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Not everyone believed Utah coach Kyle Whittingham during training camp when he said (repeatedly) that the Utes had an ultra-close quarterback competition between Charlie Brewer and Cam Rising.
"I don't think the local press believed us," Whittingham said.
The Hotline was among the skeptics. We assumed it was designed to keep both players motivated and competition fierce.
After all, Rising had missed most of last season and spring practice with a shoulder injury, while Brewer, the Baylor transfer, was sensational throughout the spring.
Also, Rising had attempted six passes in his college career; Brewer had attempted 1,304.
How could it have possibly been close? Classic coach-speak, right?
Turns out, it was so close that we're left to wonder if the Utes picked the wrong guy.
Brewer was declared the No. 1 near the end of training camp and started three games. Utah lost two of them. Then Rising took over, and the Utes have won six of seven.
Rising is accurate from the pocket (14 touchdowns, two interceptions), he's mobile, he's tough, and he's inspiring. "An alpha dog," according to Whittingham.
It's not unreasonable to believe that if Rising had started the season opener and every game since, the Utes might have eight wins instead of seven.
They might be No. 13 in the College Football Playoff rankings, instead of No. 23.
They might be even better positioned to take down third-ranked Oregon on Saturday in the most-anticipated conference game of the Pac-12 season.
So last week, we asked Whittingham: What happened during camp? What led the coaching staff to the conclusion that Brewer gave Utah a better chance to win?
"Charlie was with us in the spring, and Cam wasn't able to throw," he explained. "Then the summer rolls around, and Cam starts throwing.
"In camp, it was so close that we couldn't make the call through statistical analysis.
"When it came down to it, Charlie had 40 or 50 games of experience (in the Big 12), and Cam had played one quarter of one game (the 2020 season opener, before the shoulder injury).
"It could have gone either way. We went with the experience. As it turned out, circumstances gave Cam his opportunity. He stepped in, we made the switch, and the rest is history."
Except on the Hotline, where it's a topic for revisionist history.
The decision to start Brewer in the season opener seems entirely reasonable. We certainly did not watch practice, break down film of practice or analyze statistics from practice.
But we did watch the opener against Weber State, the loss at Brigham Young and the third game, at San Diego State.
And if there's one quibble, it's this:
The Utes shouldn't have waited until they trailed SDSU by two touchdowns late in the third quarter to yank Brewer in favor of Rising.
That call should have been made at halftime, when it was clear the offense was in low gear.
When Rising finally entered the game, he directed two scoring drives to force overtime in what became a 33-31 loss.
Might the Utes have won if Rising had played the entire second half? We'll never know. But at least they found their quarterback for years to come.
Rising is just a sophomore and hasn't started the equivalent of a full season. But he owns the highest passer rating in conference games (144.6) of any quarterback in the Pac-12.
In the three victories that gave Utah control of the South division (USC, ASU and UCLA), Rising completed 68% of his passes and ran for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
By the time he's done, he might be Utah's best quarterback since Alex Smith.
"He's one of those guys who makes everyone better," said Whittingham, who's churning toward his second Pac-12 Coach of the Year award in the past three seasons.
"The players voted him captain even when he wasn't the starter. That tells you a lot."
Jon Wilner's Pac-12 Hotline is brought to KSL.com through a partnership with the Bay Area News Group.
Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and is an AP Top 25 football and basketball voter as well as a Heisman Trophy voter. He was named Beat Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Football Writers Association of America for his coverage of the Pac-12, won first place for feature writing in 2016 in the Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest and is a five-time APSE honoree. You can follow him on Twitter @WilnerHotline or send an email at jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Pac-12 Hotline: Subscribe to the Pac-12 Hotline Newsletter. Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.
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Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and is an AP Top 25 football and basketball voter as well as a Heisman Trophy voter. He was named Beat Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Football Writers Association of America for his coverage of the Pac-12, won first place for feature writing in 2016 in the Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest and is a five-time APSE honoree. You can follow him on Twitter @WilnerHotline or send an email at jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com.
Pac-12 Hotline: Subscribe to the Pac-12 Hotline Newsletter. Pac-12 Hotline is not endorsed or sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, and the views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the Conference.
