SALT LAKE CITY – Quarterback Devon Dampier ran for two touchdowns, and safety Jackson Bennee forced a key fumble in the fourth quarter as No. 10 Utah erased a 10-point second half deficit to defeat No. 14 Houston, 21-13, on Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
On a day that began with Utah hosting ESPN’s College GameDay for the second straight season and third time in four years, the Utes improved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in Big 12 Conference play in front of a sold-out crowd of 51,864, the 100th-straight sellout of a Utah football game at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The streak began with the first matchup of the 2010 season, an overtime win over Pitt.
The Cougars fell to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in conference play with the loss.
Trailing 13-7 late in the third quarter, Utah put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive to take its first lead of the game with 11:57 to go on a 5-yard Wayshawn Parker rushing touchdown. After the defense stopped two straight Houston drives, the Cougars got the ball back with 2:20 left in the game at their own 20-yard line.
On the first play of the drive, Jackson Bennee came through the line untouched on a safety blitz and smashed Houston quarterback Conner Weigman to force a fumble that was recovered by Jireh Moe at the Cougar 9-yard line. Dampier would score on the first play of the ensuing drive, rushing for a 9-yard touchdown to seal the game for the Utes before the defense came up with one final stop.
Utah held Houston to its lowest yardage totals of the season, with 368 total yards compared to their average of 481.8. That total included 86 rushing yards for an offense that averages 230 yards on the ground.
Tonight was the first game this season that Weigman neither passed nor rushed for a touchdown. Weigman entered the game with a passing efficiency of 174.1 which led the Big 12 and ranked ninth nationally; he was held to just a 122.0 rating on the night.
On defense, Utah’s leaders included Trey Reynolds, who led the squad with nine tackles, and Cyrus Polu, who set a career-high with 7 stops. Jackson Bennee contributed eight stops, including his first career sack.
Dampier fueled Utah’s offense through the air and on the ground. The senior quarterback logged his third 100-yard rushing game as Ute, finishing with a season-high 150 yards and two scores. Dampier’s 150 rushing yards bring him to 1,183 for his two seasons at Utah. It trails only Travis Wilson (1,225 from 2012-15) for the most by a quarterback in recorded program history. He also completed 18 of 26 passes for 204 yards.
Noah Bennee led all Utah receivers with a season-high five catches for 42 yards, while Creed Whittemore finished with a team-high 52 receiving yards.
UP NEXT
Utah is back on the road for a matchup at Cincinnati on Saturday, Oct. 31. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:45 p.m. MT on ESPN.
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