Bryson Barnes has thrived, in part, because of relationship, familiarity with Andy Ludwig

SALT LAKE CITY — Among a handful of positive plays made by Bryson Barnes in Utah's win over Arizona State Saturday, there are at least two that need further examination.

On third-and-goal from the 3-yard line just past the midway point of the first quarter, Barnes dropped back and, with a defender bearing down on him, delivered a pass, not technically to Devaughn Vele, but to a spot in the back of the end zone where Vele was supposed to finish his route. Vele got to that spot for his second touchdown of the quarter and a 14-0 lead.

Late in the second quarter on second-and-3 from the Sun Devils' 20, Barnes lofted a ball down the right sideline intended for Munir McClain, who had a 1-on-1 matchup with his defender. The ball appeared to be a bit underthrown, maybe destined to be intercepted, but McClain met the ball at its highest point, coming down with it in the end zone to give Barnes the third of his career-high four touchdown passes.

The fact the ball was maybe underthrown is not the point. The point is that offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig trusted Barnes enough to call that play. The trust was also evident on the Vele touchdown pass, because for Ludwig to call that play, he had to believe that Barnes was going to have enough patience and keep the play alive long enough to deliver the ball, not to a player, but to a spot where the player would meet it.

The bigger overarching point here is that Barnes has now been head coach Kyle Whittingham's unquestioned starter for four games. With the exception of the Oregon game, where the offense never had a chance, Barnes has looked increasingly more comfortable, increasingly more capable of making plays as the 18th-ranked Utes head to Husky Stadium to face No. 5 Washington Saturday (1:30 p.m. MST, FOX).

"He's known the offense for some time now. I don't think that would be an accurate statement that we're putting more on his plate," Whittingham said. "I think Andy's opening up the offense a little bit more, and so it's not necessarily he's learned more and he's assimilated more, but Andy's a little less close to the vest and trusting and trusting him."

When Whittingham says Barnes has known the offense for some time now, that may be a bit of an understatement.

The Milford High graduate arrived at Utah in 2020 as a walk-on, meaning he is in his fourth season running Ludwig's system. Barnes' longevity working with Ludwig, who is in his second stint at Utah as offensive coordinator, is only eclipsed by Cam Rising, who, like Ludwig, arrived at Utah ahead of the 2019 season.

"I would say our relationship is great, definitely a lot of respect for the guy," Barnes said Monday. "He's been around the block and he knows ball, so it's definitely good to kind of pick his brain with things, trying to further my football intellect. And it's kind of nice being here long enough to where, when he's calling plays, you can understand why he's calling those types of plays.

"When we're going for it on fourth down, or it's a third-and-8 situation, you kind of understand that out on the field, whereas you may not fully understand the situation otherwise."

Barnes fully understands what he is doing on the field, and it is not an exaggeration to say he is in command of an offense that was supposed to belong to Rising, who is out for the season following January knee surgery and a subsequent will-he-play-or-won't-he-play saga that engulfed the first six weeks of the regular season.

In the wake of the Rising saga, Barnes has been getting all of the No. 1 reps in practice, and it's shown. In terms of Ludwig trusting him, also take into account Utah's first drive of the second quarter. The Utes went tempo, featuring Barnes running a couple of RPO plays.

Not bad for a quarterback who hadn't had a game plan tailored exclusively for him until about a month ago.

"It's a great feeling," Barnes said. "Like I've said before, the more game reps you have, things just start to come a lot easier. There's no other way to kind of recreate that other than having game reps, so it's definitely a great feeling to have, starting to become more comfortable being in those game-type situations."

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