Utah football breaks program record during Las Vegas Bowl vs. Nebraska

Utes made history as they went into the locker room with a lead over the Cornhuskers

Utah Utes running back Wayshawn Parker (1) led the team with 931 rushing yards in the regular season. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

In the summer leading up to the 2025 season, Kyle Whittingham proclaimed the offensive line he and his staff assembled was shaping up to be the best he'd ever coached in his three decades with the Utah football program.

The Utes' front line spent the next three months proving its head coach right, racking up over 3,000 rushing yards while finishing second in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 269.8 rush yards per game in the regular season.

Though he wasn't there to see it for himself, Whittingham's comments from the preseason were vindicated Wednesday during Utah's season finale against Wednesday in the Las Vegas Bowl.

The Utes set a new program record for rushing yards in a single season, surpassing the previous single-season program benchmark of 3,263 rushing yards set in 1984.

Utah, which entered the Las Vegas Bowl with 3,237 rushing yards, broke the program's single season record on a 9-yard rush from Devon Dampier in the second quarter, bringing the Utes' game total to 32 rushing yards and their season mark to 3,269 yards.

Utah finished the first half with 90 rush yards on 23 carries (3.9 average). Dampier had 62 of those yards, plus a couple of touchdowns on the ground, as the Utes led the Cornhuskers, 24-14, at the halftime break.

Whittingham was slated to lead Utah into battle one last time as its head coach, though his expedited move to Michigan thrusted Morgan Scalley into the head coach's chair a bit sooner than expected. As such, Whittingham was in Orlando for the Wolverines' postseason game against Texas in the Citrus Bowl when his former team made history.

There aren't many traditional statistics that accurately measure offensive line play. If there was any way to validate Whittingham's sentiments, though, it would be Utah's ability to own the trenches and pave the way for a dominate rushing attack.

He might've called his shot, but Whittingham probably didn't foresee a record-breaking season coming to fruition when he and his team went through fall camp.

"I would say, as advertised, exactly what we expected," Whittingham said, prior to Utah's home final against Kansas State, regarding his team's offensive line play. "And if anything, maybe even better than we expected. We're second the nation in rushing the football, and that's that's a real good indicator of the physicality and the talent level of your front."

Utah entered Wednesday boasting one of the nation's most potent rushing attacks, averaging 269.8 yards per game — trailing only Navy (289.3) in that category — while totaling 37 rushing touchdowns, which ranked No. 5 in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

If Utah's per-game average jumped up to 272 rush yards or better, the Utes would also break the 1984 team's record of 271.92 per game. That squad was led by Eddie Johnson (1,021 yards) and helmed by future CFL and NFL quarterback, Mark Stevens.

Taking advantage of the holes and running lanes created by the 2025 front line was sophomore back Wayshawn Parker, who led the team going into the team's bowl game with 931 rushing yards on 7 yards per carry. Both of Utah's quarterbacks, Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin, also enjoyed plenty of success on the ground, with Dampier ranking second on the team with 687 yards and Ficklin tallying 503 on 9 yards per carry, plus 10 touchdowns.