Kansas Football Opponent Preview: Get to Know the Utah Utes

For the first time this season, Kansas football will head on the road for a Big 12 matchup that may be their toughest game of the season when it’s all said and done.

On Saturday, the Jayhawks will take on the No. 12-ranked Utah Utes in Salt Lake City. It’s a late start this weekend due to the time change, with kickoff scheduled for 9:15 p.m. CT. The game will be aired live on national television on ESPN.

The Jayhawks should be coming into Utah with a boost of confidence after shutting out Middle Tennessee State at home last week by a final score of 55-0. But they’ll need their best performance of the year thus far if they hope to escape with an upset win.

Here’s a quick scouting report on this year’s Utah football team.

Record

The Utes enter Saturday’s contest a perfect 4-0 on the season with home wins against Idaho (66-14), Arkansas (43-10), and Utah State (33-0) to go along with a 31-17 road win versus Iowa State.

All their victories have come by double digits and it’s why they have climbed the rankings to No. 12 in the country. The Utes are one of the favorites to win the Big 12 Conference this year, and they’ve proven the prognosticators right so far this season.

Kansas is 2-3 overall versus Utah dating back to the teams’ first matchup on Nov. 4, 1950, which resulted in a 39-26 KU win in Salt Lake City. The two teams have only met once since the Utes joined the Big 12, and that was a 31-21 Utah victory in Lawrence on Nov. 28 last year.

Key Players

The unquestioned leader of this Utah team is senior quarterback Devon Dampier. He is a highly effective, dual-threat quarterback who is one of the best in the Big 12 and in college football so far this season.

On the year he has completed 71 of 101 passes (70.3%) for 896 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s also rushed 34 times for 135 yards and two touchdowns.

Dampier is joined on offense by junior running back Wayshawn Parker and senior wide receiver Braden Pegan. Parker has 50 carries for 328 yards (6.6 yards per carry) and five touchdowns so far this year, while adding 15 catches for 154 yards and four touchdowns through the air. Pegan has 17 catches for 264 yards and four touchdowns.

On defense, senior linebacker Trey Reynolds leads the team in tackles with 24 (16 solo) and has one interception. Their secondary is also loaded with ball hawks as safety Rabbit Evans and cornerback Jackson Bennee each have at least one pick (two for Bennee) so far this season.

Coaching

The Utes are led by first-year head coach Morgan Scalley who took over control of the team after long-time head coach Kyle Wittingham departed for Michigan this offseason.

Scalley is a Salt Lake City native who played cornerback for Utah from 2001 to 2004. He was captain of the 2004 Fiesta Bowl team that dominated the Pittsburgh Panthers by a score of 35-7.

Scalley has spent his entire 18-year college football coaching career at Utah, including a nine-year stretch as defensive coordinator from 2016 to 2025. He’s helped develop 33 NFL draft picks and had long been viewed as the heir apparent for the program long before Wittingham left for Michigan.

His official debut as head coach came on Dec. 31, 2025, when he guided the Utes to a convincing 44-21 win over Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl.

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Record

READ MORE: Kansas Football DE Leroy Harris III Emerging as College Football Star

Key Players

Coaching