Takeaways From Kyle Whittingham’s Kansas State Week Press Conference
Nov 17, 2025, 1:36 PM | Updated: 4:08 pm
SALT LAKE CITY— As the No. 13 Utah Utes prepare to welcome Kansas State to Rice-Eccles Stadium, head coach Kyle Whittingham addressed the media to discuss his team’s performance against Baylor and other topics.
Utah comes out of the bye week clear-eyed about where it stands and what comes next. The Utes are 8–2, ranked No. 13 in the CFP, and still firmly in the Big 12 title hunt — but as Kyle Whittingham has emphasized repeatedly, the margin for error is gone.
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Here’s what stood out from Whittingham’s weekly press conference:
Utah Wants Both Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin Back
If there was any doubt about how Utah views the future of its quarterback room, Whittingham provided some clarity on Monday. The Utes want Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin back for 2026.
And Whitt made it clear: this isn’t about wishful thinking. It’s about resources, timing, and the evolving economics of college football.
“We sure hope so,” Whittingham acknowledged. “With what Byrd’s done this year and what Devon’s done for that matter, we’re going to have to really step up to hang on to those guys.”
Utah wants to keep the two-quarterback foundation intact — Dampier as the proven starter with upside, Ficklin as the future of the position — but the portal and NIL market will play a big role in just how expensive that security becomes.
Whittingham also noted how new calendar changes affect these conversations. With December now a full dead period and the transfer portal not opening until January, Utah finally gets something all college football coaches have begged for: breathing room.
“You have a little more time after the regular season to sort those things out before you had to start those conversations now,” Whittingham shared.
That extra month matters. Utah can finish the season, evaluate roster needs, and get alignment between Whittingham, administration, and donors before the quarterback market goes wild in January. And based on Whittingham’s tone, the desire is absolutely there.
“It’s about what kind of resources we can come up with to keep the roster together, everyone’s trying to step up in that regard.” he shared. “And it’d be interesting to do the study. My guess is if you took a study of Power Four— the 25 million dollar rosters, the 20, with the average one loss record, it would just follow suit exactly with the resources available.”
In other words: you want to keep both Dampier and Ficklin? You better be able to compete with programs writing seven-figure retention checks.
Utah believes having both quarterbacks back would give them one of the best QB rooms in the Big 12. It stabilizes the future. It protects against injury. It keeps the offense’s ceiling high. And it gives them continuity heading into a season where expectations will only increase.
Utah wants Dampier and Ficklin back together. Now it’s up to the university’s collective firepower to make sure they stay. The success Utah has enjoyed this season will go a long ways towards greater investment but exactly how much will be interesting.
A Certain High School Player (Kennan Pula) Impressed Coach Whitt
Whittingham shifted gears and shared some thoughts on a certain high-school player who recently made national waves.
When asked whether he saw Kennan Pula’s viral interception in last week’s Utah state playoffs, Whittingham couldn’t wait to respond.
“Absolutely, that was very impressive for that whoever that guy was,” he shared. “It’s as good a play as I’ve ever seen at any level. I don’t think I can get in trouble for saying that. We still don’t know who the guy is, but anyway, thank you for bringing that up.”
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Pula is committed to Utah and made the highlight-reel catch in Rice-Eccles. However, Whittingham and all coaches are prohibited by NCAA rule to talk about recruits by name until they sign with the program. So, the willingness to go that far and say what he did, says a lot.
Pula’s one-handed interception sent ripples across recruiting and highlight feeds — and Whittingham’s full attention. Whittingham has seen some really impressive plays over the course of his career, and Pula is on that list.
Utah’s secondary faced best receiving core of season but need to be better
Coming off the dominant 55-28 win over Baylor Bears, Whittingham acknowledged both the successes and the blemishes, specifically in pass coverage. The Utes conceded 430 yards through the air and three touchdowns, but did intercept two passes, one of which returned for a score.
“They were a talented receiving core, we expected them to throw a lot, they’ve been throwing for over 300 a week all season long,” Whittingham stated. It must have been 15 fade balls thrown in that game, 50-50 balls at least.”
“We needed to make a few more plays and we did. No doubt about that.” Whittingham said of pass coverage
That tells you everything you need to know—Utah held Baylor to just 133 rushing yards but gave up 563 total yards. The defense bent, mainly through the air. The trade-off was the takeaways. Scooby Davis intercepted a pass and returned it 65 yards for a score, and Trey Reynolds intercepted another, taking it back to the Baylor 9-yard line.
“We’ve been good in pass coverage all season long. We’re still among the leaders in the conference in pass — both pass yardage given up and pass defense efficiency. … We’ll miss Scooby, obviously, the first half of this game, which is not ideal for us. He’s been a very consistent player for us. So that’ll give other guys opportunity though. That’s it.”
From that, three key takeaways for the Kansas State week:
Keep winning the “50-50” battles – Fade routes, deep comebacks, switch releases, contested jump balls: Baylor tested Utah’s secondary aggressively in those situations. Kansas State might look to copy that plan. Utah must raise their level of play in those moments and convert contested throws into turnovers or incompletions.
Replacing the “Scooby” – Davis will miss the first half of the game after throwing a punch late in the game. Utah will likely turn to Donovan Saunders as the corner opposite of Blake Cotton. Saunders played 53 snaps against Baylor, and limited Robertson to 2-of-6 passing for just 16 yards.
