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Postgame Notes: No. 17 Utah vs. No. 16 Texas Tech
9/20/2025 2:20 PM | Football
Postgame Notes
No. 17 Texas Tech 34, (at) No. 16 Texas Tech 10
Salt Lake City, Utah (Rice-Eccles Stadium)
Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025
Kick: 10:10 a.m. MT | End: 1:37 p.m.
Attendance: 52,236 (sellout)
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General
Offense
Defense
Special Teams
First Quarter Breakdown
Utah got the ball first but was forced to punt after three plays. Orion Phillips pinned Texas Tech down at its own 15-yard line with a 53-yard boot, but the Red Raiders were able to put points on the board first and take a 7-0 lead with 10:13 to play.
The Utes turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing possession after coming up just short on 4th-and-1, setting Texas Tech up on the Utah 46-yard line. Utah got its first third-down stop of the game when Jonah Lea'ea got into the backfield for his first-career tackle for loss to force the punt.
The Utes crossed midfield for the first time on the following drive before a fumble gave the ball right back to the Red Raiders. Utah got the ball right back, however, after Blake Cotton broke up a pass and Tao Johnson came up with his first interception of the season.
Utah fumbled again to set Texas Tech up at midfield again, but John Henry Daley forced a fumble of his own that Texas Tech recovered and Johnson stopped a screen pass for a loss to set up a 3rd-and-28 as time expired.
Second Quarter Breakdown
Utah got the third-down stop, but was forced to punt once again after taking possession deep in its own territory. Texas Tech drove down to the Utes' 25-yard line before Jackson Bennee nabbed his third interception in as many games  - the first Utah player to do so since 2022 - in the end zone to keep it a one-score game.Â
The Utes were able to get out to midfield after Devon Dampier connected with Dallen Bentley for 14 yards on 3rd-and-7 and found Ryan Davis for another first down, but the drive stalled once the Utes crossed the 50-yard line. Phillips pinned Texas Tech inside the 20-yard line. A third-down stop by Cotton forced a punt and Utah took possession at its own 17-yard line with 3:29 left on the clock.
Dampier threw his first interception of the season just before the two-minute timeout to give Texas Tech the ball at midfield. After the Red Raiders picked up a first down, Daley drew a holding call, Nate Ritchie broke up a pass and Bennee blew up a screen pass. Texas Tech connected on a 58-yard field goal to go up 10-0 with 48 seconds remaining in the half.Â
Utah was able to get points on the board heading into the locker room. Dampier completed 5-of-6 passes for 33 yards and set up a 46-yard field goal try by Dillon Curtis. The freshman missed the kick wide right as time expired, but a roughing the kicker penalty gave the Utes one more shot. Curtis nailed the try from 32 yards to make it a 10-3 game at the break.
Utah held Texas Tech to just 41 rushing yards in the first half. After the 73-yard completion in the first quarter, Utah's secondary limited the Red Raiders to 10-of-17 passing for 64 yards.Â
Third Quarter Breakdown
The two sides traded punts on each of their three possessions. Texas Tech was able to pin the Utes deep in their own territory twice, but Phillips was able to flip the field with a season-long 58-yard boot down to the Texas Tech 14-yard line with 2:03 left in the quarter.Â
Fourth Quarter Breakdown
Texas Tech capped a 12-play, 79-yard drive with a 25-yard field goal to take a 13-3 lead with 12:33 to play. Â On the first play of the ensuing drive, Dampier found Dallen Bentley for a 44-yard gain to get the Utes deep into TTU territory. Bentley drew a pass interference penalty to set Utah up in the red zone, and Wayshawn Parker scored the Utes' first touchdown of the day from five yards out to cap the seven-play, 75 yard drive. The Utes cut the lead to 13-10 with 10:22 left in the quarter.
Texas Tech answered with a four-play, 75-yard drive to push the lead back to 10 with 8:29 remaining. After a Utah three-and-out, the Red Raiders added another touchdown after a seven-play, 68-yard drive to take a 27-10 lead with 3:41 remaining.
Dampier was sacked on third down on the following drive, and on 4th-and-18, he threw his second interception of the day. Texas Tech took possession at the Utah 28-yard line with 2:33 on the clock and scored another touchdown three plays later, taking a 34-10 lead.
The Utes opted to run the ball fives times on their final drive, letting the clock hit zeroes.
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No. 17 Texas Tech 34, (at) No. 16 Texas Tech 10
Salt Lake City, Utah (Rice-Eccles Stadium)
Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025
Kick: 10:10 a.m. MT | End: 1:37 p.m.
Attendance: 52,236 (sellout)
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General
- Today's game was the 91st straight sellout of Rice-Eccles Stadium, dating back to the 2010 season opener. It also marked the 10th-highest crowd for a game inside RES.
- Today's game snapped a four-game winning streak for Utah when playing in conference openers. During that run, the Utes took down Washington State (2021), Arizona State (2022), UCLA (2023) and Oklahoma State (2024).
- For the first time this season, Utah's opponent had the upper hand in total offense and time of possession.
- Texas Tech won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Utah defended the South goal to begin the game.
Offense
- Two-way players Lander Barton (LB) and Jackson Bennee (S) each started both on offense and defense. Each have now started twice on offense in addition to Barton starting all four games on defense and Bennee twice on defense.
- Wide receiver Ryan Davis tied his career-high with 10 receptions in the game. His 20 receptions over the last two games (10 at Wyoming, 10 vs. Texas Tech) are the most in a two-game span during Davis' collegiate career.
- Quarterback Devon Dampier was 25-of-38 passing for 162 yards while also rushing 11 times for 27 yards. His 25 completions were a season-high.
- Tight end Dallen Bentley set career-bests with six receptions, 75 receiving yards and a long reception of 44 yards.
- Running back Wayshawn Parker rushed for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. It marks Parker's third rushing touchdown in four games and fourth overall on the season (3 rushing, 1 receiving).
- Today's game was the first time this season that the Utes did not have a scoring drive on their opening possession of the game.
Defense
- The Utah defense combined for nine TFL as a team, tying a season-high.
- Defensive end John Henry Daley had a 16-yard strip-sack during the first quarter. Daley now has 6.0 sacks on the season and 7.5 TFL.
- Daley is one of three Utah players since 2005 to have at least 1.0 sack in each of the first four games of a season. The others are Van Fillinger (2024) and Hunter Dimick (2016).
- Safety Nate Ritchie set a new career-high in tackles (13) and TFLs (2.5). Ritchie's 13 stops were the most by a Utah player since Nephi Sewell had 14 during the 2021 season against UCLA.
- With his performance today, Ritchie now has a team-best 25 tackles on the season.
- Linebacker Johnathan Hall also contributed 10 tackles, setting a new career-high. The last time two Utah players had 10-plus tackles in the same game was at BYU in 2021 (Devin Lloyd – 13; Nephi Sewell – 11).
- Safety Tao Johnson caught an interception late in the first quarter on a ball that ricocheted off cornerback Blake Cotton. It was Johnson's second collegiate interception and Cotton's first PBU as a Utah Ute.
- Safety Jackson Bennee intercepted a would-be touchdown pass during the second quarter. It is Bennee's third straight game with an interception, making him the first Utah player to accomplish that feat since Clark Phillips III did it in 2022.
- It was his third interception of the season; entering today five players were tied for the FBS lead with three picks.
- Defensive tackle Jonah Lea'ea tied his career-high with four tackles, including his first career TFL.
- Absent a 73-yard completion on Texas Tech's first drive, Utah held the Red Raiders to 110 total yards of offense in the first half.
- Today's game was the first time this season that a Utah opponent scored on its opening drive.
Special Teams
- Freshman kicker Dillon Curtis drilled a 32-yard field goal as the first half expired to put Utah on the board.
- Punter Orion Phillips averaged 44.7 yards on his seven punts, with a long of 58 yards. He had three punts sail 50-plus yards and pinned Texas Tech inside its 20-yard line three times.
First Quarter Breakdown
Utah got the ball first but was forced to punt after three plays. Orion Phillips pinned Texas Tech down at its own 15-yard line with a 53-yard boot, but the Red Raiders were able to put points on the board first and take a 7-0 lead with 10:13 to play.
The Utes turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing possession after coming up just short on 4th-and-1, setting Texas Tech up on the Utah 46-yard line. Utah got its first third-down stop of the game when Jonah Lea'ea got into the backfield for his first-career tackle for loss to force the punt.
The Utes crossed midfield for the first time on the following drive before a fumble gave the ball right back to the Red Raiders. Utah got the ball right back, however, after Blake Cotton broke up a pass and Tao Johnson came up with his first interception of the season.
Utah fumbled again to set Texas Tech up at midfield again, but John Henry Daley forced a fumble of his own that Texas Tech recovered and Johnson stopped a screen pass for a loss to set up a 3rd-and-28 as time expired.
Second Quarter Breakdown
Utah got the third-down stop, but was forced to punt once again after taking possession deep in its own territory. Texas Tech drove down to the Utes' 25-yard line before Jackson Bennee nabbed his third interception in as many games  - the first Utah player to do so since 2022 - in the end zone to keep it a one-score game.Â
The Utes were able to get out to midfield after Devon Dampier connected with Dallen Bentley for 14 yards on 3rd-and-7 and found Ryan Davis for another first down, but the drive stalled once the Utes crossed the 50-yard line. Phillips pinned Texas Tech inside the 20-yard line. A third-down stop by Cotton forced a punt and Utah took possession at its own 17-yard line with 3:29 left on the clock.
Dampier threw his first interception of the season just before the two-minute timeout to give Texas Tech the ball at midfield. After the Red Raiders picked up a first down, Daley drew a holding call, Nate Ritchie broke up a pass and Bennee blew up a screen pass. Texas Tech connected on a 58-yard field goal to go up 10-0 with 48 seconds remaining in the half.Â
Utah was able to get points on the board heading into the locker room. Dampier completed 5-of-6 passes for 33 yards and set up a 46-yard field goal try by Dillon Curtis. The freshman missed the kick wide right as time expired, but a roughing the kicker penalty gave the Utes one more shot. Curtis nailed the try from 32 yards to make it a 10-3 game at the break.
Utah held Texas Tech to just 41 rushing yards in the first half. After the 73-yard completion in the first quarter, Utah's secondary limited the Red Raiders to 10-of-17 passing for 64 yards.Â
Third Quarter Breakdown
The two sides traded punts on each of their three possessions. Texas Tech was able to pin the Utes deep in their own territory twice, but Phillips was able to flip the field with a season-long 58-yard boot down to the Texas Tech 14-yard line with 2:03 left in the quarter.Â
Fourth Quarter Breakdown
Texas Tech capped a 12-play, 79-yard drive with a 25-yard field goal to take a 13-3 lead with 12:33 to play. Â On the first play of the ensuing drive, Dampier found Dallen Bentley for a 44-yard gain to get the Utes deep into TTU territory. Bentley drew a pass interference penalty to set Utah up in the red zone, and Wayshawn Parker scored the Utes' first touchdown of the day from five yards out to cap the seven-play, 75 yard drive. The Utes cut the lead to 13-10 with 10:22 left in the quarter.
Texas Tech answered with a four-play, 75-yard drive to push the lead back to 10 with 8:29 remaining. After a Utah three-and-out, the Red Raiders added another touchdown after a seven-play, 68-yard drive to take a 27-10 lead with 3:41 remaining.
Dampier was sacked on third down on the following drive, and on 4th-and-18, he threw his second interception of the day. Texas Tech took possession at the Utah 28-yard line with 2:33 on the clock and scored another touchdown three plays later, taking a 34-10 lead.
The Utes opted to run the ball fives times on their final drive, letting the clock hit zeroes.
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Players Mentioned
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TE
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CB
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K
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DE
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QB
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DE
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