What Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said about the 22 Forever Game

Utah football coach Kyle Whittingham seemed overall pleased with his team’s effort in the annual 22 Forever Game on Saturday, which concluded spring ball. The offense beat the defense 42-38 as fans got their first look at transfer quarterback Devon Dampier in a Utes uniform. Several starters were held out to keep them healthy.

“Some good, some bad, too many drops in the first half,” Whittingham said as he donned a headset and talked with commentators late in the game. “I counted seven drops or thereabouts in the first half, which is unacceptable. But we started to get into a little bit of a rhythm in the second half. The throw game started to heat up a little bit, we ran the ball efficiently.

“So, a lot of good things, but again we’ve got 15 starters out, so this is the twos and threes we’re getting a good look at. So far, so good, not a lot of turnovers. Guys are working hard. They’re playing hard, they’re working hard and not sloppy as far as penalties, we’re pretty decent there. Just the drops in the first half was the big downer.”

Here are the highlights from Whittingham’s interview.

On Devon Dampier, the projected starter

“He’s our guy. He’s doing a great job, operating behind the two line. Of course the defense is playing with the two D-line, I guess that’s relative. Devon knows this offense inside and out. He’s like another coach on the field, a great leader for us. We’re excited about watching him play this fall.”

On the hierarchy of the wide receivers

“We’ll watch the film and make some decisions there, but Zach Williams continues to really separate himself as wide receiver one. Made a couple of nice plays today. Other than that we’ve got four or five guys jockeying for position and that competition most likely will continue into fall camp to determine that pecking order.”

On the defense overall

“I think we’re getting what we want out of this game for certain. We’ll be right at 100 snaps. We’ve gotten what we want out of spring. We’ve stayed very healthy this spring, now it’s a matter of doing some portal shopping right now, looking for any way we can enhance our roster, we’re looking to do that. So that’s what’s going on now, and then of course retaining what we’ve got, hoping that we don’t get any bad surprises. Right now I think we’re in a pretty good spot relative to where we are in the offseason.”

On the portal shopping list

“Whoever helps us improve that position group. We’re monitoring it every day. There’s about 2,500 new players in the portal that have gone in since the 16th. We’re sifting through everybody and trying to determine people that can make us better, that’s who we’re interested in.”

On what’s on tap for the summer

“We’ve got a lot more time in the summer than we used to. We have walkthroughs and meetings and so forth. They’ll have May off for the most part. We expect them to work out wherever they’re at and stay in shape. Bring them back at the end of May, first of June, and get right back at it, then two months of the summer development program, then we start summer camp right there at the beginning of August. It’s coming quick.”

On the battle between backup QB’s Byrd Ficklin and Isaac Wilson

“It’s a good battle going on between those two guys. Byrd has really made an impressive improvement here. He’s only been here four months, three months, so he’s really been able to really improve in all aspects. He’s put on 15 pounds of good weight. He’s assimilated the offense. Isaac is doing much better. He feels more confident than he did last year, more comfortable. He’s doing some really good things. I imagine that competition will continue throughout summer and fall camp.”

Final words from @UtahCoachWhitt from the #22Forever Game‼️#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/sb6WzoGdeB
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) April 19, 2025