With eye on Utes run defense, questions remain at QB for Bruins

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham was adamant: UCLA's starting quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson would start Saturday.

To Whittingham, there was no reason to even question whether the senior quarterback, who injured his throwing hand last week at the end of UCLA's home loss to Oregon, would be available to play against the Utes.

"He's going to play. He's a tough kid, he'll play," Whittingham said. "He'll be there; I'd be shocked if he's not there."

On Monday, the day Whittingham made his declarative prediction, Thompson-Robinson did not attempt one pass in practice during the media session, but he worked back to being a full participant in practice Wednesday. Still, UCLA head coach Chip Kelly has played coy about whether his starting quarterback will be available Saturday.

Should Thompson-Robinson, who has passed for 1,639 yards and rushed for an additional 364 yards this season, not be available on Saturday (8 p.m. MDT, ESPN), backup quarterback Ethan Garbers is expected to start in his place. Garbers, a redshirt freshman transfer from Washington, has only attempted seven passes on the season for a total of 40 yards, including a game-sealing interception against the Ducks.

But Kelly told reporters he has confidence in the freshman while noting that the offense will remain intact should Garbers get the start.

"Ethan can run our whole offense, and we grasp the whole thing that Ethan can do, and Ethan and Dorian are very similar," Kelly said of the backup quarterback, who has a thin room behind him with third-string quarterback Chase Griffin out due to injury, as well.

Regardless of who starts under center Saturday night, Utah will have its hands full with another strong rushing attack that rivals that of conference leader Oregon State. And look no further than dynamic rusher Zach Charbonnet, a former Michigan running back before transferring to UCLA (5-3, 3-2 Pac-12) ahead of the 2021 season.

Charbonnet leads the Bruins in rushing yards with 732 yards and seven touchdowns, which is good for second-best in the Pac-12 — just behind Oregon State's B.J. Baylor, who led the Beavers' 260-yard rushing yards attack against Utah with 152 yards in a win last week. Brittain Brown adds to UCLA's run-heavy attack and has 513 yards and six touchdowns as part of the Bruins' average of 206.1 yards per game.

"They have a really creative offense," Utah freshman defensive end Van Fillinger said of UCLA. "They're really good at what they do. They've got a strong run game and a really good quarterback that's dynamic, and you can do many different things on the field that it could hurt us. But we're gonna try to get down everything that they can do to us and try to be prepared for when they do it so we can just stop it."

As South division leader, Utes looking to be contender not pretender in final stretch

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham emphasized this week his desire to see "a little more physicality" from his team.

The similarities to how Oregon State beat Utah will be there again for UCLA, but Whittingham said there are "a few more looks" for the Bruins than what the Beavers did, which could spell trouble for the Utes if they can't stop the run. Each of Utah's three losses this season has come when its opponent rushed for over 200 yards, which is a telling number for a team that prides itself on limiting the run game.

Utah remains young on the defensive side of the ball, with several freshmen making major contributions for the team this season, and will have a tall task ahead of itself to bounce back. But that challenge only grows more difficult with veteran linebacker Devin Lloyd out for the first half of play due to a targeting call in the second half of the Oregon State game.

And while the defense will have to improve upon its effort from a week ago, Utah has opportunities to make UCLA pay with an offense that has come on of late under the leadership of quarterback Cam Rising. Whittingham has confidence his offense can go toe to toe with teams if needed, but his hope is Utah will be able to put it together on both sides of the ball.

"Is our offense ready to win a game 51-48? We're getting closer, but hopefully it doesn't come to that," Whittingham said. "But we're certainly not where we need to be on defense right now."

"I'm not gonna say we're not capable of that," Rising added. "Yeah, we are absolutely capable."

Still, Utah has opportunities in the passing game against a porous and sometimes disinterested UCLA defense that has given up an average of 290.9 yards through the air this season. That ranks last in the Pac-12 and 125 out of 130 teams in the country, which should give a Utah offense that averaged 231.9 yards per game passing some confidence.

Utah, though, has to find a way to execute better in the red zone, where it managed two turnovers on down last week at the goal line.

"UCLA is a great team, they put up a great game against Oregon," receiver Devaughn Vele said. "They have some dogs on that team, so we know what they're gonna bring to the table, we know what to expect, and we've just got to execute the plays and the game plan that the coaches have given us."

A Utah win would essentially guarantee a two-team race with Arizona State for the South Division title and knock UCLA out of the running. Utah holds the tiebreaker over Arizona State and controls its own destiny to claim its third division title in four seasons.

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