Devon Dampier, Utah Focused On West Virginia Ahead
Sep 25, 2025, 1:57 PM | Updated: Sep 26, 2025, 11:01 am
SALT LAKE CITY — Kyle Whittingham doesn’t do excuses, but he made it clear Monday: Devon Dampier wasn’t 100% heading into Utah’s matchup with Texas Tech, but he was 100% going to play.
The Utes, unfortunately, were unable to protect the home field. Now, it’s in the rearview mirror and Utah’s turned the focus to West Virginia.
Dampier and the offense will be looking for a bounce-back performance against the Mountaineers. Frankly, they’ll need a resounding one to re-instill the optimism the fanbase once had.
Hitting the road in Week 5️⃣!
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⏰ SAT 09.27 | 1:30PM MT
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The starting quarterback tweaked his ankle against Wyoming a week earlier, and it kept him out of practice for most of the week. Whittingham admitted it had an impact, but it’s no excuse:
“He was doing the best he could,” Whitt said. “Wasn’t able to practice Tuesday or Wednesday, a little bit Thursday. I’m going to tell you that it definitely impacted Devon. But if you’re out there, you’ve got to get it done. We never use that as an excuse.”
And to be fair, Dampier didn’t make it one. He never appeared on the Big 12’s availability report, because there was never a doubt he’d play. But anyone watching Saturday saw a quarterback that wasn’t his usual dual-threat self.
He finished 25-of-38 for 162 yards and two interceptions, missing a wide-open Tobias Merriweather on what could’ve been a momentum-shifting play. On the ground, Dampier managed just 27 yards on 11 attempts — a far cry from the explosive scrambles that have become his trademark.
“I think he’s in a better place — well, I know he’s in a better place right now on Monday than he was last Monday, so that bodes well,” he said.
Despite the lackluster showing, Utah’s belief remains strong
Whittingham didn’t mince words when it came to where the staff stands on Dampier.
“We believe in him completely, and he’s without a doubt our quarterback,” he said. “You can’t panic off one game that was not up to par… I don’t think one subpar game is fair to judge him off that. The first three games, he is pretty darn good.”
Dampier, for his part, pointed the finger inward after the loss.
“We put ourselves in some tough situations,” he said. “You try to minimize the self mistakes — we consider those more self mistakes than them making plays. That’s just something we want to control a lot better going into these next following weeks.”
Devon Dampier’s shifted the mindset to Morgantown
For Dampier and Utah, the loss to Texas Tech isn’t something they can dwell on. The Big 12 doesn’t wait, and neither will West Virginia.
The Utes need a hard reset — not just physically, but mentally. Dampier made it clear on Monday that the team’s approach is already shifting toward Saturday.
“I think a lot of our players are feeling great also. Gonna attack this week real good,” he said, describing the early energy inside the locker room. “I was suited up all week last week, you know, my availability was never in question. But now it’s onto West Virginia. Let’s go attack it.”
The quarterback’s tone was equal parts frustration and determination. Utah didn’t like the way things went against Texas Tech. Dampier admitted the sting is still there. But he framed that pain as a motivator, not a weight.
“Use that for fuel. We didn’t take this loss easily at all. You know, it hurts, but again we need to use it as fuel, not to let it linger any longer than what it has,” Dampier said.
It’s the kind of perspective you want from your quarterback — a refusal to let one game drag into another. He knows Utah can’t afford to let a setback define them. That’s why he emphasized the need to restore belief, both individually and collectively.
“Continue to build confidence, that’s the biggest thing,” Dampier said. “You don’t want to have one game where we weren’t clicking on all cylinders to affect the way we played the rest of the season. It’s one game. We put it behind us, and now the focus is again to use that fuel to go out there. And let’s play a lot harder than we did last week.”
That’s the challenge now: proving Utah can take a punch, regroup, and come back swinging on the road. Dampier is saying all the right things, but Saturday in Morgantown is where those words have to become reality.
Saturday, Utah vs West Virginia
Utah heads east this week to face West Virginia (Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MDT, FOX). And if Dampier is closer to himself — ankle loosened up, confidence intact — then the Utes’ offense has a much better chance of looking like the one that carried them through the first three weeks.
Because make no mistake: Utah doesn’t have the luxury of a quarterback running at 70%. Not in the Big 12, not if this team wants to play for something bigger in November.
