Utah Star Receives High Marks From Arizona State

• "Dampier has played awesome this year, and he's athletic," said Dillingham during his weekly press conference on Monday. "He can throw a ball downfield, you know, it creates a plus one run. And when you're already good up front, then you got a plus one, you know, it makes you better."

Defensive coordinator Brian Ward backed up the praise levied towards how Dampier is playing on Tuesday, even discussing that the current Utah star was recruited by him at one point.

• "Yeah, he's a he's a really good athlete. I'm really familiar with him. I recruited briefly when I was at Wazzu I came down here and watched him work out when he's at Saguaro, playing for Coach Jason Mohns. He's athletic. He plays like he's the best player on the field.

• Plays with a lot of confidence. They got a big online they got a really good offensive line. Probably got four or five guys playing the NFL on that offensive line. They're always being in physically tight areas, and their skill players are just really efficient, effective players. So it's a unique speed on offense, and it's gonna be a challenge for us."

Arizona State on SI explores the challenges that the dual threat presents the Sun Devils next week.

What Challenges Dampier Presents ASU

• As Dillingham alluded to previously - Dampier has grown tremendously as a passer from season-to-season. He has thrown for 11 touchdowns already this season, which is just shy of the 12 he tossed at New Mexico last season. He has improved as a decision maker, along with expanding the variety of arm slots/angles he can throw from.

• Dampier's trademark bread-and-butter is his rushing ability. Although his totals are sure to not be as potent as 2024, he still is absolutely necessary to keep track of from the perspective of Arizona State - Utah still has one of the best rushing attacks in the Big 12.

• Most of all, Dampier has proven to be a real leader - the type that can rally the Utes to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Texas Tech. Arizona State cannot discount the challenges this matchup will present.

Read more on major takeaways from Arizona State's clutch-time victory over TCU here, and more on why Arizona State fans should be feeling confident about the outlook of the season following the win here.