What Utah's Kyle Whittingham said before Big 12 matchup vs. Colorado

Utes head coach addressed his team's health and previewed the matchup against the Buffaloes in his weekly press conference

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

Utah will look to flush away a disappointing loss to its in-state rival this weekend when it hosts Deion Sanders and Colorado in a Big 12 matchup.

The Buffaloes are set to come to town a week after the Utes' narrow loss to BYU in Provo, Utah, where the Cougars bested their rival for a third consecutive time to remain undefeated on the season.

Utah, meanwhile, dropped its second league game of 2025 and left LaVell Edwards Stadium banged up, as quarterback Devon Dampier appeared hobbled late in the fourth quarter of the 24-21 loss. The junior sustained some big time hits from BYU's defense while going 20-of-36 through the air for 244 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, plus a team-high 15 carries for 64 yards on the ground.

Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham addressed his team's health and previewed the matchup against Colorado during his weekly press conference on Monday.

Given Dampier was hobbling late vs. BYU, could Byrd Ficklin start at quarterback vs. Colorado?

"We have to wait a few days to see how these guys are healing up from the game. That's a distinct possibility, I can tell you that. But on Wednesday, you'll start getting the availability report and the likelihood of who's playing, who's not."

On how the QB run game changes when Dampier is hobbled and his confidence in Ficklin

"When Devon's hobbled, it obviously causes you to rethink some of the QB run game; you don't completely go away from it, but when it's a 'could go either way' situation, you might opt to not do it because of his mobility. He got beat up in this game pretty good."

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

"Byrd Ficklin — we got a ton of confidence in him every time he's entered a game, so far this year. He's done positive things, and if we end up going that route based on health, then we got the confidence that he can get it done."

On his confidence level in Utah's passing game

[Dampier] actually didn't have a bad game, though, overall. I mean, he rushed the ball effectively. [BYU] did a good job in coverage; give them credit for that, which led to some of the lack of completion percentage points."

"But right now our forte is running the football. We're in the top six in the nation running the football. Devon's been a great quarterback for us. I think he's number 10 in the country in QBR, which is the best measure of how your quarterback's playing. That's our bread and butter is running the ball. But you still got to be able to throw and we did. We did get some production throwing the ball. We obviously would have liked to have more, but we weren't quite as sharp in the throw game as we have been in certain other games."

On Colorado and coach Deion Sanders

"They're well-coached. I think coach Sanders has done a great job there. He's obviously charismatic and a highly energetic guy that's got just a ton of juice."

Oct 11, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during the first quarter against the Iowa State Cyclones at Folsom Field. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

"They're like a lot of the teams we've played this year: they got a quarterback who's really a good runner. I think that's a one of the reasons — not to get off the subject — our run defense this year is not as good as it typically is, and I think a big reason for that is we've seen so much QB run game in the first seven games of the year. This is another guy (Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter) that runs the ball exceptionally well, and that's their one of their best attributes.

"They've also got a 72% red zone touchdown percentage, which is outstanding. So, they're doing a lot of good things. But the quarterback run game is probably right towards the top of the list of things we need to be concerned with this week."

On Utah's use of analytics in BYU game

"If you think you're smarter than analytics — you're not anybody, out there. If you think you got a better grasp of the game and strategy than the analytics do — you don't. Now, there's an asterisk to that: Unforeseen circumstances in a game. Say you get a couple offensive lineman injured, or you're trying to kick a 50-yard field goal into 15 mile-an-hour wind. There's things that do arise, and so we pay close attention to analytics, but not exclusive attention."

"The analytics in that particular situation you were talking about (fourth-and-1 on BYU's 12-yard line), it was a full on 'go' all the way up to fourth-and-5 or less. And so, fourth-and-1 is a no brainer. I mean, I don't know anyone in the country that subscribes to analytics — and I would say 90% at least, of Power Four teams do, maybe 100% — would not have gone for it in that situation. And so that was an easy call, one of the easiest calls of the game, fourth down wise."

"And you say, 'Well, why didn't you kick it?' Well, you know, we could have kicked it. Are we going to make it for certain? I mean, that's not a guarantee. And touchdowns are so much more valuable than field goals; that's why analytics are so heavily in favor of fourth down conversions in the red zone, because a field goal is actually a loss in the red zone. That means you've moved the ball and you've got within striking distance, but you bogged down, and so we try to do everything we can to score touchdowns, as does everyone in the country. And that was the reason for that, is the analytics and my own personal opinion were aligned."