Utah's Kyle Whittingham addresses wide receiver inconsistencies after Texas Tech loss

Only one true wide receiver caught a pass for the Utes in their loss to the Red Raiders

Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham watches the team warm up before the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

As if being dominated in the trenches wasn't enough, Utah couldn't find any sort of rhythm in the passing game either during its 34-10 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday.

While the Red Raiders' defensive line set the tone up front, their secondary had its way with the Utes' pass catchers throughout the nationally-televised game from Rice-Eccles Stadium, limiting the home team to a season-low in total yards (263) and third down conversion rate (4-of-14).

Utah's rushing attack was well below its standard, though the Utes weren't getting much help through the air, either. Junior quarterback Devon Dampier averaged just under 6.5 yards per completion against the Red Raiders' defense, with only one true wide receiver on the roster recording a catch.

"We gotta find a way to get a threat at that position," said Kyle Whititngham of his wide receiver group after the game. "We didn't get much involvement with the wideouts today, but you got to get open. I mean, you got to get open to get the ball, and so we got to do a better job of coaching them to help them to get open."

Whittingham had mentioned in his weekly press conference prior to Week 3 that he hoped Utah's passing attack would become more explosive — a sentiment that only gained validity among Utes fans during the team's worst home loss since 2023.

New Mexico transfer and Dampier's top slot option, Ryan Davis, was the only true Utah wide receiver with at least one reception on Saturday. Davis finished with 10 catches for 70 yards, while tight end Dallen Bentley had the team's biggest play of the day — a 44-yard catch-and-run to set up the Utes' lone touchdown of the afternoon — to end the day with six catches for 75 yards.

Sep 20, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Devon Dampier (4) hands the ball off to Utah Utes running back Wayshawn Parker (1) during the fourth quarter of the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Outside of those two, Utah's passing game involved cornerback/receiver Smith Snowden, H-backs JJ Buchanan and Hunter Andrews, running back Wayshawn Parker and linebacker/tight end Lander Barton. Tobias Merriweather, a 6-foot-5 wide receiver transfer from Cal, didn't record anything on the stat sheet after his apparent 10-yard catch in the first half was overturned by the referees.

Merriweather had another opportunity to make a big play at the end of the third quarter, but Dampier couldn't connect with the junior despite being wide open.

"He's disappointed today, like everybody else, but he's a competitor," Whittingham said of Dampier. "And he's a great athlete, and he's a guy that'll come back. My guess is he'll be ready and really good next week."

Heading into Saturday, Davis and Merriweather were the only two wideouts on the roster with five or more receptions on the season, and that remained true by the end of Saturday's 24-point loss to Texas Tech.

Here's more from Whittingham's postgame press conference.

On what led to Utah's inconsistencies on offense

"Well, I think it's a combination of things. Certainly the turnovers; you only get about 10 or 11 possessions a game on average, some games more, and which is about what ... two to four a quarter. And if you turn it over twice and turn it over a third time on downs, that doesn't help your cause."

"[We] have to take a look at the film and see why we didn't win the line of scrimmage. I don't know. I just don't know. I don't have a great answer right now. We just didn't play up to our usual standards up front."

On whether he's curious to see how his new team leaders handle adversity

"Yeah, absolutely, and my guess is they'll answer the bell. But we'll find out. The locker room was good; there are a lot of upset people in that locker room and it hurts, and it should. This is a hard working team, and they prepared well. We had a really good week of practice and we just, for whatever reason, were in a funk on offense today, and could not get into a rhythm."

On not challenging NaQuari Rogers' rush attempt on fourth down in the first half

"I went to the ref to say, 'I want to challenge,' and he says, 'Replay had already confirmed it.' I was in the refs ear, right there, because I saw the same thing everyone else did on the board. And he said, 'Coach, don't waste your challenge; replay has already confirmed the call, and you'll just get the same answer.'"

"That confirmed so, but yeah, that was, in my mind, a challenge; but when I got that information, that obviously would have been a bad decision to do that."

On the defense allowing 21 points in the fourth quarter

"Defense played lights out for three and a half quarters, and then it went from 13 to 34 [points for Texas Tech] in the blink of an eye, and that can't happen. I mean, this can't happen. You got to finish games, you got to keep your poise and keep doing the things that you were doing the first three and a half quarters."

"We can't let things get away from us like that in the fourth quarter; kind of reminiscent of last year, when we had chances to put people away in the fourth quarter and win a game with one stop and just couldn't do it. So we got to continue to look hard at that."

On Utah's inability to run the ball

"Ran the ball very poorly; way under 100 yards, if you take away the garbage yards that happened those last three or four plays, and so that was disappointing. I never would have believed, if you would have said we would lose the line of scrimmage; never would have believed that in a million years, but we did. We didn't win the line of scrimmage."