How the Utah offense will challenge Arkansas in Week 2

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Utah has a new offensive coordinator under first-year head coach Morgan Scalley: Kevin McGiven takes over. When Jason Beck went to Michigan with Kyle Whittingham, Scalley had to hire a new coordinator. McGiven was his choice. The 2025 Utah quarterback, Devon Dampier, could have transferred out, but he stayed with Scalley and the new offensive coaching staff. 247Sports looked at what the 2026 Utah offense might bring to the field against Arkansas (and its other opponents) this season:

"That's something that we're really trying to dive into, how we play, what that culture is as a team, and to establish that same type of toughness, that same type of relentlessness on the offensive side of the ball," McGiven said. The veteran OC said that he hasn't been given any specific directions from Scalley as to how this offense has to be run. This is a vast departure from previous administrations.

"I think an important component of what it's been in the past is the ability to play complementary football. And regardless of what it's looked like from year to year, my understanding of what this place is, what we've been able to lean on to be able to win football games," he said. Part of that ability to win games comes from the quarterback position. And McGiven has a wealth of talent in that room for this season with Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin.

"Everybody knows how athletic Devon and Byrd are, and I know that that's something that we'll be able to lean on. That's not a secret with their athleticism, that you can utilize, that they can get you out of certain situations. It's always nice as a play caller," he said. McGiven added that for Dampier, one of the focuses this season is developing him into a true NFL QB. And that was one of the selling points McGiven showed when he took the job at Utah.

"How do we need to develop you to get you to the next level? We need to get you more in tune with protection. We need to get you more in tune with certain types of reads, with certain types of concepts, so that you can become more of a complete player," he said of the senior QB."

McGiven then discussed his tight ends and his offensive line:

"I haven't really played with the rhino (tight ends), but these guys are really cool. I just know that they're in there and they're knocking people around. I've used a full back in the past, and last year at Utah State, we used a lot of two-back and three-back, but they were backs with different skill sets. And so whether you call them a tight end or a full back, but how do you utilize those guys to the fullest extent?

"I have to compliment Coach Gross and the job that he's doing with those guys," McGiven said (about the offensive line), adding that the first-year offensive line coach is a technician. "Yes, there were some starts. Yes, there was some experience, but it was kind of spotty. Collectively as a group, no starts together. I think there's chemistry built there. When you finalize that group, and they start to play together, and there's that communication, there's that camaraderie that comes with it. I think we're ahead of schedule as far as those things go."

Utah has a lot of talent on offense. Even with a first-year coordinator, the Utes have the weapons to threaten Arkansas' defense. This will be a big challenge for the Hogs right out of the gate.

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