Utah QB Devon Dampier receives yearly Big 12 honor

Utes quarterback was honored by the Big 12 following impressive first season in Salt Lake City

Utah Utes quarterback Devon Dampier (4) was named the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year. | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

After putting together the kind of season no Utah quarterback had achieved in over 20 years, Devon Dampier was tabbed as the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year.

The junior from Phoenix, Arizona, also placed on the All-Big 12 third team, which was announced along with the league's other yearly awards on Thursday. Dampier was among eight Utah players spread out on the all-conference first, second and third teams, and joined his right tackle, Spencer Fano, who was named the Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year, as yearly award recipients.

Coming off an electric season with New Mexico, in which he led the Mountain West in points responsible for (188) and total yards (3,934), Dampier helped revitalize the Utah offense with his dynamic, dual-threat capabilities from under center. Utah, which ranked outside the top 100 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring in 2024, put up 41.1 points per game with Dampier at the helm and offensive coordinator Jason Beck calling plays in 2025. For context, the Utes had averaged more than 40 points just twice since 1930.

Dampier, who was named the preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in the summer, would be the first to credit his teammates rather than take the glory for himself, though he still deserves credit for leading the charge while battling through injury. Despite not feeling 100% for a majority of the season, he ranked No. 9 in the FBS with a quarterback rating of 81.8, which would be the third-highest among Utah quarterbacks since ESPN starting keeping track of that stat in 2004, trailing only the marks set by Alex Smith (84.5 in 2005) and Cam Rising (84.2 in 2021).

Dampier finished the regular season with 2,180 passing yards, a career-high 22 passing touchdowns and only 5 interceptions after throwing 12 picks last season. He also had 687 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns. No Utah quarterback had thrown for over 2,000 yards and rush for over 600 yards in a single season since Smith accomplished the feat while guiding the Utes to an undefeated record in 2004-05.

The 2025 Utes fell just shy of running through the regular season unscathed, instead finishing with a 10-2 record ahead of their impending bowl game. Despite winning its final five games, Utah dropped to No. 15 in the College Football Playoff rankings and missed out on a Big 12 championship game berth, effectively squashing the Utes' hopes of qualifying for the 12-team playoff.

Utah will find out what bowl game it gets invited to on Dec. 5 after the College Football Playoff bracket is revealed on ESPN.