Fourth Quarter Rally Sends No. 12 Utah Past Kansas State

Saturday, November 22

Salt Lake City, Utah

2 p.m.

University of Utah

Kansas State

Fourth Quarter Rally Sends No. 12 Utah Past Kansas State

11/22/2025 6:57 PM | Football

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Utes outscore Wildcats 30-16 in second half on the way to comeback victory

SALT LAKE CITY – The 12th-ranked Utah football team scored 16 unanswered points in the final seven minutes of play on Saturday night, coming from behind to beat Kansas State, 51-47, in front of 51,444 fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

The Utes improved to 9-2 overall and 6-2 in Big 12 Conference play with the come-from-behind win.

K-State took a 47-35 lead with 7:00 left on the clock and opted to try a two-point conversion, which Tao Johnson picked off and returned all the way to the opposite end zone for two Utah points. Devon Dampier then led two touchdown drives to complete the comeback, including a 59-yard run by the quarterback to set up his own go-ahead score with less than a minute remaining. Lander Barton nabbed his first interception of the season to secure the Utah win.

Dampier completed 18-of-33 passes for a season-high 259 yards and two touchdowns and rushed 14 times for 94 yards and another pair of scores, marking his first game this season with multiple passing and rushing touchdowns.

Wayshawn Parker led Utah's rushing attack with 19 carries for 100 yards, his fourth straight game with 100 or more yards on the ground. Byrd Ficklin continued to be a weapon for the Utes, tallying seven carries for 54 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Ficklin has rushed for 10 touchdowns this season, the most by a Utah freshman since at least 1995.

Saturday marked the first time that Utah has had two quarterbacks rush for multiple touchdowns in the same game, and the five combined rushing scores by Dampier and Ficklin are the most by a pair of QBs in a single game since at least 1995.

Creed Whittemore paced the Utah receiving corps with six catches for 51 yards. Larry Simmons and Dallen Bentley each tallied 54 yards and a touchdown, while JJ Buchanan brought in two passes for 74 yards.

Utah put up 551 yards of total offense, the fifth time this season the Utes have eclipsed the 500-yard mark and averaged 6.6 yards per play. The Utes were successful on seven of their 15 third-down tries and picked up 32 total first downs, one shy of their season high.

Defensively, Utah had to withstand 574 yards of offense from the Wildcats, 472 of which came from the K-State rushing attack, the most Utah has allowed in the Kyle Whittingham era. However, the Utes allowed only 64 rushing yards and 78 total yards in the fourth quarter, including stopping the Wildcats on all three of their third-down tries in the final 15 minutes.

Levani Damuni led the defensive effort with a season-high 11 tackles and Johnathan Hall made nine stops, one shy of his career high. John Henry Daley led the Utes with 3.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. With 11.5 sacks on the season, Daley is the first Ute since 2023 to reach double-digit sacks, while his 17.5 tackles for loss this year are the 10th-most in program history.

Barton, a senior captain, capped his final game at Rice-Eccles with five tackles and the game-clinching interception, Utah's lone forced turnover of the game.

The Utes tallied three sacks and six TFLs while holding K-State to 4-of-12 on third downs.

UP NEXT
Utah travels to face Kansas on Friday, Nov. 28, for the regular season finale. Kickoff is set for 10 a.m. MT on ESPN.

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