Is Utah considering another QB switch? Kyle Whittingham weighs in ahead of BYU game


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SALT LAKE CITY — It's the storyline that never dies.

The 2024 season has been defined largely by its quarterback play after starting quarterback Cam Rising suffered a hand injury that kept him out several weeks before returning against Arizona State, only to then suffer a season-ending injury during the game.

So true freshman Isaac Wilson got the nod as the team's full-time starter — a job he's done almost all season anyway.

That is until the third quarter of Utah's loss to Houston on the road on Saturday. The former Corner Canyon star was benched in favor of backup quarterback Brandon Rose, who finished the game throwing for 45 yards and one interception on 7-of-15 passing.

But Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said after the game the change to Rose was meant to provide a spark to an offense that hadn't moved the ball too well against the Cougars — though Wilson had 171 yards and one touchdown on 13-of-22 passing.

Following the game, Whittingham said he'd "grade the film" and evaluate the two quarterbacks over the bye week in an effort to see if a switch was needed.

"I'm not saying Isaac has lost his job," Whittingham said. "Everybody's got to play up to a certain standard, and so the quarterback position is no different; and so we'll take a long, hard look at that and see where we are."

On Tuesday, Whittingham doubled down on the quarterback dilemma, noting that both quarterbacks will split reps during the bye week.

"They are taking equal reps this week, and we'll see where it goes from there," Whittingham said, not willing to expound on the matter further.

Part of the problem for Utah has been that the offense can't move the ball down the field with consistency, and when in the red zone or just outside of it, Utah hasn't been able to convert at a high enough rate.

On Saturday, Wilson got Utah in Houston territory twice in the first half before the offense stalled out. On both drives, place-kicker Cole Becker missed both field goal attempts — a 46-yarder and a 52-yarder — and Utah went into the halftime break locked in a 7-7 score with Houston.

But Whittingham said the field goal attempts — regardless of whether they went in or not — were not a contributing factor in Utah's decision to send Wilson to the sidelines.

"That's tough to say. I don't know," Whittingham said. "If those field goals went in, would Houston have done something different? I mean, it's impossible to go back and try to piece all that together. But no, we would not, just as the circumstances were, we would not have done anything different."

So now Utah is back at square one, looking for answers at the most vital position on the offense.

As a true freshman, it's a tough position to put Wilson, who was expecting to learn from a veteran Rising before having the reins turned over to him the following season. Instead, there's been a lot of learning on the fly — amid uncertainty as to whether Rising would play each week, and then having a switch from Andy Ludwig to Mike Bajakian as offensive coordinator.

Add to that, Wilson suffered an injury against Arizona — and then again on Saturday at Houston — that has limited some of what he's been able to do on the field. How much that impacted him is difficult to determine.

"He's been pretty banged up this year, but he's a tough kid — wants to be out there — and so if you're out there, you've got to perform," Whittingham said.

And yet, Rising was not benched when he was clearly hobbled against Arizona State and struggled to move the ball down field, missing multiple passes to receivers.

But if the team decides to move on from Wilson for the season in favor of Rose, there's no clear indication as to how he'll handle the job, either. After spending three seasons at Utah, Rose was beat out by the freshman quarterback and didn't exactly have the best numbers against Houston.

To his credit, Rose hasn't been given much of the reps this season, and a sudden insertion into the game is a tall task, so it's not a fair assessment of who he could be as a starter.

But how much better can he be if he's not been able to beat out the freshman quarterback? That question may soon be answered if Whittingham attempts to make a change ahead of the rivalry game against BYU next week. But it's no less fraught with questions.

The wheels keep turning, but Utah is no closer to settling its offensive struggles. And a change at the quarterback position may or may not be the answer.

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Josh is the sports director at KSL.com and beat writer covering University of Utah athletics — primarily football, men’s and women's basketball and gymnastics. He is also an Associated Press Top 25 voter for college football.
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