SALT LAKE CITY — Wayshawn Parker ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns to lead No. 12 Utah to a 41-24 victory over Kansas on Saturday night.
Parker eclipsed 170 rushing yards for the second straight game after finishing with a career-high 174 yards against Iowa State two weeks ago.
Devon Dampier threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns to help the Utes (5-0, 2-0 Big 12) stay undefeated. Dampier also ran for 68 yards and another score. Ricky Johnson had a season-high 104 yards and a touchdown on five catches for Utah.
Isaiah Marshall threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns to lead Kansas. Cam Pickett had a season-high 134 yards on eight catches for the Jayhawks (2-3, 0-2), who surrendered 541 total yards to the Utes.
The Jayhawks never led but cut Utah's lead to 27-24 on Marshall's 29-yard pass to Nik McMillan with 27 seconds left in the third quarter.
Dampier capped a nine-play drive covering 75 yards with a 1-yard toss to Semi Taulanga to give Utah breathing room. Then, after the Utes got a fourth-down stop at their own 1, Parker raced 90 yards untouched to cap the scoring with 7:13 left.
Utah played nearly flawless offense on its first two drives. The Utes averaged 10.9 yards per play on those drives and jumped out to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter behind a 5-yard run from Parker and a 12-yard run from Dampier.
Kansas forced a pair of turnovers to dramatically shift momentum.
David Santiago forced and recovered a fumble from Dampier at the Utah 14 to set up the Jayhawks' first touchdown — a 3-yard catch by Dylan Edwards.
Then, after Marshall scored on a 6-yard run, Jalen Todd then snagged an interception from Dampier at the Kansas 36. Martin Connington made a 34-yard field goal on the final play before halftime to cut Utah's lead to 21-17.
The takeaway
Kansas totaled only 40 yards over its first six drives before the defense forced turnovers and got a fourth-down stop to breathe life into the Jayhawks' offense.
Dampier struggled with accuracy and ball security in the second quarter, forcing Utah into a rare close battle it hadn't experienced so far this season.
Up next
Kansas: At Kansas State on Saturday.
Utah: At Colorado on Saturday.