Inside Jason Beck’s Bold Strategy Amid QB Chaos: The Surprising Offensive Shifts Utah Must Make Now

In the ever-shifting landscape of college football, the University of Utah’s offense under Jason Beck has been a bright beacon, lighting up the scoreboard and turning heads unlike the previous couple of seasons. The Utes have been nothing short of dominant, dashing through six opponents with a whopping average margin of victory that sits at an eye-popping 37.3 points. Ranking 13th nationally in total offense with 476.9 yards per game, and boasting a top-five rushing attack churning out 267.1 yards a contest, Beck’s system is firing on all cylinders. Key playmakers like Wayshawn Parker, Devon Dampier, and NaQuari Rogers have all surpassed the 300-yard threshold this season, while Daniel Bray has carved out a niche as a dynamic change-of-pace back. Efficiency shines through as Utah sits near the top in critical metrics such as third-down conversions and red-zone scoring, signaling a marked transformation from last year’s disappointments. But the real question looming this week: can this revitalized offense sustain its firepower when challenged by Cincinnati’s stout defense, especially with uncertainty circling the quarterback position? As the Utes prepare for this pivotal showdown, nerves and excitement run high — and so does the hope that Beck’s offensive revolution is just getting started. LEARN MORE

Jason Beck’s offense has certainly been an improvement from the past two years at the University of Utah.

Utah has steamrolled six opponents, with an average margin of victory of 37.3. The Utes’ total offense, 476.9 yards per game, ranks No. 13 in the nation, and Utah is No. 5 in the country running the ball, with 267.1 yards per game.

Wayshawn Parker (503 yards), quarterback Devon Dampier (442 yards) and NaQuari Rogers (325 yards) are all over 300 yards on the season, while Daniel Bray (203 yards) has emerged as a change-of-pace running back.

The Utes are No. 3 in third-down conversion percentage and No. 25 in red-zone scoring percentage (91.7%), plus No. 4 in the nation in touchdowns scored in the red zone (80.6%).

It’s a drastic increase from last season’s numbers, and by any measure, hiring Beck has proven to be the right choice to revitalize Utah’s offense.

Over eight games played so far, the Utes have had a poor offensive outing just once — a 34-10 loss to Texas Tech where Utah gained just 263 total yards of offense and largely had its run game bottled up by the Red Raiders.

Even in a 24-21 loss at BYU, the Utes still gained 470 total yards, including 226 on the ground, but the fourth-down calls and red-zone execution left much to be desired.

As impressive as Utah’s offense numbers have been, a lot of those wins have come against poor defenses, with the exception of Arizona State. The Sun Devils are currently ranked No. 38 in total yardage (334.6 yards per game), but the Utes hung 42 points and gained 412 yards in their most impressive offensive performance of the season.

In its two losses this season, Utah has faced two of the best defenses in the Big 12 Conference, and country, in Texas Tech and BYU.

While undefeated Cincinnati’s defense isn’t at the level of the Red Raiders and Cougars — the Bearcats rank No. 71 in total defense (368.8 yards per game), No. 28 in scoring defense (19 points per game), No. 65 in rushing defense (141.5 yards per game) and No. 76 in passing defense (227.2 yards per game) — Saturday’s late-night contest will still test this Ute offense.

Will Utah’s offense be able to rise to the occasion in a big-time game?

First, the Utes will have to answer this question: Who will start at quarterback against Cincinnati?

If Devon Dampier continues to progress well in terms of his injury throughout the week, it will be the former New Mexico signal-caller returning to action in a must-win game for the Utes (as the remainder of the games all are).

“Just again, day to day, again, we got great trainers and things and just a lot of treatment, so hopefully (I’ll) be out there,” Dampier said.

If Dampier is unable to progress to a certain point this week, it’ll be freshman Byrd Ficklin making his second start after a memorable debut start in which he threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns on 45% accuracy and added 151 yards on 20 carries, including a 63-yard touchdown run on the game’s second play.

“I think the bottom line is, and always will be, which quarterback, which player for any position for that matter, gives you the best chance of winning,” Whittingham said.

“If a 90% Devon Dampier we feel gives us a better chance than a 100% Byrd — that’s just an example — then we go with the guy that we think gives us that best shot. And so I can tell you we’ve got a lot of confidence in Byrd, especially after what we saw on Saturday night. But Devon is still QB1, make no mistake, there’s no QB controversy of any sort.”

Mondays are a walkthrough day at Utah, so Tuesday through Thursday will be the real test to see if Dampier is ready to go after a game off.

Though Utah would like to have a starter selected before Friday, just like last week, it could come down to a game-time decision.

Last week, Ficklin took the majority of the reps with the first-team offense in practice, but since he and Dampier have similar skillsets, Beck’s game plan, and practice plan, did not have to change too much.

“That’s been the thing with Byrd is he kind of fits our offense right now, both in terms of what Devon does, but also in terms of what’s best for our team and that is a run-first approach, a running quarterback, adding the numbers,” Beck said.

“And so he’s kind of provided being a natural backup that way and it’s played to his skill sets. There’s minor things with being lefty and working some things that way, but otherwise, yeah, it’s allowed it to transition pretty seamlessly.”

Whether it’s Dampier or Ficklin starting on Saturday night, the game plan will be similar. It’s important that if Dampier plays, that he is able to run at close to 100%, because so much of Beck’s offense is built on the run-pass option and quarterback run.

Utah’s offense has been very efficient so far, but the area it can still improve in is the same as at the beginning of the year — in the passing game.

Passing yardage per game is the only major offensive stat that Utah doesn’t rank at or near the top of the Big 12 in. Part of that is due to that run-first philosophy and running the ball plenty in the second half of blowouts, but Utah’s passing game has been largely underwhelming as it hits the home stretch of the season.

While Utah doesn’t need to rely on the passing game as much as, say, an Air Raid offense, the Utes do need more production, especially if a team is able to contain the rushing attack.

Ryan Davis has led the way with 518 yards on 48 receptions, but no other receiver has totaled more than 130 yards. Beck has involved the tight ends a lot, and Dallen Bentley (369 yards, three touchdowns) has been an integral part of the offense.

A couple other players are starting to emerge in tight end JJ Buchanan (156 yards, three touchdowns) and receiver Larry Simmons (120 yards, three touchdowns). Tobias Merriweather is also in the mix with 130.

“Even coming into the year, that was one of the bigger unknowns of what would emerge in that room and who the targets would be and that started to play out. It’s still a little inconsistent outside of RD, Dallen, JJ to a point, those three have all done a really nice job week in, week out,” Beck said. “And then it’s been that next person up, what’s their role, how are they contributing, what can we count on.”

Simmons had two catches for 39 yards and a score in the Utes’ 53-7 win over Colorado, while Buchanan contributed 35 yards and a touchdown on two scores.

Beck highlighted the pair’s blocking abilities in the run game, as well.

“Going back to the identity of our offense and what we’re best at, being a run first, it’s also blocking in the run game, A lot of those big plays, explosive plays, RD’s doing a great job out there. JJ was hustling, making stuff happen on Byrd’s long run and Larry’s been that guy in the run game,” Beck said.

“He’s really done a nice job helping to block which, man, helps our offense big time. And then any time targets come your way, if you can get open and catch it, it’s only going to allow you to increase in the offense.”

As Utah keeps working to make its offense the best that it can be, having more consistent options in the passing game would go a long way. Was Saturday’s game the first step towards that?

“It was nice to see Larry had some big plays this past weekend that helped move the chains and score points,” Beck said. “He did a really nice job stepping into a little bigger role and making the most of it. So we’ll just kind of continue to hash that out and see the production there. I’d say we’re efficient in the throw game and we’ll just kind of look to keep building on that.”