Devon Dampier accounted for five touchdowns and 458 yards of total offense and Utah scored 37 consecutive points to beat Nebraska 44-22 in the Las Vegas Bowl on Wednesday afternoon.
The Utes (11-2) ended a 5-game bowl losing streak and scored a win in Morgan Scalley’s coaching debut. Scalley, Utah’s defensive coordinator since 2016, was promoted to head coach after Kyle Whittingham resigned. Whittingham was expected to coach the game but left earlier in the week to join Michigan.
Dampier was 19 of 31 for 310 yards and two TDs and ran for 148 yards and three more scores for the Utes, which posted their third 11-win season in school history and first since 2019.
Nebraska (7-6) lost its third straight and fourth out of five after a 6-2 start, getting outscored 121-48 over the final three games. The Cornhuskers gained 157 yards on their first two drives, both resulting in TDs, then 186 the rest of the way.
Playing without Big Ten rushing leader Emmett Johnson, who declared for the 2026 NFL Draft, Nebraska got 88 rushing yards from Mekhi Nelson (who had 59 during the regular season) while quarterback TJ Lateef threw for 182 yards, a TD and an interception and ran for a score.
Up 10 at halftime, Utah made it 31-14 on the opening possession of the third quarter on a 3-yard run by NaQuari Rogers. Dampier added his third rushing TD, from five yards out, with 5:56 left in the third.
Dampier capped his performance with a 17-yard TD pass to Dallen Bentley midway through the fourth quarter.
Nelson got the scoring started with a 38-yard TD run for Nebraska less than four minutes into the game. Utah matched that score on its opening possession, getting a 2-yard TD run from Dampier.
Lateef hit Jacory Barney Jr. on an 8-yard TD pass to put the Cornhuskers up 14-7 with 2:20 left in the first. The Utes tied it again on a 20-yard TD pass from Dampier to JJ Buchanan just under five minutes into the second quarter.
A 28-yard field goal by Dillon Curtis gave Utah its first lead with 4:13 left before halftime, and Dampier made it a 24-14 game on an 11-yard TD run with 20 seconds remaining in the half.
–Field Level Media
