Dampier was every bit the problem the preview said he'd be. He finished 18-of-24 for 261 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air, added 50 yards and 2 more scores on the ground, and crossed 6,000 career passing yards along the way. Morgan Scalley's new-look offense, which Dampier called 'fun' after the game, scored at least 20 points before halftime for the 7th time in Utah's last 8 games — continuity from the Whittingham era, not a step back.
The other half of the preview's storyline — Arkansas' unsettled quarterback race — got answered in the worst possible setting. KJ Jackson started and unraveled fast, finishing 14-of-34 for 139 yards with an interception that set up a Utah touchdown, before Silverfield pulled him down 40 points in the 4th quarter.
AJ Hill's debut in relief was the one bright spot for the Hogs, going 8-of-14 for 105 yards and a touchdown to Ismael Cisse — a score that only happened because the ball deflected off a Utah defender's hands into his. It wasn't nearly enough against a defense that batted down 13 passes, the most for Utah's program since 1998, and racked up 4 sacks and 7 tackles for loss against an offensive line that had reportedly seen more than 40 new faces walk through the building since spring.
Silverfield called it 'clearly inexcusable in all three phases' afterward, pointing to missed tackles and a defense that wasn't trusting its eyes against Utah's misdirection. Utah, meanwhile, improved to 3-0 under Scalley with an average margin of victory over 35 points — the transition Utah worried about barely showed up, while the one Arkansas is mid-rebuild through showed up in every phase.