Postgame Notes: No. 13 Utah at Baylor

Photo by: Anna Fuder/Utah Athletics

11/15/2025 10:14 PM | Football

Postgame Notes
No. 13 Utah 55, (at) Baylor 28
Waco, Texas (McLane Stadium)
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025
Kick: 6:05 p.m. CT | End: 9:43 p.m.
Attendance: 38,186

General

Utah is now 3-0 all-time against Baylor. Though all three meetings have come in the last three seasons, tonight was the first to count in the conference standings. The 2023 game took place when Utah was still a member of the Pac-12 and the '24 contest was put on the schedule before the Utes joined the Big 12.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham, the winningest leader in program history, is now 175-88 in his 21 seasons at the helm. Including his 11 prior seasons as an assistant coach (1994-2004), Whittingham has contributed to 260 victories. He has coached in 389 games at Utah including 263 as the head coach.
Baylor won the coin toss and received. Utah defended the North goal to begin the game.
The Utes topped 40 points for the third straight game, their first time doing that since 2018.

Offense

Utah's 380 rushing yards marked the third time this season that the Utes racked up 300-plus yards on the ground. It was also the sixth straight game the team rushed for 200-plus yards, the first such streak for the Utes since the 2016 season.
Utah has had a player rush for 100 yards in five straight games. The last time that happened was during the final three games of 2020 and first two games of 2021.
The team also rushed for five touchdowns, the third game this season that Utah reached that mark or better.
Running back Wayshawn Parker (129) and quarterback Byrd Ficklin (166) each hit the 100-yard rushing mark; the last time two Utah Utes rushed for 100 yards in the same game was that duo against Colorado on Oct. 25 (Ficklin – 151, Parker – 145).
Parker eclipsed 100 rushing yards before halftime and has rushed for 100 yards in three straight games. The last Utah player to rush for 100 yards in three straight games was Micah Bernard in 2024 (vs. Baylor, at Utah State, at Oklahoma State).
Ficklin's career-best 166 rushing yards came on just six carries and included touchdown runs of 67 and 74 yards.
Ficklin is the first Ute since at least 1996 to rush for 145-plus yards on less than 10 carries - he did so in just six.
NaQuari Rogers also rushed for two touchdowns, tying a season-best.
Starting quarterback Devon Dampier passed for two touchdowns in addition to rushing for 23 yards.
Tight ends Dallen Bentley and JJ Buchanan each had a team-leading three catches with Bentley contributing 48 yards and a touchdown. Bentley caught a 25-yard touchdown pass; it was Bentley's fourth touchdown of the year and first since the West Virginia game on Sept. 27.
Ficklin's 67-yard scoring scamper in the second period was Utah's longest offensive play of the season until he dashed 74 yards for another score in the third quarter.

Defense

Utah combined for seven TFL, two sacks, five PBU and two interceptions.
The team's two interceptions netted 96 return yards. Elijah Davis made a 65-yard pick-six and Trey Reynolds returned a pick for 31 yards during the fourth quarter.
Safety Jackson Bennee broke up a pass during the first quarter. He now has seven passes defended this season (4 PBU, 3 INT) which ranks second on the team.
Utah now has two interception return touchdowns on the season after Bennee had a 46-yarder against Cal Poly on Sept. 6.
Defensive end Kash Dillon made a two-yard sack during the second quarter. Dillon now has a sack in two of the last three games.
Linebacker Lander Barton set season-bests both with 2.0 TFL and 1.0 sack.
Fellow linebacker Levani Damuni set a new career-best with 3.0 TFL.
Cornerback Blake Cotton made six tackles, his most as a member of the Utah program.
The Utes have had at least one pick-six in 22 straight seasons (since 2004); it is the longest known streak in FBS history. Since 2004, the team has totaled 50 interception return touchdowns, the most of any team in the country (Alabama is next-closest with 47).
Baylor punted on its game-opening drive; it marked the fourth straight game and eighth this season that Utah did not allow a drive on a game-opening score.

Special Teams

Dillon Curtis contributed nine kickoffs on the night with six touchbacks.
Rayshawn Glover returned two kickoffs for 31 yards.
Orion Phillips punted five times on the night with a long of 61 yards. He has booted seven punts for 50-plus yards.

First Quarter Breakdown
Baylor won the toss and opted to receive the opening kick, but Utah's defense was able to force a punt after Baylor broke off a pair of long runs. Utah gained 21 yards on the ensuing drive but was forced to punt the ball back to the Bears.

Baylor got into Utah territory thanks to a 37-yard pass play, but a TFL by Lander Barton and a PBU by Tao Johnson forced the Bears to bring out the field goal unit and the 41-yard try flew wide left. Utah was forced to punt after just three plays, but the defense stood tall once again and forced a Baylor punt.

Utah took over at its own 24-yard line and Devon Dampier led the Utes on a 10-play, 76-yard drive to put the first points of the night on the board. Dampier connected with JJ Buchanan for 16 yards before picking up a third-conversion himself with a 12-yard rush. Three plays later, the quarterback sold the play action and found a wide-open Dallen Bentley for a 25-yard touchdown. With 2:31 left in the quarter, Utah took a 7-0 lead.

Baylor once again crossed midfield, but on 3rd-and-3 from the Utah 38-yard line, Elijah Davis nabbed his first interception of the season and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown to give the Utes a 14-0 lead with 11 seconds left in the period.

Second Quarter Breakdown
Baylor scored on its first possession of the quarter, but Utah responded three plays later to keep the lead at 14. After a pair of rushes by Wayshawn Parker, Byrd Ficklin broke off a 67-yard touchdown run, his longest of the season and second 60-plus-yard touchdown scamper in the last three games. With 10:47 left, Utah led 21-7.

The two sides traded punts before Baylor was able to get inside the red zone on another explosive play. Utah's defense stopped the Bears three times inside the 10-yard line, forcing Baylor to settle for a field goal to cut the lead to 21-10.

On the second play of the ensuing drive, Parker broke loose for a 64-yard touchdown run, his longest of the season and the Utes' third 60-plus-yard score of the season to go up 28-10.

Baylor put together an 11-play drive and got just outside the red zone once more, but again the Utah defense forced a turnover on downs thanks to strong play in the secondary that forced incompletions on third and fourth down.

Utah was forced into a three-and-out, and Baylor was able to score on the second play of the drive after a pair of 25-plus-yard plays, cutting the halftime lead to 28-17.

Third Quarter Breakdown
The Utes got the ball to start the half but were forced to punt after just five plays. Baylor was once again able to get into the red zone with a 10-play, 63-yard drive, but Utah's defense forced a field goal after a sack by Lander Barton and a break-up by Trey Reynolds. Baylor's 31-yard field goal cut the Utah lead to 28-20 with 8:09 left in the third.

Once again, it did not take long for Utah to answer. After Dampier connected with Dallen Bentley for an 11-yard game, Ficklin subbed in at quarterback and rattled off a 74-yard touchdown run.

Utah forced another turnover on downs after John Henry Daley and Lance Holtzclaw combined on the stop on 4th-and-8 right around midfield. Utah reached the red zone on its ensuing possession as the clock ran out in the quarter - the first time the Utes got inside the Baylor 20-yard line on the night.

Fourth Quarter Breakdown
NaQuari Rogers capped an eight-play, 54-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown rush - his team-leading ninth of the season and fourth rushing score of the night for the Utes - to give Utah a 42-20 edge with 14:12 left to play.

Trey Reynolds snagged his second interception of the season on the ensuing drive, returning it 31 yards to set Utah up inside the 10-yard line. Dampier connected with Parker on third down, and the sophomore used a nifty juke move to evade the Baylor defender and score. With 11:03 to play, Utah increased its lead to 49-20.

Baylor answered with a touchdown drive of its own and a successful two-point conversion made it 49-28 with 8:18 left, but the Utes put together a 10-play, 75-yard drive to score its seventh offensive touchdown of the night. Rogers and Nate Johnson combined to rush six times for 52 yards on the drive, capped by Rogers' second score of the night from a yard out. The PAT was blocked, but Utah held a 55-28 lead with 3:28 left.

Baylor moved the ball into Utah territory on its final drive of the night, but a stop on 4th-and-2 - Utah's third of the night - gave the Utes the ball back with 25 seconds left and allowed them to run out the clock.