Postgame Notes: No. 20 Utah vs. Arkansas
9/13/2026 1:26 AM | Football
Postgame Notes
(at) No. 20 Utah 43, Arkansas 10
Salt Lake City, Utah (Rice-Eccles Stadium)
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026
Kick: 8:30 p.m. MT | End: 11:56 p.m.
Attendance: 51,532 (sellout)
General
Offense
Defense
Special Teams
(at) No. 20 Utah 43, Arkansas 10
Salt Lake City, Utah (Rice-Eccles Stadium)
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026
Kick: 8:30 p.m. MT | End: 11:56 p.m.
Attendance: 51,532 (sellout)
General
- Tonight's game was the 97th consecutive sellout of Rice-Eccles Stadium, not including the pandemic-altered 2020 season when fans were not in attendance. With the exception of 2020, all 97 Utah home games since the 2010 season opener have been sold out.
- Head coach Morgan Scalley is now 3-0 at the helm of Utah.
- Utah's margin of victory (33 points) was the team's largest against an SEC opponent in program history, surpassing a 14-point win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl at the end of the 2008 season. For regular season games, it was the largest by a Big 12 team against the SEC since 2012.
- Tonight's game was the first between Utah and Arkansas. Utah has now hosted two SEC teams in Rice-Eccles Stadium since 2023 (Florida), after not having ever hosted a team from the conference prior to that. Some other current members did play in RES prior to 2023, but were not yet members of the SEC at the time.
- Utah won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. The Utes defended the North goal.
Offense
- Utah has scored 40-plus points in three straight games and 30-plus points in eight straight games—according to Stats Perform, the eight-game streak is the longest active streak in FBS.
- Utah scored touchdowns on all six of its trips to the red zone. It was helped by a 5-for-9 third-down conversion rate for the team as well as 1-for-2 on fourth-down opportunities.
- As a team, the Utes had 153 yards after catch—led by 63 from tight end Noah Bennee.
- Quarterback Devon Dampier was 18-of-24 passing for 261 yards and two touchdowns. His yardage pushed Dampier over the 6,000-career passing yards milestone, which he reached during the second quarter. He now has 6,220 yards and is 12-2 as the starter at Utah.
- Running back Wayshawn Parker had 118 all-purpose yards (53 rushing, career-high 65 receiving). He rushed for two touchdowns and caught another; it was Parker's first time scoring multiple rushing touchdowns since the 2024 season, when Parker played for Washington State.
- Parker has now totaled six touchdowns through the first two games of the season (three rushing, three receiving). The last time a Big 12 player had as many total touchdowns in the first two games of the season was in 2024 (UCF – RJ Harvey) and it has not been accomplished by a Utah player since at least the 1998 season.
- Bennee caught four passes for a career-best 113 yards and a touchdown, including his longest collegiate reception (57 yards). It was the most by a Utah tight end since 2024 and marked the second time in the last three games that a tight end had a 100-yard game.
- Mana Carvalho took a direct snap for a two-point conversion early in the second quarter. It was Utah's first offensive two-point PAT since Micah Bernard scored one in the 2024 season finale at UCF (Utah did have a defensive two-point PAT in 2025).
Defense
- Big 12 teams have held SEC offenses to two of their four lowest scoring outputs early this season. Arkansas' 10 points tonight vs. Utah are tied for the fewest this season by an SEC team and Baylor held Auburn to 17 points last week despite a loss.
- Utah made four sacks in the game, the most for the team since last year's game vs. Colorado (7). Utah also had seven TFLs on the night, which hadn't happened since the 2025 game at Baylor.
- The Utah defense combined for 13 pass breakups in the game; it is the second-most by the team all-time and most since a program-record 15 during a game vs. San Jose State in the 1998 season.
- Cornerback Elijah Reed had a career-high three PBUs and cornerbacks James Chenault Jr., Elijah Davis and defensive tackle Karson Kaufusi had two each.
- Defensive tackle Jireh Moe finished the game with a career-high eight tackles and 2.0 TFL. It included Moe's first sack as a Utah Ute, a six-yard takedown in the second quarter.
- Linebacker Johnathan Hall made eight tackles (1 TFL) as well, his most since having nine tackles vs. Kansas State in 2025.
- Safety Jackson Bennee made his first interception of the season and fifth of his career. Utah has now had at least one interception in eight straight games.
Special Teams
- Punter Orion Phillips booted a 60-yard punt during the first quarter that was downed at the Arkansas six-yard line. It was Phillips' longest punt since the Baylor game last season (61).
- Kicker Dillon Curtis was a perfect 5-for-5 on PAT attempts.
Players Mentioned
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