Winner of Utah's QB Battle To Be Revealed On Saturday Against Arizona
The process has been long, tedious and extremely detail-orientated. But Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham and his staff knew it must be if they were going to pick the right man to lead the Utes offense this season.
After much deliberation, Whittingham and co. have officially declared a QB1 in the battle between the experience of Jake Bentley, the untapped potential of Cameron Rising and the knowledge of Drew Lisk.
South Carolina quarterback Jake Bentley (19) passes against Clemson during the 1st quarter Saturday, November 24, 2018 at Clemson's Memorial Stadium. Bentley finished the game 32-of-50 for 510 yards and 5 touchdowns in the 56-35 loss.
BART BOATWRIGHT/Staff
While the Utes know who will be taking the first snap of the season, the fan base and everyone else in the college football world is clueless — and that's exactly how Whittingham likes and wants it.
“We’ll probably let him trot out there and do his thing. Why give the opponent any lead time to prepare?” Whittingham said. “Much like the running backs, there’s a fairly significant difference in the style and skill set of a couple of the guys. So we’ll probably just keep that to ourselves. It’s not the end of the world if it gets out somehow. I hope it doesn’t get out. But it works to our advantage if they don’t know who to prepare for. That’s the approach we’re taking.”
While Whittingham did say two weeks ago that the team had narrowed down the battle to two quarterbacks, many people believe that it was between Bentley and Rising. They each bring a different skillset to the position, and both have the power to succeed.
But according to Whittingham, when the coaching staff finally went over all of the details and reviewed each throw, especially the ones from the two scrimmages it was apparent who had seized the job.
“I won’t say obvious but it was apparent that one had outperformed the other two,” Whittingham said. “So it wasn’t a case where we had none of the three performing the level needed to because all three were performing very well. But one of them separated himself and in enough separation where it was pretty unanimous as far as the coaching staff as to what direction we’re going to go. Now, Andy (Ludwig) obviously has the most say — I guess I would have the most say — I really trust Andy and rely on him and lean on him for those decisions, and we were in the same camp on this one.”
Utah sophomore Cameron Rising throws a pass in a recent practice during Utah's 2020 Fall Camp.
Courtesy of Utah Athletics
The most pressing matter for the Utes is completion percentage, and that's why Whittingham and his staff tracked every single throw. Based on this information, it would mean that Bentley might be the front-runner due to his experience in directing an SEC-based offense and his completion percentage while a Gamecock.
Regardless, whomever takes that first snap fully understands that they have the backing of the entire team and staff. This was evident when Whittingham broke the news to the team a week ago.
“There was nobody sulking or hanging their head,” he said. “Everybody was working hard and moving forward.”
The good news is that whoever has emerged as QB1 will have the opportunity to thrive. According to Whittingham, the starter won't have a quick hook and that they will be allowed to make some mistakes — as long as the offense continues to be successful and give the team a chance to win.
“I don’t see a quick hook, but that being said, we’re not going to continue to stick with somebody if we’re not getting results. You’ve got to get results and you’ve got to have a certain performance standard,” the coach said. “So nothing is completely set in stone. We know who the starter is. But to say that he’s the starter no matter what happens is not accurate. But also we don’t want him looking over his shoulder and the first incompletion he throws he’ll worry about getting yanked. The first guy knows that we have confidence in him."
Utah sophomore Jake Bentley throws a pass in a recent practice during Utah's 2020 Fall Camp.
Courtesy of Utah Athletics
While it's anybody's guess as to who the starter will be, my best prediction is that Bentley's experience has won out in the end. His understanding of the speed of the game and what it takes to compete at the highest level should allow him to anticipate throws and how to attack. This is why I believe he's who everyone will see taking that first snap.
But that's not to say that Rising won't be of use because if there's one thing we've seen throughout college football this fall, anybody can be taken out at anytime due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So having two No. 1's or three guys you have faith in can only benefit Whittingham and the Utes moving forward.
"We have confidence in the second guy as well. And the third, for that matter. We feel like we’ve got three good ones and maybe the best third quarterback in the country," Whittingham said. "He’s very talented as well. We’ll try to instill confidence in the first guy but it’s up to him to move the chains and get the team in the end zone and take care of the football. That’s got to happen. That’s what the quarterback’s job is. Like I told the team, every year handling adversity is a big part of success or lack thereof, depending on how you handle it. This year, it’s going to be adversity times 10, as opposed to a normal season, with the COVID stuff going on.”
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