Devon Dampier totaled five touchdowns and 458 yards on offense and Utah scored 37 straight points to beat Nebraska 44-22 in the Las Vegas Bowl on Wednesday afternoon.
The Utes (11-2) ended a 5-game losing streak and earned a win in Morgan Scalley’s coaching debut. Scalley, Utah’s defensive coordinator since 2016, was promoted to head coach following the resignation of Kyle Whittingham. Whittingham was scheduled to coach the game, but left earlier in the week to join Michigan.
Dampier was 19 of 31 for 310 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 148 yards and three more scores for the Utes, who recorded their third 11-win season in school history and first since 2019.
Nebraska (7-6) lost its third straight and fourth 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 touchdowns, then 186 the rest of the way.
Playing without Big Ten 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 touchdown and an interception and ran for a score.
Leading 10 at halftime, Utah made it 31-14 on the first possession of the third quarter on a 3-yard run by NaQuari Rogers. Dampier added his third rushing touchdown, from five yards out, with 5:56 remaining in the third.
Dampier capped his performance with a 17-yard TD pass to Dallen Bentley midway through the fourth quarter.
Nelson started the scoring with a 38-yard run for Nebraska less than four minutes into the game. Utah tied that score on its first possession, getting a 2-yard TD run from Dampier.
Lateef hit Jacory Barney Jr. on an 8-yard TD pass to give the Cornhuskers a 14-7 lead with 2:20 left in the first. The Utes tied it again on a 20-yard 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 24-14 on an 11-yard TD run with 20 seconds left in the half.
–Field level media
