All gas, no answers. That was Utah football in 2024. The Utes started out looking like Big 12 royalty-in-waiting, puffing their chests after a 4-0 start. A 49-0 slaughterhouse job on Southern Utah had folks whispering playoff dreams. Cam Rising? Was on the run for his best season of his career. Kyle Whittingham‘s Defense? Classic. Fans were throwing their savings down, betting big on Utah to make a real bowl game push. But then… poof! Rising gets Rising’ed (hurt), the playbook turns to scrambled eggs, and Utah belly-flops to a 5-7 finish. First time missing a bowl in ten years. Something had to change. Fast. Kyle Whittingham’s decided to gamble $4 million. And Utah’s new wideout feels real weird about that.
Right when the season ended, Kyle Whittingham put the bat signal in the sky and backed it with $4 million. Enter Jason Beck. New OC. Mad scientist vibes. And tagging along? His not-so-secret weapon from New Mexico: Devon Dampier. The man’s a walking highlight reel with legs like Prime Kyler Murray.
And he’s already got Utah’s new WR, Tobias Merriweather, talking chemistry. “I think it’s been good so far,” Merriweather said during camp. “We’ve made a lot of big plays on the offense. Some easy, consistent plays too. It’s been good so far, you know, throughout the first five, six days of camp.” Not exactly headline material—but beneath the surface? Something is brewing between these two that could ignite Utah’s new-look offense.
Devon Dampier put up holly-molly numbers in 2024. The former New Mexico QB threw 2,768 passing yards. 12 passing TDs. 1,166 rushing yards. 19 touchdowns on the ground. And also led the entire Mountain West in total offense with 3,934 yards. Six games over 100 rushing yards. He was the whole damn playbook.
And now he’s running Jason Beck’s system in Salt Lake City—a system that even Dampier had to admit is, well, kinda weird. “Yeah, Jason Beck runs a very like—I would say weird style of offense,” Dampier said. “The way they just do stuff is just not what’s the normal offense, especially in college. But I think it works great, especially for new guys.”
That ‘weird’ offense? What he meant was weirdly good. Last season, Lobos were literally ranked 4th nationally in total offense last season with 484.3 yards per game. And while everyone else in the Mountain West was trying to run bubble screens and slants, Beck had New Mexico running a quarterback-centric symphony. Fast pace. QB freedom. Deep balls. RPOs. Pure chaos for defenses—and pure candy for dual-threats like Dampier.
No wonder Tobias Merriweather’s already locked in. The former Notre Dame and Cal wideout might be flying under the radar, but don’t sleep—he’s got deep-ball swag. Back in 2023, he torched Central Michigan for 91 yards and a 75-yard bomb with the Irish. In 2024, injuries slowed him at Cal, but he still hauled in 11 grabs for 125 yards in just five games. Healthy again, and now working with a QB like Dampier? Watch out.
After canning longtime OC Andy Ludwig, Coach Whitt didn’t just want change. He wanted an overhaul. Beck’s scheme isn’t built for safe passes and time of possession trophies. It’s about blowing the top off defenses. Stretching the field. Letting athletes eat. With Merriweather, Utah finally has a wideout who can be more than a chain mover.
Dampier’s still learning the ropes, sure. But his ceiling? Crazy high. He finished 12th in the country in points responsible for last year—188 of them. And he did it with way less talent around him. Now? He’s got arguably the best O-line in the Big 12 (per Phil Steele). Better weapons. And a coach who hands him the keys instead of locking the playbook.
If Utah’s gonna bounce back, it’ll be because this QB-WR duo turned into something nasty. Merriweather is a big boy 6’5 receiver, but his body language in camp screams confidence. Whittingham already called him out as a standout in pads.
Utah Utes trio snags preseason all-conference love from PFF
Lost in the noise of Utah’s offensive overhaul is the fact that the Utes still have straight killers on the other side of the ball. PFF dropped their preseason All-Big 12 team, and guess who popped up three times? Utah. O-line and secondary are getting real love.
Spencer Fano, Utah’s anchor at right tackle, came through with the highest PFF grade among all FBS tackles last year—93.0 overall, with a savage 93.6 in run-blocking. The man was straight mauling DLs. PFF had him ranked just behind Kelvin Banks Jr. in their ‘wins above average’ stat, which, yeah, pretty much means he was the reason the wheels didn’t fall off entirely. Coaches even dropped All-America honors on him via Walter Camp.
Left guard Tanoa Togiai isn’t far behind. Entering his sixth year, he started ten games in 2024 and brings that bouncer-at-the-door mentality. Utah’s O-line may be retooling with a new OC in town, but Fano and Togiai bring trench credibility. It’s why Beck’s offense has a real shot to work—they’ve got the beef up front to give Dampier a clean pocket or lanes to scramble.
And then there’s safety Tao Johnson, who led the secondary with 70 tackles and had an 82.5 PFF grade—third-best in the Big 12. His closing speed, ability to read QBs, and open-field tackling turned heads all year. With Utah finishing No. 2 nationally in opponent completion percentage and top 10 in QB rating allowed, Johnson was the quiet storm, making it happen.
So yeah, while Utah fans chew their nails about how Beck’s offense will gel, they can sleep easy knowing the spine of this team—in the trenches and in the back end—is rock solid. If Dampier and Merriweather cook up fireworks, this could be a quick bounce-back story. If not? At least the defense still got that dog in them.
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