Perhaps Utah quarterback Devon Dampier wasn’t exaggerating when he said during fall camp that sometimes he had eight seconds in the pocket.
Utah’s offensive line entered the season opener with plenty of hype surrounding them. The Utes returned all five starters from a season ago — left tackle Caleb Lomu, left guard Tanoa Togiai, center Jaren Kump, right guard Michael Mokofisi and right tackle Spencer Fano.
Advertisement
Fano has been consistently projected as a first-round NFL draft choice — appearing as high as No. 3 — and Lomu has received mock draft love, too, appearing in some as a first-round selection. The two talented tackles anchor the ends of the Utes’ front, with three seniors in the middle in Togiai, Kump and Mokofisi.
All offseason long, we heard about how good this group was going to be. Coach Kyle Whittingham said multiple times that this was the best offensive line he’s had since he took over as Utah’s head coach in 2005.
“I can say with confidence, we should be the best offensive line since I’ve been at the University of Utah, which has been forever,” Whittingham said at this year’s Big 12 media day.
There was reason for Whittingham to be confident.
Advertisement
All five starters have plenty of experience at Utah and already had chemistry along the offensive line from last season. Unlike in previous seasons, when the offensive line has taken a few or more games to get the right personnel and get into a groove, Utah expected this group to be ready to go from the very first snap.
“Our whole O-line has gone through at least an entire season of starting. A lot of experience in our O-line, so that’s probably helped out a lot. Just not a lot of new things for us right now,” Fano said.
As Utah entered a high-profile matchup against UCLA, one of the key storylines was this — would the offensive line live up to the hype?
There’s still plenty of games left in the season, but Game 1 was a resounding success for Utah’s front five.
Advertisement
The up-front dominance was on display from the very first drive, as the Utes marched down the field on an 11-play, 75-yard drive that established the offensive tone for the game.
On Saturday, Utah’s offense wasn’t particularly explosive, but it consistently got 5-plus yards per run, grinding UCLA’s defense down, run after run and screen pass after screen pass.
It wasn’t just the offensive line making its presence known on the blocking front, it was the running backs, too. Pro Football Focus gave running back NaQuari Rogers a 77.1 grade for his pass blocking on Saturday, and Wayshawn Parker had a key block on the Utes’ first play of the 2025 season.
Parker cleared the way on the screen pass to Snowden, who ran for 11 yards for a Ute first down.
“Our whole 2025 season started off with a block by Wayshawn and you could hear it on the sideline … Wayshawn just gave his whole heart to it and the outcome was really good to start off our season,” running backs coach Mark Atuaia said.
Advertisement
On the next play, Parker was rewarded with his first carry of the season, which went for 12 yards. He burst through a big hole created by the middle of the Utes’ offensive line.
That’s about how the rest of the first drive went for Utah — no huge plays, but every single one went for three or more yards, powered by the offensive line.
Parker capped off the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run that featured the best showing from the offensive line of the game.
On third-and-4 from the UCLA 13-yard line, the Bruins blitzed. Togiai knocked the blitzing cornerback off of his path and Fano, Mokofisi and Kump set the edge perfectly, while tight end Dallen Bentley sealed off another cornerback, giving Parker the widest running lane he’d see all night.
Another key series for the offensive line came in the third quarter, when Utah purposefully slowed down the tempo for a methodical 20-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that milked 9:44 off the game clock and extended the Utes’ lead to 20 points. The most yardage gained on a single play during the drive was 11 yards, but time after time, Utah converted key third downs.
Advertisement
Faced with a fourth-and-2 on the goal line, Whittingham decided to go for it, and it paid off. No one touched Dampier as he hit pay dirt, with Togiai providing the key block to clear the path.
“That kind of drive doesn’t happen without a front that’s dominated, and our front really took control of that drive. They had control the whole night,” Whittingham said.
Postgame, Whittingham broke into a huge smile as he talked about the drive.
“That’s a statement drive. Hey, we can lean on you and impose our will if we want, and that was great to see,” Whittingham said.
In its 43-10 win, the Utes had 492 yards of offense (more than double UCLA’s yardage) and gained 5.3 yards per rush (totaling 286 yards), both numbers that paint how successful the offensive line was.
Advertisement
“I’m going to go against what Coach Harding wants and not gassing them up, but they, as Coach Whittingham has stated, they’re as advertised and they proved it that night,” Atuaia said.
Dampier was kept clean on 71% of his dropbacks, per Pro Football Focus. At least one of the nine times he was pressured should have resulted in a sack, but Dampier somehow spun out of it. In the end, Utah’s offensive line allowed zero sacks and Dampier was never hit as he threw.
“Third down was incredible. I think we were 14 out of 16 on third down. That’s off the charts,” Whittingham said. “I’ve probably never been involved in a game where we had that many third-down opportunities and converted that high of percentage, so that was a huge part of the success.
“Obviously ran the ball well and close to 300 yards and everything I just said doesn’t happen unless your offensive line plays outstanding. So great credit, great tribute to that O-line. Those guys are a big physical group. They were as advertised tonight and we just got to keep on that trajectory and keep working hard.”
Advertisement
Another number that illustrates just how well Utah’s offensive line played: The Utes held a clean pocket for an average of 5.93 seconds per pass rush, according to PFSN’s Cam Mellor, which was the highest among FBS teams that played FBS teams in Week 1.
“I felt like those boys were working and run or pass,” Dampier said. “I felt very comfortable back there. Yeah, I mean those boys dominated that game for sure.”
As far as blocking for his new quarterback, the dual-threat ability of Dampier made things a little bit more interesting for Fano and the rest of the offensive front.
“He definitely makes it so I have to block a lot longer every single play,” Fano said.
Advertisement
“There’ll be plays where I’ll have my guy there for like five seconds and then I’ll look around and then Devon’s like a running back, so I have to hurry down the field to help him out. It definitely gives me some good conditioning, I’d say. That’s how it makes me better.”
Jason Beck’s offense also gives some offensive linemen a chance to show off their athleticism in space. Lomu said that was the aspect of the new offense that made him most excited preseason, and getting to block in space on Saturday was a highlight.
“It’s awesome being able to get out there in space and go one-on-one with someone other than a defensive line. So being able to showcase my athletic ability and the entire offensive line athletic ability just shows that they have trust in us and what we can do, and it’s just fun being out there in open space,” Lomu said.
Despite the good start — and the Big 12 Offensive Line of the Week award — there’s always things to clean up (starting with less pressures on Dampier) and Utah’s offensive line isn’t letting their egos inflate.
Advertisement
“It was awesome, but last week is over,” Fano said. “And it’s all about Cal Poly now.”
“The great thing about football is that it ends and you get a new week to handle business. And so it’s got to be something consistent that goes throughout the season. And it was just one start. Let’s see them do it again,” Atuaia said.
Utah Utes offensive lineman Caleb Lomu (71) and work to block UCLA Bruins defensive lineman Devin Aupiu (44) as Utah Utes tight end Hunter Andrews (10) Utah and UCLA play at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2025. Utah won 43-10. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
