Author: Jesse

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With a week left to come up with a new congressional map, legislative leaders have appointed ten lawmakers to a committee assigned the task of redrawing the boundaries.

The job will be led by Candice Pierucci, R-Riverton, from the House and Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, from the Senate. Sandall co-chaired the committee in 2021 that drew the maps that were voided last month by a state judge.

After a Utah Supreme Court ruling last year that the Legislature should not have been allowed to repeal 2018’s Proposition 4 — better known as the Better Boundaries initiative — the voter-approved initiative was reinstated as law.

Judge Dianna Gibson ruled last month that, with the initiative’s standards back in place, the existing congressional maps could not be used in the 2026 election because they do not meet Proposition 4’s requirements and need to be redrawn.

The Legislature has until September 25 to produce a draft of a new map and to provide the public 10 days to comment on it before it would need to be voted on in a special legislative session and submitted to the court. Gibson would then either approve the map if it complies with Proposition 4, or choose a map submitted by the plaintiffs in the case if the lawmakers’ map does not.

The final maps need to be in place by Nov. 10 in order to give county clerks enough time to prepare for the 2026 midterm elections.

Attorneys for the Legislature still contend Gibson’s ruling was wrong and may appeal the decision to the Utah Supreme Court. On Monday, the justices rejected the lawmakers’ appeal of Gibson’s timeline for redrawing the boundaries.

The other senators on the commission include Sens. Lincoln Fillmore, Don Ipson and Mike McKell for the Republicans and Sen. Luz Escamilla as the only Democrat.

The House contingent consists of Reps. Walt Brooks, Stephanie Gricius and Calvin Roberts for the Republicans and Rep. Doug Owens as the sole Democrat.

Pierucci, Fillmore, Ipson and McKell were members of the 2021 redistricting committee, as well.

Under Proposition 4, the committee has to produce a map with contiguous and compact districts that avoids splitting cities and counties as much as possible. It needs to keep communities of interest together and is not permitted to consider partisan voting data.

The Legislature on Wednesday posted a website — https://redistricting.utah.gov/2025-legislative-redistricting/ — where materials and upcoming meetings will be posted. No public meetings have been scheduled.

The committee will only be redrawing maps for Utah’s four U.S. House seats, since the lawsuit contesting the previous boundaries did not challenge the state legislative or school board districts.

Utah (3-0, 0-0) vs. Texas Tech (3-0, 0-0)

• Kickoff: Saturday, 10 a.m. MDT

• Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium (Salt Lake City)

• Series: Texas Tech leads, 2-0. This will be the first game between the two teams in Salt Lake City. The Red Raiders won two games over Utah in back-to-back years in 1972 and 1973 in Lubbock, Texas, in their only previous meetings.

• Weather: Partly cloudy with temperatures in the high 60s at kickoff, rising to mid-70s by end of game.

The trends

For Utah: The Utes have outscored their opposition by an average of 45.7 points to 8.3 on their way to a 3-0 start and a top-20 ranking.

Two of those games have come on the road. Over Utah’s next six games, the team will play at home four times and leave the state of Utah just once.

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For Texas Tech: The Red Raiders have outscored their opposition by an average of 58 points (which leads the nation) to 11.7 on their way to a 3-0 start and a top-20 ranking, one spot behind Utah in the Associated Press Top 25.

Each of Texas Tech’s first three games have been played at their home stadium, Jones AT&T Stadium. During the next month, the Red Raiders will play three of the next four games away from home, including games at Utah, Houston and Arizona State, with a home game against Kansas mixed in.

What to watch for

Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” will be in Salt Lake City for the game, and for good reason — this matchup has the potential to be the Big 12 game of the year.

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This will be one of the premier quarterback matchups in a league full of high-end signal callers, with Utah’s offense being led by Devon Dampier and Texas Tech’s by Behren Morton.

Dampier is more of a dual-threat and is in his first season with the Utes — through three games, he’s accounted for 826 yards (628 passing, 198 rushing) and eight total touchdowns, with no turnovers.

Morton, meanwhile, is more of a traditional drop-back passer, as he’s thrown for 923 yards, 11 touchdowns and one interception.

While there are going to be plenty of elements about Saturday’s game that will be intriguing to see how the two teams match up, the top storylines start with the quarterbacks.

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Key player

John Henry Daley, Utah DE: Going into the matchup, both Utah and Texas Tech are tied for 16th nationally in sacks per game, averaging 3.0 per contest.

Daley leads the Utes’ pass rushing attack — he is one of only three players nationally who has five sacks thus far in 2025, and his 38 sack yards lost leads the country. Last week in the win over Wyoming, his 15-yard sack on Kaden Anderson knocked the Cowboys out of field goal range early in the game.

While Morton is one of the college game’s more electric passers — he is tied for the national lead in TD passes — the numbers show he’s impacted by pressure.

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According to his Pro Football Focus grades, Morton’s passing grade drops from 90.0 with a clean pocket to 53.3 when he’s under pressure.

Another part of the Texas Tech offensive equation will be whether the Red Raiders can successfully run the ball. Texas Tech, despite losing running back Tahj Brooks to the NFL and USC transfer Quinten Joyner to injury, has averaged 219 rushing yards per game so far.

The Utes, meanwhile, are giving up 90 yards on average on the ground, and Daley leads Utah with 6.5 tackles for loss.

Quotable

“I think this is a big test, the measuring stick for the Big 12 — two teams that have played well early meeting up for a top-25 matchup, ‘Big Noon Kickoff.’ These are the kind of things you wanted. They have a great defense, but we have a great offense.” — Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton

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“It’s a nationally televised opportunity, and to have our program showcased on the ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ game is a big plus. We’ve had big games here before, so it’s nothing new to us, but anytime you have a chance to get in front of a national audience and have people get a chance to see our stadium and our MUSS and band and just the crowd and the hostile environment is a positive for us.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham

Next up

• Utah: at West Virginia

• Texas Tech: at Houston

Utah schedule

• Sept. 6 — vs. Cal Poly, W 63-9

• Sept. 13 — at Wyoming, W 31-6

• Sept. 20 — vs. Texas Tech

• Sept. 27 — at West Virginia

• Oct. 11 — vs. Arizona State

• Oct. 18 — at BYU

• Oct. 25 — vs. Colorado

• Nov. 1 — vs. Cincinnati

• Nov. 15 — at Baylor

• Nov. 22 — vs. Kansas State

• Nov. 28 — at Kansas

SPRINGVILLE, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – Next week the Ryder Cup will pit the USA against Europe. This week, the annual Friendship Cup golf tournament was contested. It’s a Ryder Cup like event that matches golfers from Scotland against a team from Utah.

The Scots and the Americans started the Friendship cup nearly a decade ago. The teams play matches in Scotland, then resume the match at Sand Hollow. But this year, before the Scots headed south, they played a friendly round at Hobble Creek golf course in Springville. And there’s nothing like that in Scotland.

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“It looks fantastic,” said Ian Gillanders. “Just first thing in the morning, the hills all around us, the trees. It’s just beautiful.”

“Absolutely beautiful,” said Stuart Wilson: “It’s a stunning morning here at Hobble Creek. I had a look at the website. It looks fantastic out there. And I know they’ve told us we’re in for a real treat, so we’re excited to get going and meet some of the members and play some golf. Really looking forward to our trip this week.

“Really looking forward to our trip this week,” said Allister Batchen. “First trip to play Hobble Creek. I have played Sand Hollow.”

“The first time to some of the mountain courses, it’s a real treat,” said Wilson. “This was certainly the first time they’ve played in America and certainly in Utah and going down to the desert. Of course, this is a totally different prospect. So I’m sure she’ll get a nice, pleasant surprise when they get there and enjoy the whole week.”

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When the competition moved south to Sand Hollow, the Scottish team came away with the victory. But this event is not about winning and losing.

“The winning is absolutely about friendships and relationships,” said Mark Leavitt. “I think if you talk to any of the Scots, you talk to any Americans and everyone feels like a winner.”

The golf week wraps up with the Charity cup. Celebrities and sponsors get to play with the Scottish players, and its become a great event.

“Oh, it is so fun to play with the guys from Scotland,” said Jay Schroeder. “And it’s grown. I mean, the first year there was about ten or 12 of them that came over and now there’s 32 and the teams that are from here, it’s just it’s a great event and they’ve raised a lot of money over the years and we have a blast. That’s, that’s the best part about it. They’re just good guys and we’re building friendships and doing some good work too.”

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“When you have a chance to associate with the good people here in this country and then add to all of our friends that are coming across the pond from Scotland,” said Gifford Nielsen. “It’s a pretty special situation just to listen to their accent and to hear the way they talk and to see the way they hit golf shots. It’s just a remarkable thing. It’s just so much fun, so enjoyable to be together and once again for a great cause.”

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This Devon Dampier special skill has made him transfer star for Utah Utes football originally appeared on The Sporting News

Utah is about to face its sternest test so far of the college football season when it takes on Texas Tech this weekend.

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Good thing the Utes have superstar quarterback Devon Dampier.

Dampier transferred from New Mexico and has changed everything for Utah.

The star quarterback is powering an entire offensive revival.

“Through three games a year ago, Utah had gone without a first down on nearly a quarter of its drives,” ESPN’s David Hale writes. “This season, it has happened only three times in three games. The difference is Devon Dampier, who has looked as at ease running his brand of dual-threat football in a Power 4 backfield as he did a year ago at New Mexico.”

Dampier has done it particularly well with one special skill: When he scrambles, he’s nearly unstoppable.

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“Dampier has racked up more than 800 yards of offense and accounted for eight touchdowns, and he has yet to turn the ball over,” Hale writes. “His skill set has made him particularly effective. He has already accumulated 80 yards on scramble plays, and three of his seven TD passes have come from outside the pocket. This will be his biggest test to date, but he’ll also be, by far, the biggest challenge for Texas Tech’s defense.”

Texas Tech counters with an offense that has been scoring early and often this season, led by QB Behren Morton and a host of talented receivers.

Utah’s defense will be the toughest one the Red Raiders have played, but from a neutral perspective, it’d almost be more entertaining if the Utes don’t slow down Morton much.

That would mean Dampier would have to keep up. And if he does, it could wind up going down as an epic duel.

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