Utah's innovative two-quarterback system baffles college football defenses

Utah's backup quarterback lined up wide on the right side of the formation while  Devon Dampier stood in the shotgun awaiting the snap.

It was the first play of Utah's game against Arkansas , and the Razorbacks had to figure out which quarterback mattered in the formation. The Hogs weren't fooled after studying the formation on film and practicing against it that week -- but it also didn't matter.

Byrd Ficklin sprinted right, swinging behind Dampier in an orbit motion before the snap. Dampier palmed the ball and threw it backward to the left. Ficklin snagged it, reared back his left arm and unleashed a throw from the left hash mark all the way across to the right sideline. The pass traveled at least 42 yards in the air and was dropped over the shoulder and into the hands of running back Wayshawn Parker , who was covered closely by a cornerback, for a 36-yard gain.

Trickeration? A gadget play? No.

"We saw it coming, but we just weren't in a good enough position to make the play," Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield said. "We got to find ways to make those plays, but credit to them, and shame on us."

That night's 43-10 win featured even more cunning deception, marking neither the debut nor the end of Utah's multi-QB looks. Opponents still haven't figured out how to counter the Utes' inventive dual-quarterback schemes.

Flying under the radar as a playoff contender, No. 12 Utah (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) enters Saturday's matchup against Kansas (2-2, 0-1) with a 10-game winning streak and eyeing its first 5-0 start since 2015. Statistically, the Utes present a compelling case as an elite contender. They have led by at least 20 points at halftime in every game this season -- a feat matched over the last decade only by CFP semifinalists Ohio State in 2019 and Texas in 2024.

Bowl projections: Utah into CFP bracket as new Big 12 favorite, Alabama moves to No. 2 seed Brad Crawford

The success comes from a system built around a pair of dual-threat quarterbacks deployed simultaneously, seamlessly swapping roles across skill positions—from quarterback to backfield to receiver, in the slot and out wide. It's not the Wildcat formation or a gimmick trick play that so many others run. Utah uses it so often that it's just another play in its script.

First-year offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven doesn't even like calling it a two-quarterback package.

"I guess people might view it as a two-quarterback package, but we really just have [Ficklin] in some spots that a running back would be playing in or a receiver would be playing," McGiven told CBS Sports.

How Utah kept both quarterbacks

An old coaching cliché suggests that relying on two signal-callers indicates a team lacks a true starter. The Utes defy that logic, having created this unique scheme primarily to solve a roster retention dilemma.

Longtime coach Kyle Whittingham retired, unretired and left for Michigan before last season's bowl game, taking offensive coordinator Jason Beck with him. Veteran defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley took over, beat Nebraska in the Las Vegas Bowl and hired McGiven away from Utah State in January, from the same coaching tree Beck had fallen from. That left McGiven with Dampier, a senior transfer from New Mexico , and Ficklin, a left-hander from Muskogee, Oklahoma , who ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns on six carries against Baylor as a true freshman.

Keeping both at the same time was not a given.

"It kinda started out as, how can we keep both of these guys here?" McGiven said. "Part of that was painting a picture for Dev, and it was really painting a picture for his overall development. And then for Byrd, it was painting a picture of how we can best utilize your skillset."

Michigan was among the programs that called Ficklin after Whittingham landed in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines already had starter Bryce Underwood . Ficklin said Michigan's pitch was simple: he would be the backup and an option if Underwood ever left.

"It wasn't really too heavy," Ficklin said. "It was never anything trying to overpush, be forceful with it."

Dampier received a similar call, he said, but he didn't give it much thought after a breakthrough season in 2025 at Utah had solidified him as one of the Big 12's top returning quarterbacks. He threw for 2,490 yards and 24 touchdowns against five interceptions and also ran for 835 yards and 10 scores while earning Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year honors. His 34 scores trailed only legendary quarterback Alex Smith in the school's record book for total touchdowns.

"It's the school where we still carry on brotherhood," Dampier said. "It's the main thing. We carry on love, we carry on loyalty, staying at the school, waiting your time to get your chance."

Starting quarterbacks typically avoid advocating for their backups to get additional playing time, but Dampier did just that when both realized in January that Utah was their home after a productive time in each other's orbit in 2025. Ficklin came off the bench for an injured Dampier and scored three touchdowns in a blowout of Colorado late last season.

"Byrd's too useful of a tool to keep on the bench," Dampier said.

Creativity yielding results

The numbers the duo has produced through the first month are staggering and entirely unique to Utah. Beyond the stats is the crazy spread of snap counts. Through four games, Ficklin has played 32 snaps away from quarterback: 17 in the backfield, eight split wide and seven in the slot. He has taken 56 snaps at quarterback, including 24 in a 66-14 opener against Idaho .

"In quarterback meetings, he knows everybody's assignment. You can stick him at any spot and he knows what it should look like," McGiven said.

Dampier, the designated starter, has lined up somewhere other than quarterback 11 times. At quarterback, he has thrown at least two touchdown passes in 10 straight games, the longest active streak in FBS.

"Dev's been a big advocate of having him on the field because I think there is a trust factor there," McGiven said.

"Yeah, facts. I think it's so hard to defend us," Dampier said. "Having Byrd in there makes that extra element that literally anything can happen."

Placing two quarterbacks on the field at the same time isn't new, but it also isn't the typical unbalanced Wildcat formation or a gimmick trick play you may see on most Saturdays. It also wasn't necessarily their offensive coordinator's idea. Dampier came to McGiven before spring practices and pitched the idea that Ficklin deserved more playing time. McGiven, who calls the innovative Bronco Mendenhall a mentor, tapped into his creative side and developed a package that featured both of his athletic quarterbacks.

Utah somehow kept everything under wraps all offseason, conducting public scrimmages with basic offensive sets.

"OK, we're gonna just keep this pretty vanilla," McGiven said. "We'll just stay in 11 personnel for the scrimmage and just roll."

'This is like peak Utah football'

The package is mostly built on the triple option. Against Arkansas, Ficklin also lined up at quarterback, took a snap, handed off to Dampier and then sprinted right for a pitch in the triple option for a first down. Utah also utilizes a deceptive formation with four men in the backfield, all side by side -- imagine the Wishbone of old, but a flat side-by-side formation in the Shotgun, a variation of gadget plays from the leather-helmeted 1930s. Dampier was in the shotgun, and Ficklin, Parker and running back Daniel Bray were lined up to his right, side by side.

"They eat it up when we present them with new little ideas and packages early in the week," McGiven said.

Utah has not shown everything McGiven has devised in the formation, either, though Ficklin readily admits the hand-off pitch in a triple option is his favorite so far.

"There are so many options to what could happen," Ficklin said. "You know, you didn't see the other part of it. We never ran it again, but there's another pass option off of it."

Dampier prefers when Ficklin flexes out to receiver and defenses match him with a linebacker, particularly in the slot.

"Dude, the offense is crazy this year," Dampier said. "This is like peak Utah football."

Dampier says Ficklin's presence opens things up for everyone else, including Parker, who averages 6.6 yards per carry and has also piled up 154 receiving yards out of the backfield. Across the last 30 seasons, Parker stands as just the second FBS player to accumulate four or more rushing touchdowns (5) along with four or more receiving scores (4) through the first four games, placing him atop the Big 12. He has scored three times in three games so far.

"Me and Byrd go one direction, Wayshawn gets to run the other way," Dampier said.

Ficklin splits out wide. Then he's in the slot. No, he's in the backfield, or taking the snap himself while Dampier jogs to run a route. Against Idaho, Dampier pitched to Ficklin for nine yards. Against Utah State, the Utes lined up with nobody in the backfield at all -- no quarterback, no running back -- until one of the quarterbacks motioned over and took the snap. The Utes have also run an 18-yard flea flicker and a direct snap to Parker.

Iowa State had to prepare for it all, fearing unknown looks Utah had yet to unveil would catch them off guard before a Week 4 showdown.

"You don't know who's touching the ball or when they're touching the ball," Iowa State coach Jimmy Rogers said. "At times, they don't even have a quarterback under center. They line up in six-open formation, and then they motion a guy back in. You're not really sure who's going to be at quarterback at times."

Iowa State got a scaled-back version in the 31-17 loss on Sept. 26. Heavy rain was in the forecast, and McGiven wasn't confident that plays built on elaborate ball-handling and motion would hold up on the wet grass with a wet ball. The storms never came, but Utah shelved most of the package. Ficklin played seven snaps, including two at quarterback, after averaging 27 over the first three games.

What makes the package so daunting for defensive coordinators isn't necessarily the quarterbacks' different skill sets. Both are rather similar, except for one key physical attribute: Dampier throws right-handed, and Ficklin throws left-handed. Against Idaho in the opener, Ficklin rolled right, jumped and fired across his body for a 23-yard completion to Mana Carvalho .

"That coordinator is doing magical stuff with it," said Brooks Austin, a YouTube film analyst known as The Film Guy. "It would cause me to have a heart attack as a DC. The lefty is insanely good."

A defensive coordinator's worst nightmare

Additional schemes designed to leverage their preferred throwing hands are tucked away in McGiven's playbook.

"You can do some things that are kind of hash-specific and work movements to their dominant arm side," he said.

McGiven isn't militaristic in the quarterback room, demanding players strictly follow his script and designs. He asks for suggestions every week and tweaks plays based on his quarterbacks' requests. "His main thing is making a masterpiece," Ficklin said.

Last week, Utah sat at home during a bye week before its Big 12 home opener against Kansas on Saturday. The free time gave McGiven and his quarterbacks plenty of room to brainstorm.

"I don't know if this bye week is even a good thing for me because there's just like, we've got so many things on that sheet," McGiven said. "There's no way we can carry it all into Kansas."

Word of the difficulties Utah's new package presents has reached McGiven through other coaches across the country. "The word that I've gotten is it's a nightmare week for defensive coordinators."

But how much remains unused? McGiven's sly answer seemed like a threat. "I think we're just kind of scratching the surface," McGiven said.

The only thing missing from the package is a name. Every Utah personnel group that includes Ficklin carries a bird name --

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/utah-two-qb-attack-most-creative-offense-devin-dampier-byrd-ficklin/)._