'They don't have a weakness:' Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel on Utah

Utes and Cowboys square off for the first time in 14 years on Saturday

Wyoming Cowboys head coach Jay Sawvel and his team will face the Utah Utes in a nonconference matchup. | James Snook-Imagn Images

Wyoming head coach Jay Sawvel is aware of the history his program shares with Utah in the lead-up to Saturday's matchup between the former Mountain West Conference rivals, though lately his attention has been geared toward upsetting what he believes is a top-10 team in the country.

"They don't have a weakness," Sawvel said of the Utes during his press conference Monday. "They're good in the return game, they're extremely strong on defense and physical and play very hard. They're well coached."

Utah, which enters the matchup coming off consecutive wire-to-wire victories over UCLA and Cal Poly, has opened the 2025 regular season on a scorcher, boasting the best third-down conversion rate (77%) and a perfect redzone-to-touchdown ratio (11-for-11) through the first two weeks of the season.

Following a 33-point win over the Bruins, the Utes kept the momentum rolling on Saturday with a 63-9 victory over the Mustangs, granting Kyle Whittingham's squad a spot in the US LBM Coaches Poll's top 25 rankings as the No. 21 team in the country.

If the coaches poll was entirely decided on Sawvel's ballot, though, the Utes would probably have a higher ranking heading into Saturday.

Sep 6, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Byrd Ficklin (15) is tackled by Cal Poly Mustangs linebacker Troy Bean (2) during the second half at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

"I had them 12th a week ago and I have them 10th this week," Sawvel said. "I value them a lot more than maybe what someone else on the outside is right now."

Here's what Sawvel had to say regarding Utah's offensive line, quarterback Devon Dampier and more.

On Utah's offensive line

"What makes them so good is that they're not only huge, but they move extremely well. They're talented, talented people; physical, play hard, like the whole picture. It doesn't take very long when you're watching a video to go, 'Man, both these tackles are tremendous.' It doesn't take very long, so obviously it's a challenge for everybody defensively."

"Really, everybody across the board for us defensively this week, we're going to have to play as good as what we possibly can, so that's a big deal."

On Devon Dampier's progression from New Mexico to Utah

"He's proficient within what they do offensively. He's in a scheme now that fits him even better than it did two years ago; obviously the same offensive coordinator from last year in New Mexico. They do so many good things in the run game and so many different things utilizing personnel. They've got two outstanding players in Smith Snowden and the linebacker, Lander Barton, who play on offense. And they utilize these guys all over the place."

Sep 6, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Devon Dampier (4) looks to pass against the Cal Poly Mustangs during the first quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

"And so you take a weapon like Dampier, who can create, and I think that's the most frustrating thing defensively. When you play against a quarterback like this, it's hard enough to put yourself always in the right spot to where you feel like, 'OK, we've got this play stopped.' Then all of a sudden, it's the unscripted things that he can do that all of a sudden, just break a defense down, and can keep a drive going. That's the stuff there that he is so, so good at, but he's improved in every way from a couple years ago, and he obviously now he's got far more weapons and a far better offensive line than what he has ever had."

On the Utah-Wyoming rivalry

"I'm aware of the history to everything and those types of things there ... I don't get into all that. We'll talk about some of the history to it and how that's part of it, but I deal with the here and now, and the here and now is that Kyle Whittingham has a great football team. That's going to be a big, big challenge for us Saturday night."

"For us, to put ourselves in position to win the game, we're going to have to play extremely, extremely well."