Arizona State football’s trip up to Salt Lake City this week got coach Kenny Dillingham thinking about the missed opportunity of landing then-class of 2023 quarterback Devon Dampier.
“I definitely should’ve recruited him harder to be honest,” Dillingham said Monday of the Scottsdale Saguaro High School product. “He’s definitely proved me wrong. I always thought he was a really good player but how productive he’s been in college football, I mean, super impressed by him.
“Completion percentage (is) out the roof, his ability to extend plays, how he runs the offense and operates it … definitely a miss by me, 100%. Kudos to (Utah) for having him on their team.”
This season, the junior’s completion percentage certainly is notable, as his 72.5% mark (111-of-153) is more than three percentage points greater than the next best in Texas Tech’s Behren Morton (69.3%).
His passing touchdowns (11) and interceptions (three) rank near the mid section of the Big 12, but his rushing numbers of 258 yards and two touchdowns are third-best among quarterbacks — only trailing Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby (291, five) and ASU’s Sam Leavitt (281, five).
Before transferring to Utah this past December, Dampier spent two seasons at New Mexico, where in 2024 he was the first in program history to earn All-Mountain West First Team honors. He did so behind 3,934 scrimmage yards (2,768 passing, 1,166 rushing) and made 13 total starts between his freshman and sophomore campaigns.
“He’s a tough guy to tackle, gets the ball out fast,” Dillingham added. “He just does a lot of things well, which is why he won a lot of games at Saguaro High School. … I’m happy for him. I mean, my brother-in-law was his quarterbacks coach, (current ASU tight ends coach) Jason Mohns was his head coach.
“So even though we’re playing him this week … I got nothing but respect for him, and I wish him luck the rest of the way.”
Before leading the Sabercats to a runner-up finish at the 2022 AIA Open State Championship — Chandler’s Basha High School won 28-21 — Dampier had committed to New Mexico, but among his earliest offers were to Northern Arizona and Arizona, according to 247 Sports.
He previously led Saguaro to a state title in 2021, defeating Chandler High School 20-15.
ASU defensive coordinator Brian Ward said Tuesday that Dampier is a “creator” and that the entire Utah offense is tailormade for him to operate.
“Everything that they do really starts with their quarterback, the run game and pass game,” Ward said.
Ward joked that what information he has learned from Mohns, who was Saguaro’s head coach for 11 years and with the program for 16, has “scared the heck out of us” but what he really has absorbed is how the 21-year-old Dampier has evolved from mistakes since his freshman year.
Between his final season with New Mexico and now, Dampier has truly transformed as a passer, with nearly as many touchdown passes in five games (11) as he had in 12 last year (12) and roughly a 15% jump in completion percentage (57.9% in 2024).
He was also named Big 12 co-offensive player of the week alongside Iowa State’s Rocco Becht for a Week 1 performance that featured 206 passing yards and two touchdowns in a 43-10 win over UCLA.
Catch ASU-Utah on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. It will be televised on ESPN.
