The clinching score came one play after a turnover. With 2:15 left and Utah up 14-13, Jackson Bennee sacked Conner Weigman for an 11-yard loss and knocked the ball loose, and Jireh Moe recovered at the Houston 9, according to ESPN's play-by-play. Dampier ran it in on the next snap.
Houston controlled most of the first three quarters. Kentrell Webb intercepted Dampier in the end zone to end a 12-play Utah drive in the second quarter, and Jonathan Dimas kicked a 24-yard field goal on the next possession. Utah drove 76 yards in 34 seconds before halftime, but Dillon Curtis missed a 34-yard field goal as the half ended, and Houston went to the locker room up 3-0.
The Cougars opened the third quarter with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that took 8:14. A Koby Young touchdown catch was wiped out by an illegal motion penalty, and Makhi Hughes scored from 2 yards two plays later to make it 10-0.
Utah needed five plays to answer. Dampier went 22 yards for a touchdown with 4:25 left in the third. Dimas hit a 47-yarder to push Houston's lead back to 13-7, and Utah took its first lead early in the fourth when Wayshawn Parker ran in from 5 yards at the end of a 10-play, 80-yard drive. Parker had a touchdown catch on that drive called back for an ineligible man downfield.
