No. 24 Utah hands No. 17 Cincinnati its first Big 12 loss
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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Devon Dampier threw for 213 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 24 Utah to a 45-14 victory over No. 17 Cincinnati on Saturday night, snapping the Bearcats’ seven-game winning streak.
Ryan Davis led Utah with a season-high 132 yards and a touchdown on eight receptions. Wayshawn Parker added 104 yards and a touchdown on the ground. The Utes (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) racked up 480 total yards – including 267 rushing yards.
Utah’s victory kept the Utes in the hunt for a Big 12 championship game berth.
“I think the biggest thing for us is there’s still a way for us to get to the championship,” Dampier said. “That’s been on our mind. That’s been our goal since the beginning.”
Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby threw for 221 yards and a touchdown and ran for another, but completed just 33% of his pass attempts. Cyrus Allen had 133 yards receiving, highlighted by an 88-yard touchdown, on two catches for the Bearcats.
Cincinnati (7-2, 5-1) dropped a game behind undefeated BYU in the Big 12 standings. The Bearcats host the Cougars in three weeks.
“I told our team in the locker room we still got a lot to play for, everything to play for,” Cincinnati coach Scott Satterfield said.
Utah covered 94 yards in 16 plays on its opening drive, converting twice on fourth down to keep the drive going and taking 7:07 off the clock. Davis punctuated the drive by breaking a couple of tackles and putting the Utes on the board with a 34-yard catch and run.
Cincinnati tied it when Sorsby faked a pitch and raced untouched through an open seam for a 22-yard touchdown. Utah answered quickly, taking a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter when Parker took a direct snap in for a 39-yard score.
Cincinnati generated 119 yards on eight carries while Utah had 94 yards on 14 carries in the first quarter.
The Utes continued to dominate on the ground over the final three quarters while holding the Bearcats to 87 rushing yards the rest of the way. Utah totaled 21 more plays than Cincinnati and held the ball 21 more minutes.
“We can run the ball on pretty much anybody we play,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “So it wasn’t any more of a concerted effort than any other week here, but that was another huge plus.”
A 46-yard catch from Davis late in the second quarter helped set up a 1-yard plunge from NaQuari Rogers that extended Utah’s lead to 24-7 going into halftime.
The Utes tacked on two more touchdowns — one on an 11-yard pass from Dampier to Creed Whittemore and another on Mana Carvalho’s 75-yard punt return — to go up 38-14 after three quarters.
“One thing spirals into another and you’re down by 30 points, you know,” Sorsby said. “So it can happen quick — blink of an eye.”
The takeaway
Cincinnati: The Bearcats averaged 6.8 yards per play but had three turnovers and struggled to get stops on defense.
Utah: Long scoring drives and big plays on both sides of the ball helped the Utes take control by halftime.
Rare miss
Cincinnati kicker Stephen Rusnak missed a 42-yard field goal a minute into the second quarter that would have cut Utah’s lead to four. It was Rusnak’s first missed attempt of the season and only the second of his career. Rusnak had gone 11 of 11 this season and made 22 straight dating back to the 2024 season opener.
Running strong
Parker notched his second straight 100-yard game after totaling a career-high 145 rushing yards against Colorado a week earlier. It represents a breakthrough moment for the sophomore who publicly vowed to be a 1,000-yard rusher before the season and has started to separate himself in practice as the season has progressed.
“It was a concerted effort to get him more touches because when you look at his production, he deserves more,” Whittingham said.
With three regular-season games left, Parker leads Utah with 607 rushing yards.
Up Next
Cincinnati hosts Arizona on Nov. 15 following a bye.
Utah is at Baylor on Nov. 15 following a bye.
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