Wayshawn Parker has 3 TDs as No. 15 Utah pulls away to defeat Iowa State

AMES, Iowa — It didn't take long for Wayshawn Parker to have a bounce-back performance.

A week after being held to just 30 rushing yards against Utah State, Parker exploded on the scene in Ames, Iowa, where the star tailback had 144 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns before the halftime break to help give No. 15 Utah an early 24-3 lead.

"I mean, last game was a bad performance by me, but we got the team — we got the dub," Parker said. "So coming out here, doing anything that's possible for the team to win — show that culture. And, also, people told me they want to be physical, we can be physical, too, and that just showed up on our field."

On the first play of the game, Parker took the handoff from quarterback Devon Dampier, brushed past a defender at the line of scrimmage and then went untouched down the field for a 54-yard rushing touchdown to give Utah's offense some early life.

Parker's first-half performance was better than the entire Iowa State offense, who managed just 139 total yards in the opening half.

"That was huge," Dampier said. "They wanted to give us the ball first. We take that personal anytime a team wants to give us the ball first, and for Way to break that, for the O-line to make that hole for him, man, huge excitement. Definitely silenced the crowd a little bit. Just kind of felt like we had momentum during that time, and we just kept using it, kept building off of it."

That momentum shifted for a time, though, as Iowa State used a strong third quarter performance to eventually make it a one-possession game early in the fourth quarter.

But Utah overcame the quarter in which Morgan Scalley said his team was "outplayed" and reclaimed the advantage in the final frame en route to a 31-17 victory in the team's first road game of the season.

With Iowa State (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) seemingly on the verge of an upset run, Utah, again, turned to Parker, who continued to lean on his offensive line to help him move the ball downfield. Parker capped off his night with a 13-yard touchdown reception that breathed a sigh of relief into Utah's side and added to the running back's overall performance.

Parker finished the game with a team-high 174 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and 65 receiving yards and a touchdown on five catches in the win in which Utah (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) had 411 total yards of offense. Parker made up 239 of those total yards himself.

"Really proud of Wayshawn Parker," Scalley said. 'I mean, this is a guy that all he does is everything that you ask, and when you watch this kid when he doesn't have the ball — he goes and he runs and blocks, and he picks up his teammates and he celebrates with his teammates. So he deserves everything good that comes his way; really proud of him."

Dampier, who said he's got to have better "decision-making" after a rough third quarter, finished the night throwing for 206 yards and two touchdowns on 18-of-27 passing. But Dampier helped lead Utah to another 30-point offensive outing for the 10th straight game, which continues to be the nation's longest active streak.

"A lot of that falls on me where I'm getting the ball out, where I'm looking on the field," Dampier said of his third-quarter performance. "A lot of those were in passing downs, so I've just got to be more efficient on my part. But, you know, we learn from those, we've got things to learn from this game, and promise we'll come back stronger."

And though the offense found its groove in the fourth quarter, it was the defense that held firm and kept Utah ahead, including an interception late in the game by Jackson Bennee to ultimately stop any hopes of a comeback by the Cyclones.

Iowa State managed 316 total yards of offense, with quarterback Jaylen Raynor throwing for 205 yards a touchdown and two interceptions — including a Hail Mary toss at the end of the first half that receiver Braden Pegan picked off — on 21-of-40 passing.

Raynor made Utah sweat late in the game on a 22-yard strike to receiver Dominic Overby to make it a one-score game with 10:48 left. But Utah held firm and pulled away for Scalley's fifth straight win of his short tenure as head coach — a streak that began in Las Vegas to closeout the 2025 season.

"But, man, did we need to face some adversity," Scalley said. "I thought we handled the adversity really well — from the crowd, the crowd noise, the ability to get the stops there at the end when we needed it, for the offense to convert — so really proud of how those guys finished."

Utah now enters its bye week before welcoming Kansas into Rice-Eccles Stadium on Oct. 10.

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