Battle To Be Utah's Starting Quarterback Takes Center Stage
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham made it very clear when speaking to media earlier this week that one of his top priorities heading into fall camp is determining who will be leading the Utah offense on Nov. 7 against Arizona.
Given everything that's taken place over the previous six months since the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down, Whittingham wasn't able to wage a proper quarterback battle during the typical spring and summer camps. Rather with sports shutdown, he was forced to wait four weeks until the start of the season before being able to properly conduct a quarterback battle.
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham
This battle, as of right now, will start out as a three-man competition between graduate senior Jake Bentley, redshirt sophomore Cam Rising and fifth-year senior Drew Lisk.
According to Whittingham, each player will be given first-team reps throughout the opening week of fall camp, which is set to begin on Friday, Oct. 9. The plan moving forward is to then get the competition narrowed down to just two players within a week or two. The ideally choose a starter and pecking order potentially two, at least one, week prior to the season kicking off.
With all due respect to Lisk, it's best expected that this competition will be between Rising and Bentley, two quarterbacks who offer more upside than Lisk.
Current Utah quarterback Jake Bentley
Interestingly enough, both Bentley and Rising are transfer quarterbacks who possess obvious strengths and weaknesses for the Utes. But without a spring football season — Utah only had three practices before it was canceled — and summer camp, it's going to be interesting how Whittingham and his staff decipher who's the man leading the way.
For Bentley, he's the grizzled veteran with 33 career starts at South Carolina before electing to transfer to Utah for his final season. Although he's coming off an injury, Bentley is armed with the in-game experience, particularly in the SEC, that is massively valuable and can't be overstated.
He did find success, holding a career 19-14 record and 10-7 mark in the SEC. He's played top tier teams in Alabama and Clemson throughout the years and knows how to direct an offense and should face zero nerves come kickoff.
But without a spring season and shortened camp, there are some definite limitations that could hold him back. For instance, he has to learn the playbook all on his own and isn't able to develop the sort of chemistry with his teammates that Rising already has.
Utah quarterback Cam Rising
For Rising though, he's been in Utah's system for the past year after transferring from Texas and having to sit out the 2019 season. During that time, he was around his teammates and according to reports, developed quite a chemistry with wide receiver Britain Covey.
He is also younger and possesses more upside and stability for the Utes in the long run, being seen as better able to make plays with his legs outside of the pocket.
But he has yet to play a college football game after redshirting in 2018 at Texas. The last time Rising played in a football game was two years ago at the high school level, so that's a long layoff between in-game experience and talent-level.
Utah quarterback Drew Lisk
However Lisk is the wildcard, and ironically enough the only quarterback on the roster with actual game experience in a Utah uniform.
This past season is when Lisk saw the majority of his action, appearing in four games throughout the season. He finished 6-for-6 for 38 yards through the air against Idaho State and with 1-for-3 for 14 yards against No. 17 Arizona State.
Either way, this QB battle is shaking down to one featuring experience vs. potential — it's my best guess that Bentley's experience will win out in the end.
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