What Utah's Kyle Whittingham said after win vs. UCLA

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham addressed the media Saturday night in Pasadena, California, following his team's dominant performance against UCLA in their season opener from the Rose Bowl.

Highlighted by an efficient debut from junior quarterback Devon Dampier, the Utes rolled over the Bruins, 43-10, in a statement victory for Whittingham and company to start the 2025 campaign.

Dampier appeared in full control throughout, whether it was through the air or on the ground. The New Mexico transfer completed 21-of-26 pass attempts for 206 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to leading Utah with 87 rushing yards and another score with his legs. The Utes were also 14-of-16 on third down and didn't allow a sack to the Bruins' front seven.

Here's what Whittingham had to say following his team's first win of the season.

On utilizing defensive players on offense

"That's about the dose that [Snowden's] been getting the ball in practice. Same with Lander [Barton]. Jackson Bennee had been a little more involved in practice; wasn't as involved tonight as he may be down the road, but those three guys, we got them all on pitch counts and making sure that we don't overdo it. And we're not really sure what that pitch count number is right now, we're just going to play it by ear as we go through the season."

"I think we'll be able to settle on what a realistic workload is for them that will also include monitoring and adjusting practice during the week. We got to make sure guys playing 100-plus snaps a week, we got to do something during the week to preserve them. And so that's still a work in progress. We've talked to the Colorado guys about Travis Hunter extensively, but he's a special guy. There's maybe no one like him in the country, so you can't just model it after that but, those guys definitely added to what we were doing on offense tonight."

On Dampier's debut

"I don't know what his numbers were in the throw game; we didn't have a ton of yards, couple 100, yeah, 200 yards. And he was what 21-of-26. You talk about a guy [who] really has worked hard in the offseason, because we knew when we took him out of New Mexico, 57% completion percentage needed to needed to improve, the touchdown to interception ratio needed to improve. And at least tonight, [those] did improve. So that was great to see."

On Matt Leinhart comparing Dampier to Kyler Murray

"Well that's a heck of a comparison, and I got a lot of respect for Matt Leinart, so coming from him, that means something. Devon, he's electric. He's a highlight film waiting to happen. You saw him get out of some of those jams. Things would be a little more judicious at times; there was a couple times he needed to get down, and so we'll continue to preach that. But his game resembles Kyler Murray a lot. Kyler Murray is obviously a terrific quarterback, but Devon right now for us is doing a great job."

On his defense's performance

"Very good. What were the numbers? It was under 250 I believe — 220 total [yards for UCLA]. [Utah's defense] only had to play 50 snaps, and that's because they played third down exceptionally well. UCLA was only 2-of -11 on third down. So again, we dominated third down on both sides of the ball."

On the play-calling from offensive coordinator Jason Beck

"I would rate his first performance an 'A+.' The flow of the game, the calls had them off balance. I thought the run pass ratio was outstanding, the RPO facet that he brought and implemented. He's just a masterful playcaller. He has been, and he was tonight, so we hope it doesn't change. We hope he continues down that road."

MORE UTAH NEWS & ANALYSIS