Photo by: Anna Fuder/Utah Athletics
Postgame Quotes: No. 20 Utah vs. Arkansas
9/13/2026 1:22 AM | Football
Postgame Quotes
(at) No. 20 Utah 43, Arkansas 10
Salt Lake City, Utah (Rice-Eccles Stadium)
Thursday, Sept. 12, 2026
Kick: 8:30 p.m. MT | End: 11:56 p.m.
Attendance: 51,532 (sellout)
Head Coach Morgan Scalley
Opening Statement…
"Solid performance from our guys. I was super proud of them. You look across college football and there are upsets all over the place and teams not necessarily playing consistent and I thought for the first two weeks, I thought we've played consistent. If you look at any SEC team that you go against, it's impressive size. In our press conference on Monday, I said the tale of the tape's going to be the offensive line and defensive line and I was so proud of them. I thought the offensive line, we gave up one sack and on the defensive line, combined with our defensive backs, 13 PBUs. That's the most since 1998 when I was a senior in high school. That's a long time. A couple things to highlight. Again, the offensive line, the defensive line, the pass breakups. Jireh Moe, eight tackles, two TFLs, one sack, all over the place. He didn't show up on the stat sheet game one. Sometimes that happens, but he is the biggest reason we took that guy in the portal was because of the one-on-one matchups that he would consistently win and that guy is so active, impressive game from him tonight. Devon eclipsed 6000 career passing yards today. That's a lot of passing yards, looked really good. The passing efficiency was very good tonight as well. Had the one pick, so we ended up even, gave one away, took one away. That's, I believe, eighth straight games with an interception. We got to get that interception to the house to keep that street going. It was good to see the tight ends, Noah Bennee, man, what a game from that guy. I know he joked about tripping, but I thought he had a solid game. Orion on the special teams front. Orion's punt, 60-yard net was solid. It was good to get that two-point conversion on the swinging gate, just always trying to give teams something they have to prepare for outside of their offensive and defensive game plans. I'd say probably the glaring negative on the day was the penalties, seven penalties. A lot of those administrative, just stubbing our own toe and don't ever want to bail out the offense or defense for delay of game or anything like that because timeouts are so precious when you get down to the two minute situation. So that's something we got to get cleaned up. But overall, so proud of these guys, again, particularly the offensive line and defensive line. That edge rusher they have, No. 35, is going to be playing in the NFL, super twitchy, athletic and I thought our guys did a really good job. Good job running downfield, finishing blocks. Credit to the staff. I thought Colton Swan, really good game plan. McGiven, awesome, awesome job. Sharrieff and Cookus on the special teams, did a great job."
On the defense's 13 pass breakups…
"A ton of man coverage. We were getting a little bit grabby there and now, some of those pass interferences, you're going to get some, you're not going to get some. It is what it is, but we're going to continue to be aggressive. Batting the ball down at the line of scrimmage is very deflating to a quarterback. Again, We're about pass efficiency and pass defense efficiency and anytime you're able to bat a ball down, it frustrates the quarterback so much and getting him into the longer yardage, third downs is huge too because then you're able to get your pass rush going and different personnel groups in on 3rd down."
On what's changed for Wayshawn Parker from last season to now…
"We've talked about that, his leadership role. He's stepped up. He is a true leader. He leads by example in the way he works. He is a worker. You ask him to do anything in practice, he shows up, shows up every day ready to go. He's the guy that gets in front of the team every day and gets us ready to go. Proud of him and, like you said, the rushing yards may have not been to his liking, but the guy got, I think it was, over 100. He's had 6 touchdowns. He is such a threat and when people have to stack the box to stop him, then you are able to go over the top. Unselfish kid that all he does is work his butt off."
On what tonight said about his team's physicality and speed…
"Well, I don't know if we know quite who we are. I don't know that you know who you are until five games, six games into the season, but from what I've seen, every time we challenge them, they show up and Coach Gross and Alex Gerke, Coach Gerke have done such a great job bringing those guys along. They are a cohesive unit. They hang together all the time. They had a chip on their shoulder ever since the offseason when people talked about that may be a weak link for the University of Utah and obviously tonight, it did not prove to be that. We're going to continue to get better, look at the film, and find out where our deficiencies are, but man, did you see guys finishing down the fields, Zereoue Williams, running down the field, finishing, pushing piles? That's what you want to see. That's that relentless, nasty mentality that you have to have as an offensive lineman and they showed it tonight. I'm so proud of them."
Junior Defensive Back Jackson Bennee
On seeing Noah's game and being reunited in Utah…
"It's great. Definitely surreal. We never thought the chance would come for us to play together. Every time he makes a play, I'm the most excited guy on the sideline. It's so cool. We are living our dream."
On his interception…
"I was playing strong safety on that play. I felt like something was happening. Then I saw the running back slip and I saw the screen was coming. I was in the right place at the right time. The offense capitalized."
Senior Tight End Noah Bennee
On coming back to Utah and playing tonight…
"I've always loved Utah. It's been a dream school for Jackson and I. I'm having so much fun. It's a dream come true. Being back here, playing and having fun on the field. I'm soaking it all in."
Senior Quarterback Devon Dampier
On the offense…
"Everybody's respectable. Everybody's able to get the ball and do something with it. We have the weapons that we do. I've been able to see that since the spring. I'm excited we're able to showcase it when it matters."
On the offensive line and how they protected him in the game…
"They did tremendous. We told the O-line at the beginning of the week that this is the week they were going to be tested. They took that with a chip on the shoulder. I thought we had one of the best weeks of practice from the start, from Monday to our walkthrough on Friday. Those guys were dialed in. Arkansas did a lot of different stuff with their fronts and pressures, but I didn't feel it."
Sophomore Defensive Tackle Jireh Moe
On what was working for him…
"Just playing fast and trusting my coaches too on play calls and putting us in the right spot."
On where he feels he's at in terms of his development…
"In terms of my development, I feel like there's still room to improve, but coming [to Utah] in January, we've been progressing. We're getting better every day and trusting the coaches. I believe that they can take us all the way."
On how he and Karson complement each other in the DT spot…
"I'm blessed to have him on my side. He's a technician. He's a really good player and a smart player too. He helped me be who I am today. He helped me with my technique, get smarter and get my playbook.
(at) No. 20 Utah 43, Arkansas 10
Salt Lake City, Utah (Rice-Eccles Stadium)
Thursday, Sept. 12, 2026
Kick: 8:30 p.m. MT | End: 11:56 p.m.
Attendance: 51,532 (sellout)
Head Coach Morgan Scalley
Opening Statement…
"Solid performance from our guys. I was super proud of them. You look across college football and there are upsets all over the place and teams not necessarily playing consistent and I thought for the first two weeks, I thought we've played consistent. If you look at any SEC team that you go against, it's impressive size. In our press conference on Monday, I said the tale of the tape's going to be the offensive line and defensive line and I was so proud of them. I thought the offensive line, we gave up one sack and on the defensive line, combined with our defensive backs, 13 PBUs. That's the most since 1998 when I was a senior in high school. That's a long time. A couple things to highlight. Again, the offensive line, the defensive line, the pass breakups. Jireh Moe, eight tackles, two TFLs, one sack, all over the place. He didn't show up on the stat sheet game one. Sometimes that happens, but he is the biggest reason we took that guy in the portal was because of the one-on-one matchups that he would consistently win and that guy is so active, impressive game from him tonight. Devon eclipsed 6000 career passing yards today. That's a lot of passing yards, looked really good. The passing efficiency was very good tonight as well. Had the one pick, so we ended up even, gave one away, took one away. That's, I believe, eighth straight games with an interception. We got to get that interception to the house to keep that street going. It was good to see the tight ends, Noah Bennee, man, what a game from that guy. I know he joked about tripping, but I thought he had a solid game. Orion on the special teams front. Orion's punt, 60-yard net was solid. It was good to get that two-point conversion on the swinging gate, just always trying to give teams something they have to prepare for outside of their offensive and defensive game plans. I'd say probably the glaring negative on the day was the penalties, seven penalties. A lot of those administrative, just stubbing our own toe and don't ever want to bail out the offense or defense for delay of game or anything like that because timeouts are so precious when you get down to the two minute situation. So that's something we got to get cleaned up. But overall, so proud of these guys, again, particularly the offensive line and defensive line. That edge rusher they have, No. 35, is going to be playing in the NFL, super twitchy, athletic and I thought our guys did a really good job. Good job running downfield, finishing blocks. Credit to the staff. I thought Colton Swan, really good game plan. McGiven, awesome, awesome job. Sharrieff and Cookus on the special teams, did a great job."
On the defense's 13 pass breakups…
"A ton of man coverage. We were getting a little bit grabby there and now, some of those pass interferences, you're going to get some, you're not going to get some. It is what it is, but we're going to continue to be aggressive. Batting the ball down at the line of scrimmage is very deflating to a quarterback. Again, We're about pass efficiency and pass defense efficiency and anytime you're able to bat a ball down, it frustrates the quarterback so much and getting him into the longer yardage, third downs is huge too because then you're able to get your pass rush going and different personnel groups in on 3rd down."
On what's changed for Wayshawn Parker from last season to now…
"We've talked about that, his leadership role. He's stepped up. He is a true leader. He leads by example in the way he works. He is a worker. You ask him to do anything in practice, he shows up, shows up every day ready to go. He's the guy that gets in front of the team every day and gets us ready to go. Proud of him and, like you said, the rushing yards may have not been to his liking, but the guy got, I think it was, over 100. He's had 6 touchdowns. He is such a threat and when people have to stack the box to stop him, then you are able to go over the top. Unselfish kid that all he does is work his butt off."
On what tonight said about his team's physicality and speed…
"Well, I don't know if we know quite who we are. I don't know that you know who you are until five games, six games into the season, but from what I've seen, every time we challenge them, they show up and Coach Gross and Alex Gerke, Coach Gerke have done such a great job bringing those guys along. They are a cohesive unit. They hang together all the time. They had a chip on their shoulder ever since the offseason when people talked about that may be a weak link for the University of Utah and obviously tonight, it did not prove to be that. We're going to continue to get better, look at the film, and find out where our deficiencies are, but man, did you see guys finishing down the fields, Zereoue Williams, running down the field, finishing, pushing piles? That's what you want to see. That's that relentless, nasty mentality that you have to have as an offensive lineman and they showed it tonight. I'm so proud of them."
Junior Defensive Back Jackson Bennee
On seeing Noah's game and being reunited in Utah…
"It's great. Definitely surreal. We never thought the chance would come for us to play together. Every time he makes a play, I'm the most excited guy on the sideline. It's so cool. We are living our dream."
On his interception…
"I was playing strong safety on that play. I felt like something was happening. Then I saw the running back slip and I saw the screen was coming. I was in the right place at the right time. The offense capitalized."
Senior Tight End Noah Bennee
On coming back to Utah and playing tonight…
"I've always loved Utah. It's been a dream school for Jackson and I. I'm having so much fun. It's a dream come true. Being back here, playing and having fun on the field. I'm soaking it all in."
Senior Quarterback Devon Dampier
On the offense…
"Everybody's respectable. Everybody's able to get the ball and do something with it. We have the weapons that we do. I've been able to see that since the spring. I'm excited we're able to showcase it when it matters."
On the offensive line and how they protected him in the game…
"They did tremendous. We told the O-line at the beginning of the week that this is the week they were going to be tested. They took that with a chip on the shoulder. I thought we had one of the best weeks of practice from the start, from Monday to our walkthrough on Friday. Those guys were dialed in. Arkansas did a lot of different stuff with their fronts and pressures, but I didn't feel it."
Sophomore Defensive Tackle Jireh Moe
On what was working for him…
"Just playing fast and trusting my coaches too on play calls and putting us in the right spot."
On where he feels he's at in terms of his development…
"In terms of my development, I feel like there's still room to improve, but coming [to Utah] in January, we've been progressing. We're getting better every day and trusting the coaches. I believe that they can take us all the way."
On how he and Karson complement each other in the DT spot…
"I'm blessed to have him on my side. He's a technician. He's a really good player and a smart player too. He helped me be who I am today. He helped me with my technique, get smarter and get my playbook.
Players Mentioned
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