Utah Seeing Movement In Backup Quarterback Battle

SALT LAKE CITY – It’s week two of Utah Football’s fall camp as they prepare for the 2024 season. With all that returns from last year’s squad combined with quality additions made this off-season, Kyle Whittingham’s program is considered a top contender in the Big 12 Conference.

Still, some questions linger over the roster and the goal for coaches in fall camp is to find those answers. One significant resolution is identifying who will be the backup to star quarterback Cam Rising.

And that battle will feature junior transfer Sam Huard, sophomore Brandon Rose, and true freshman Isaac Wilson.

Utah Is Starting To See Separation At QB

“It’s shaping up, we did have some separation,” Whittingham said of the backup battle. “Not enough to make any depth chart statements or radical changes probably for another week with the way we are handling the reps and getting people involved.”

Rose and Wilson both entered fall camp with the advantage of time in the program over Huard, who transferred from Cal Poly back in June. This is year three for Rose, while Wilson got a six-month headstart on the assimilation of the offense.

That doesn’t guarantee anything though, it’s still all about understanding the offense and executing it on the field.

The reasons why @samhuard11 chose to transfer to Utah… #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/N8yDvh4N4p

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 6, 2024

Huard is the only one in the group with actual game experience and that is his big advantage. Though he’s playing catch-up in the offense, he has been praised for quickly learning and making adjustments on the fly.

It seems all three quarterbacks had their share of ups and downs in week one. So, who had the least amount of mistakes and can parlay that into this week’s effort could put themselves in a great position to lock down the job?

“By next week -one week from today, we’re hoping to have it pretty well determined who is two, three, and four behind Cam. That’s the timetable. We did make progress last week. I’m not going to say it’s a dead heat anymore because there is some jockeying for position that is taking place, but we’re not ready to make any public statements about that yet. We just need a bigger sample size,” said Whittingham.

What Do Utah Coaches Value Most At Quarterback?

“Taking care of the football- number one, getting the team in the end zone- number two,” head coach Whittingham said. “You’ve got to move the sticks along the way, get first downs, but in order to do that you have to take care of the football, be a great decision-maker, get the ball out on time, have command of the offense- command in the huddle. There are a myriad of things they need to do, but it all starts with taking care of the football.”

As you would expect, taking care of the football is the top priority for coach Whittingham and his staff. And that is a particularly important quality for the backup to have.

The ability to lead the offense down the field in order to put points on the board is nearly as valuable. This looks to be a pretty strong offensive unit with plenty of options at the skill positions. Which quarterback can efficiently get those playmakers the ball and allow them to create could be the difference.

Each quarterback has good talent and reason for optimism. This is a competitive group of signal callers as well. But again, in the end, it will all boil down to who protects the ball and executes the offense most efficiently.