‘Tremendous speed’: After a year of patience, Dijon Stanley has emerged for the Utes, who will continue to be ‘creative’ with him

Dijon Stanley was wide open.

So wide open, offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig joked with the media that “any one of us” could have gotten open on that route.

So when Cam Rising’s pass came spiraling toward the speedy sophomore from Granada Hills, California, he was a little nervous.

“I just needed to make sure I caught the ball. The ones that be super wide open is the hardest ones to catch,” Stanley said.

As Stanley started his wheel route out of the backfield in the first quarter of Utah’s 49-0 win over Southern Utah , Thunderbird linebacker Mason Stromstad got caught up with cornerback Devyn Perkins, who was defending Dorian Singer’s route. By the time Stromstad got through to Stanley, it was too late — Stanley was past him, the safety help wasn’t there, and all the sophomore running back had to do was catch the ball and run 40 yards unimpeded to the end zone.

“He just hits a different gear and when you have a guy like that, it just makes it so hard to have linebackers matched up on him, and safeties too, just because he can run right by them,” Rising said.

The Rice-Eccles Stadium crowd was roaring its approval, but in the moment, everything was silent for Stanley, who called the touchdown reception “the biggest moment of my life, almost.”

“I really couldn’t even hear nobody actually. I was so like in shock. I couldn’t hear nothing,” he said.

Stanley punctuated the 64-yard score, the first of the night for the Utes and the first of his career, by spinning the ball in the end zone. Apparently, that was a bridge too far for the officiating crew, which threw a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct — about the only negative during Stanley’s game on Thursday.

“Sorry for the unsportsmanlike. It was my first time. I didn’t know I couldn’t spin the ball,” Stanley said. I apologize to coach Whitt for that, but other than that, it felt excellent.”

A quarter later, Ludwig dialed up the wheel route again, and once more, it worked. No one was around Stanley again, and he streaked untouched down the right sideline for a 79-yard touchdown to put the Utes up 28-0.

“Once he catches the ball, he’s got tremendous speed and does a great job with it,” Ludwig said.

In addition to those two touchdown receptions, Stanley caught Rising’s first completion in his return to action — a little flip pass for seven yards — and rushed the ball six times for 34 yards to lead all ball carriers.

Back in September 2023, Stanley tweeted, “Your time is coming be patient…”

A year later, Stanley’s moment arrived.

That post came during his freshman year, when Stanley was on the scout team — something he said prepared him well for this moment because he was going against “one of the best defenses in the nation.”

He saw the field sparingly last year, playing just 16 snaps on offense (six rushes for 1 yard, and three receptions for 21 yards), but earned his stripes on special teams, where he appeared in 10 games. In addition to punt coverage and kick coverage throughout the season, he also returned a kick 49 yards in one of the few positive plays for the Utes during their blowout loss to Oregon.

Since 2023, he gained needed weight and demonstrated his speed over and over during spring and fall practices. While Whittingham and Ludwig both said on Monday that Stanley isn’t quite ready to be an every-down type back, they both knew that he needed to see the field and could help the Utes win.

Ludwig designed packages — “speed and space” plays — for him to execute during Thursday’s season-opener, and they worked to perfection.

“He did everything really well on the game Thursday night, nearly 200 yards of offense, receiving and rushing, and so he’s a weapon for us — at least he was in that first game,” Whittingham said.

While Thursday’s performance was a nice start to the season, the real competition begins for Stanley and the Utes this Saturday.

Last season, Baylor finished near the bottom of FBS in total defense (421.3 yards allowed per game) and scoring defense (33.3 points per game), leading head coach Dave Aranda — who was the defensive coordinator for LSU’s 2019 national championship season — to take over defensive coordinator duties.

This offseason, the Bears added some transfer portal pieces like Oregon defensive lineman Treven Ma’ae, West Virginia and Northeast Mississippi Community College linebacker Keaton Thomas and Arkansas cornerback Lorando Johnson to try and shore up the defense.

While Baylor held FCS opponent Tarleton State (who was playing its backup quarterback) to just three points and 182 yards, the Bears’ revamped defense faces its first real test against Utah this Saturday.

That goes both ways, as the Utes’ offense will face an FBS defense for the first time this season. While time will tell if Baylor’s defense has taken a much-needed step forward, it’s pretty safe to say that the Bears won’t leave Stanley wide open for touchdowns two times on the exact same play.

Stanley will still have a substantial role this week, and going forward, with his package of plays expanding.

“We’ll just try to be creative with the way we get him his touches because he’s not the prototypical tailback that’s going to line up with his toes at seven-and-a-half and run the ball downhill,” Ludwig said. “So got to be a little creative with him.”

He could fill the role that Sione Vaki occupied last season — without also playing on defense — as a speedy, explosive and big-play-capable option for the Utes to deploy.

“If we can create some more big chunk yardage his plays with him in the future, that could be a niche that he could fill for us this year,” Whittingham said.

Wherever he lines up — in the backfield or out wide for a pass — Stanley is ready to do anything to keep seeing the field and helping the Utes.

“Just anywhere that they need me, anywhere that they could use me. I feel like I have a special skillset, so wherever I’m useful they could put me at, whether it’s receiver, whether it’s running back, flexed out, in motion. I just want to be useful to the team and just want to see us win,” Stanley said.

If Thursday was an indication, Ute fans — and opponents — will be seeing more of Stanley this season.