy to run his offense?
New OC Jason Beck arrived as the architect behind one of college football’s most efficient offenses last year.
Based on success rate (a simple way of determining whether a play was successful or not, based on the down and percentage of yards to go gained), New Mexico had a 48.3% success rate, the 16th highest in college football. Utah was 12 spots from the bottom of college football with a 36.9% success rate. That’s essentially going from a successful play once every three snaps to success every other play.
New Mexico also averaged 32.0 points in three Power Five contests (Arizona, Auburn, Washington State), while Utah averaged just 22.7 points.
Whittingham has stated on multiple occasions that this is Beck’s and he will be able to call his offense, how he sees fit. Because, duh, he called a good offense, and why wouldn’t Whittingham want that; all that he asks is not to turn it over.
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Yet, questions abound about whether Beck will actually have full autonomy to call his offense, which is… interesting.
First, Beck’s offense is geared towards the run game, Whitt’s preferred method of operation. New Mexico called run plays on 52.8% of their total calls, with QB scrambles pushing the total rushing attempts to account for 53.9% of total plays.
One thing that should be encouraging for fans to hear is the word “tempo.” That is one of the biggest differences between Beck’s and his predecessor’s offense.
“We’re not going to huddle, it’s going to be more up-tempo,” Whittingham shared. “It’s not ridiculously fast where we’re snapping the ball with 25-30 seconds left on the play clock, it’s not that. But it is a different way to operate, but there are a lot of different ways to be good on offense. This is Coach Beck’s system and what he’s used to, and we’re going with it.”
With Dampier leading the offense, Beck also has the unique opportunity to call an offense for a new program with the quarterback he called plays for the year before. There is a chemistry and an understanding between the two that serves as another reason to allow Beck to call the offense how he sees fit.
“Our big-play capability at quarterback with Devon Dampier,” was Whittingham’s response to what excited him most about the offense. “This offense suits him to a T. He’s a true dual-threat, and this offense features a lot of QB run game, a lot of RPO, and is going to take advantage of his skillset.”
How legitimate is Lander Barton & Smith Snowden playing offense?
There’s been a great deal of curiosity over Whittingham’s revelation that his two star defenders will be getting reps on offense this season. Whittingham clarified that they wouldn’t consider the possibility unless they were proven commodities.
Both Barton and Snowden have established themselves atop the depth chart at their current positions. The two will be counted on to lead the defense this season, and their primary use will continue there.
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Bill Riley is joined by Defensive Coordinator, Morgan Scalley (@RSNBUtes), to discuss the status of the team heading into Fall Camp.
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So, what do we make of their potential offensive usage?
Both have high school experience on the offensive side of the ball. Snowden totaled 181 yards (142 receiving, 39 rushing) and three touchdowns on 13 total touches over his junior and senior seasons. Barton was good enough to be recruited as a tight end by some programs coming out of high school.
Tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham shared that he’s long coveted Barton and has wanted him in his tight end room. Meanwhile, Snowden was so explosive on kick return duties that it opened the door to offensive opportunities this offseason.
The two have gotten some work on the offensive side of the ball in the first two days of camp. How much is unclear, but Barton has worked with the tight ends and Snowden with the receivers.
Neither seems like they’ll be utilized anywhere close to the manner Travis Hunter was at Colorado. Hunter played over 1,400 snaps, split pretty evenly between each side of the ball. Rather, it seems their focus will continue to be on defense, while having special package opportunities on offense.
