'We're running it': No. 20 Utah's offense shines in blowout home win over Arkansas

SALT LAKE CITY — Offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven was in his bag Saturday night.

That much was evident in Utah's first offensive play of the game. Starting quarterback Devon Dampier received the snap, tossed it back to fellow quarterback Byrd Ficklin to his left, who then let it fly down field over a defender to a streaking Wayshawn Parker for a 36-yard gain down the sideline.

It's a play that McGiven had toyed with all week, but didn't settle on until Saturday morning, Dampier said.

"He was like, 'I'm doing it.' And all the coaches are like, "No, you're not. No, you're not,'" Dampier said of McGiven. "And then he came in our meeting this morning and was like, 'We're running it. Like, if I say it, I'm about what I say.' Hey, he did it.

"And, dude, Byrd's got a crazy arm just to be able to get that out there. Wayshawn was like, 'Byrd, you better throw me the ball; I'm gonna catch it regardless.' So I'm happy it all worked out. It was a very good momentum boost."

The Utah play-caller named "Mac G" didn't stop there and had a different design for seemingly every down in No. 20 Utah's 43-10 blowout win over Arkansas with a diverse set of weapons at his disposal for another week.

"We try and be as efficient as possible — creativity's part of that," Utah head coach Morgan Scalley said. "You're trying to give opposing defenses a lot to handle when it comes to personnel groups and stuff like that. ... If all of a sudden it doesn't work, then it's like, 'oh, you were too cute.' But it worked, so hooray us.

"The amount of players that we have, the playmakers that we have allow us to do quite a bit, and I'm proud of that game plan," he added. "They work their tails off."

Arkansas opened the game with the ball and a quick, efficient drive down the field before stalling out deep in Utah's territory and was forced to kick a 29-yard field goal for the first points of the night.

And that's when McGiven and the Utah offense went to work, where the Utes reeled off 42 straight points and quickly put distance on the Razorbacks before a late Arkansas score ended the one-sided explosion.

Wayshawn Parker had his second consecutive multi-score game, totaling three touchdowns on the night — two rushing and one receiving — to highlight a Utah offense that put up 442 yards and averaged 7.4 yards per play. Parker finished with 64 rushing yards on 10 carries, while adding an additional 65 yards on five catches.

"I mean, he is such a threat, and when people have to stack the box to stop him, then you're able to go over the top," Scalley said of his star back. "So unselfish kid that all he does is work his work his butt off."

Tight end Noah Bennee broke out on the scene Saturday for the Utes to lead the team in receiving yards with 113 yards and one touchdown — including a 57-yard catch on a toss from Dampier to start the third quarter.

Dampier threw for 261 yards and two touchdowns, including an interception, on 18-of-24 passing in an efficient night for the veteran signal caller. He added 50 yards and two rushing touchdowns to round out his night.

And as impressive as the offense was Saturday night, it was the Utah defense who held firm and forced Arkansas into four three-and-out drives and only allowed 225 total yards on offense before the team's first touchdown drive of the night.

Jireh Moe was consistently in the backfield and totaled a team-high eight tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss; Karson Kaufusi swatted multiple passes; and Elijah Reed had three pass breakups on a night Utah was credited with 13 pass breakups to frustrate Arkansas in all it tried to do on offense.

The 13 pass breakups is the most in a game at Utah since 1998.

"I think that's the most since 1998, when I was a senior in high school," Scalley said. "Highland Ram, that's a long time."

"I just think we did really well as DBs," said Jackson Bennee, who had Utah's only interception of the night. "I mean, there's a lot of running for us, a lot of man, but that's what you get when you play Utah, and you know what's coming; you've just got to beat it, and we did good tonight. Our back end showed up big time."

All in all, it was an efficient night all around for the Utes, who accepted the upgraded test and handled it with poise in a dominant early-season win.

Arkansas starting quarterback KJ Jackson finished the night throwing for 139 yards and an interception on 14-of-34 passing, and was under duress all night. He was later replaced in the fourth quarter by KJ Hill, who led Arkansas down the field for a 21-yard touchdown — the team's only touchdown of the night.

Hill threw for 78 yards on 7-of-11 passing in relief of Jackson in a more efficient night, but was fighting an uphill battle with the Razorbacks already facing a major deficit. Following his touchdown drive, Utah dialed up the pressure and sacked Hill twice — including a 14-yard sack by Nate Tillmon on third down and a 9-yard sack by Elijah Elliss on fourth down to seal the victory.

Utah now turns its attention to a Week 3 visit from in-state opponent Utah State next Saturday to closeout the nonconference slate for the season.

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