Utah running back Wayshawn Parker (1) slips the tackle by West Virginia safety Darrian Lewis (24) during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept, 27, 2025, in Morgantown, W.Va. (AP Photo/ William Wotring)

West Virginia needed a bounce-back after a big loss on the road to Kansas, and did nothing of the sort against Utah.

The Mountaineers were dominated 48-14 after another poor offensive performance, falling to below .500 for the first time this season at 2-3. WVU is now 0-2 in the Big 12 and has lost its last two. Utah is back in the win column at 4-1 and 1-1 in conference.

The offense looked lost again, like it did against Kansas. The defense showed promising flashes this season, but it even looked bad. It was bad in all areas, and there wasn’t much positive to take away.

“It’s disappointing,” Rich Rodriguez said. “It’s embarrassing how we failed to execute. We didn’t really have anything that was really good.”

After struggling against Texas Tech, Utah’s offense bounced back big time and pieced apart WVU defensive coordinator Zac Alley’s defense. New Utah offensive coordinator Jason Beck had a perfect start. The first drive, Utah marched 73 yards on 12 plays for a 7-yard J.J. Buchanan, 7-0 Utah.

The next Utah drive was similar. Utah went 65 yards on 11 plays and ended with quarterback Devon Dampier scoring on a 7-yard keeper. Quickly, it was 14-0.

Then, again, Utah drove right down the field. After a quarter and a couple of minutes, Dampier threw his second touchdown for 32 yards. 21-0 Utah with not much resistance.

The defense finally got a stop, intercepting Dampier, but that was the only stop in the first six drives. The Utes scored two more, scoring a touchdown in five of their first six drives, making it 35-0 after the first drive out of the second half.

WVU’s offense, again, didn’t help. After the defense was on the field for four-plus minutes, it had to run back out pretty quickly after the offense couldn’t get anything.

The offense wasn’t set up for success, even before the game.

WVU has a lot of injuries. Just a couple of days before the game, WVU ruled out four-game starting quarterback Nicco Marchiol because of a foot injury that he had looked at by a specialist in Colorado. Center Landon Livingston didn’t play, and Pitt game star running back Tye Edwards also didn’t play.

“Did you hear me say injuries are the reason we lost?” Rodriguez said. “It makes it more difficult, more challenging, but you can overcome it.”

Without Marchiol, WVU started Texas A&M transfer Jaylen Henderson in his place.

The offense under Henderson looked different. He was definitely able to pick up more on the quarterback runs because he was faster than Marchiol, but Henderson couldn’t throw. There were multiple passes behind receivers and a couple that should’ve been interceptions. Henderson completed three passes in the first half for 22 yards.

Henderson picked up 28 yards on the ground on 13 carries, but completed just three passes on seven attempts.

The offense wasn’t efficient, again, in all areas.

Down 35 points without taking a snap in the second half, Rodriguez trotted out redshirt freshman quarterback Khalil Wilkins. Wilkins ran the offense similarly to Henderson. He mostly used his legs to pick up some first downs. But, Wilkins connected with Cam Vaughn on a big 39-yard touchdown. For the third-straight game, WVU’s backup quarterback scored a touchdown on their first drive in the game.

The touchdown made it 35-7, but at that point, the game was out of reach, and Utah kept pouring it on.

Wilkins missed a couple of wide-open throws, but he completed a couple of throws on the run. He completed three passes for 63 yards and one touchdown. He had nine rushes for 39 yards. Slot receiver Jarob Bowie led the team in rushing with one carry for 68 yards. Diore Hubbard was next with 10 carries for 61 yards.

WVU had another garbage-time touchdown at the end of the game.

On the other side, Dampier picked up right where he left off prior to the Texas Tech loss. With the multiple future first-round picks on the offensive line, Dampier had a lot of time in the pocket. He went through his progressions and made a couple big throws. When he had pressure, which only came when WVU blitzed, Dampier scampered, picking up the yards to gain.

After throwing two picks last week, Dampier threw for 237 yards for four touchdowns. He also ran 11 times for 33 yards and a score. Utah running back NaQuari Rogers helped out on the ground with 61 yards.

Utah outgained the Mountaineers 532 to 346 and won the battle of the trenches, rushing for 242 yards.

It was a total beatdown in Morgantown, and not the beatdown the locals wanted.

“We didn’t really have anything that was good,” Rodriguez said. “Coaching wasn’t good. Playing wasn’t good.”