Whittingham On FS1 Controversy: It’s Not Like We Were Trying To Pull The Wool Over Their Eyes

SALT LAKE CITY – One storyline that popped off from the Washington State game last Thursday was broadcaster Petros Papadakis at FOX Sports 1 going on record with John Canzano after the game to air out grievances about not being made aware of the fact Utah’s Cam Rising would not be playing.

Instead, he, like everyone else found out about the move when backup Bryson Barnes trotted out onto the field for the first time.

I pulled back the curtain on Cam Rising's disappearing act. FS1 wasn't happy about how that went down.

It raises some larger questions. What do college teams owe broadcast partners?

Column: https://t.co/ypUCJDLjTr

— John Canzano (@johncanzanobft) October 28, 2022

The subsequent article has since sparked a debate about what information broadcasters are owed by teams, and also what teams are owed by broadcasters. The last part makes it important to note FS1 did not have anyone on location in Pullman, instead opting to do the broadcast remotely. So, who is in the wrong here, if anyone?

 Whittingham On The FS1 Controversy

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham was asked by local media in his weekly Monday press conference what his thoughts were on the FS1 controversy. Whittingham asked for clarification from the media about what FS1 was upset about before giving his answers.

The first part of his answer focused on the fact that Whittingham has mentioned several times now in both his post-game press conference and his Monday press conference that Rising not playing was a decision that was made 30, maybe 40 minutes before kickoff. No one within Utah football knew going into that game that Rising wasn’t going to play until after warmups.

Whittingham then pointed out there wasn’t anyone there to tell anyway.

Bryson Barnes gets the nod as QB1 for @Utah_Football against @WSUCougarFB. 💪#GoUtes #UtahvsWSU https://t.co/eU1TXXJ3ni

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 28, 2022

“We weren’t keeping any secret,” Whittingham said. “It’s not like when we were meeting with them, we were thinking any differently than they were. I guess I could have run out there 45 minutes before the game to start spreading the word to them, but they weren’t even on site. They did it remotely. I’m not sure what they expected.”

Whittingham then went on to clarify that neither he, nor anyone associated with Utah football was trying to be deceptive or withhold information. Everyone was surprised Rising wasn’t going to play including himself.

“It’s not like we were trying to pull the wool over their eyes or make them look unprepared,” Whittingham said. “There was nothing of that nature. It was a complete surprise to all of us. I don’t know how we could have possibly proceeded any differently than we did.”

Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports

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