Upcoming Event: Football at Wyoming on September 13, 2025 at 6 p.m.
6 p.m.
Football
at Wyoming
Saturday, September 6
Salt Lake City, Utah
4 p.m.
University of Utah
2-0 , 0-0
63
vs
9
Cal Poly
1-1 , 0-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Cal Poly
3
3
0
3
9
Utah
14
21
21
7
63
Photo by: Anna Fuder/Utah Athletics
Utah Runs Past Cal Poly in Home Opener
9/6/2025 8:25 PM | Football
Utes score 40-plus points in back-to-back games for the first time since 2022
SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah football team improved to 2-0 on the season with a dominant 63-9 win over Cal Poly in front of 51,463 fans in the Utes' home opener at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday.Â
The Utes' defense kept the Mustangs out of the end zone for the entire night, holding the visitors to just three field goals. Utah picked off a pair of passes and held the Cal Poly offense to 223 total yards, limiting the Mustangs to just 65 rushing yards and 2.3 yards per carry while holding Cal Poly quarterbacks to a combined 15-of-30 passing for 158 yards through the air.
Utah made a habit of getting into the Cal Poly backfield, recording 3.0 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss. Paul Fitzgerald led the Utah defense with six tackles, 1.5 TFL and 0.5 sacks and John Henry Daley added 2.5 TFL and a sack.
Jackson Bennee tallied Utah's first interception of the year and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, extending Utah's streak of consecutive seasons with at least one pick-six to 22 years, the longest known streak in FBS history. Bennee ended the day with five tackles and three pass break-ups to go along with the interception. Johnathan Hall nabbed the Utes' other interception of the night, nearly taking it back for a score as well before being brought down at the 1-yard line.
Utah dominated the game on the ground, rushing 46 times for 273 yards and five touchdowns. Nate Johnson (11 carries, 59 yards), Byrd Ficklin (5 carries, 55 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Wayshawn Parker (6 carries, 50 yards, 1 touchdown) all rushed for 50 or more yards, while NaQuari Rogers added 31 yards and two scores on seven carries. The Utes averaged 5.9 yards per carry on the night.
The Utes were also lethal through the air as Devon Dampier and Ficklin combined to complete 21-of-27 passes for 245 yards and no interceptions. Dampier threw for three touchdowns, matching his career high, and added 25 rushing yards on four carries.Â
Ryan Davis led the wide receiver room with six catches for 58 yards and his first Utah touchdown. Tobias Merriweather tallied three catches for 37 yards, all of which came in the first half, while Rogers and Dallen Bentley each added a touchdown reception.Â
Utah had more passing yards and rushing yards than Cal Poly had total yards of offense, while also limiting the Mustangs to 3-of-13 on third down. Utah's rushing attack has outgained opponents total offensive output in both games to start the season.
Utah scored a touchdown on all of its trips to the red zone for the second straight week. The Utes punched it in on all five trips Saturday against the Mustangs after going 6-for-6 a week ago at UCLA.
The Utes have scored 40-plus points in both games in 2025 for the first time since doing so in back-to-back outings during the 2022 campaign. It also marks the first time since 2013 that Utah has put up 40 or more points on the scoreboard in each of the first two games of the season since 2014.
UP NEXT
Utah wraps up its nonconference schedule next week at Wyoming on Saturday, Sept. 13. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. MT on the CBS Sports Network.
FOLLOW THE UTES
Follow the Utes on social media through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok along with visiting www.UtahUtes.com. Download the Utah 360 app here.  Â
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The Utes' defense kept the Mustangs out of the end zone for the entire night, holding the visitors to just three field goals. Utah picked off a pair of passes and held the Cal Poly offense to 223 total yards, limiting the Mustangs to just 65 rushing yards and 2.3 yards per carry while holding Cal Poly quarterbacks to a combined 15-of-30 passing for 158 yards through the air.
Utah made a habit of getting into the Cal Poly backfield, recording 3.0 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss. Paul Fitzgerald led the Utah defense with six tackles, 1.5 TFL and 0.5 sacks and John Henry Daley added 2.5 TFL and a sack.
Jackson Bennee tallied Utah's first interception of the year and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, extending Utah's streak of consecutive seasons with at least one pick-six to 22 years, the longest known streak in FBS history. Bennee ended the day with five tackles and three pass break-ups to go along with the interception. Johnathan Hall nabbed the Utes' other interception of the night, nearly taking it back for a score as well before being brought down at the 1-yard line.
Utah dominated the game on the ground, rushing 46 times for 273 yards and five touchdowns. Nate Johnson (11 carries, 59 yards), Byrd Ficklin (5 carries, 55 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Wayshawn Parker (6 carries, 50 yards, 1 touchdown) all rushed for 50 or more yards, while NaQuari Rogers added 31 yards and two scores on seven carries. The Utes averaged 5.9 yards per carry on the night.
The Utes were also lethal through the air as Devon Dampier and Ficklin combined to complete 21-of-27 passes for 245 yards and no interceptions. Dampier threw for three touchdowns, matching his career high, and added 25 rushing yards on four carries.Â
Ryan Davis led the wide receiver room with six catches for 58 yards and his first Utah touchdown. Tobias Merriweather tallied three catches for 37 yards, all of which came in the first half, while Rogers and Dallen Bentley each added a touchdown reception.Â
Utah had more passing yards and rushing yards than Cal Poly had total yards of offense, while also limiting the Mustangs to 3-of-13 on third down. Utah's rushing attack has outgained opponents total offensive output in both games to start the season.
Utah scored a touchdown on all of its trips to the red zone for the second straight week. The Utes punched it in on all five trips Saturday against the Mustangs after going 6-for-6 a week ago at UCLA.
The Utes have scored 40-plus points in both games in 2025 for the first time since doing so in back-to-back outings during the 2022 campaign. It also marks the first time since 2013 that Utah has put up 40 or more points on the scoreboard in each of the first two games of the season since 2014.
UP NEXT
Utah wraps up its nonconference schedule next week at Wyoming on Saturday, Sept. 13. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. MT on the CBS Sports Network.
FOLLOW THE UTES
Follow the Utes on social media through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok along with visiting www.UtahUtes.com. Download the Utah 360 app here.  Â
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Team Stats
CAP
UTA
Total Yards
223
518
Pass Yards
158
245
Rushing Yards
65
273
Penalty Yards
20
65
1st Downs
12
24
3rd Downs
3
9
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
28:45
31:15
1st Quarter
CAP 0, UTA 7
UTA - Parker,Wayshawn 52 yd pass from Dampier,Devon (Curtis,Dillon kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:52
CAP 0, UTA 14
UTA - Bennee,Jackson 46 yd interception (Curtis,Dillon kick)
CAP 3, UTA 14
CAP - Serna,Noah 30 yd field goal 7 plays, 63 yards, TOP 02:54
2nd Quarter
CAP 3, UTA 21
UTA - Davis,Ryan 4 yd pass from Dampier,Devon (Curtis,Dillon kick) 12 plays, 65 yards, TOP 05:01
CAP 6, UTA 21
CAP - Dimauro,Gianluca 47 yd field goal 10 plays, 39 yards, TOP 04:21
CAP 6, UTA 28
UTA - Rogers,NaQuari 1 yd run (Curtis,Dillon kick), 1 plays, 1 yards, TOP 00:03
CAP 6, UTA 35
UTA - Rogers,NaQuari 1 yd run (Curtis,Dillon kick), 6 plays, 30 yards, TOP 00:36
3rd Quarter
CAP 6, UTA 42
UTA - Bentley,Dallen 11 yd pass from Dampier,Devon (Curtis,Dillon kick) 10 plays, 70 yards, TOP 04:15
CAP 6, UTA 49
UTA - Parker,Wayshawn 43 yd run (Curtis,Dillon kick), 2 plays, 50 yards, TOP 00:36
CAP 6, UTA 56
UTA - Ficklin,Byrd 38 yd run (Curtis,Dillon kick), 6 plays, 95 yards, TOP 02:45
4th Quarter
CAP 9, UTA 56
CAP - Serna,Noah 51 yd field goal 9 plays, 42 yards, TOP 05:11
CAP 9, UTA 63
UTA - Ficklin,Byrd 2 yd run (Curtis,Dillon kick), 15 plays, 75 yards, TOP 09:01
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
17
TD
3
YDS
192
INT
0
CMP
4
TD
0
YDS
53
INT
0
Players Mentioned
S
/ Football
TE
/ Football
DE
/ FootballQB
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WR
/ FootballQB
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DE
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LB
/ Football
ATH
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
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RB
/ FootballUtah: 63, Cal Poly: 9 | POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
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