Kyle Whittingham provides insight on Utah QB situation ahead of critical showdown vs. Cincinnati

Utes head coach shuts down any 'QB controversy' talks leading up to pivotal Big 12 matchup against the Bearcats

Utah Utes quarterback Byrd Ficklin (15) warms up before the game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Rice-Eccles Stadium. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Byrd Ficklin might've stolen the show in Utah's dominant win over Colorado on Saturday, but it doesn't appear he'll be taking the starting quarterback position from Devon Dampier any time soon.

"I can tell you we got a lot of confidence in Byrd, especially after what we saw on Saturday night," said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham during his weekly press conference. "But Devon is still 'QB1'. Make no mistake, there's no QB controversy of any sort. We'll just have to measure Devon's progress day by day and see where he ends up."

Ficklin, who stepped up to lead the Utes offense while Dampier continued to recover from injury, put together a historic performance in his first collegiate start, becoming one of just five Utah quarterbacks since 1995 to both pass and rush for 100 yards in a game. The 6-foot-1 southpaw from Muskogee, Oklahoma, finished with 140 yards through the air and a team-high 151 on the ground, leading the way in a 53-7 thumping of Colorado.

The decision to start the true freshman was made at the last minute, as Dampier had been upgraded to "probable" in the team's Friday availability report after being categorized as "questionable" earlier in the week. The junior had been dealing with an injury since leaving the BYU game banged up, and according to Whittingham, was "just not feeling it" during pregame warm-ups on Saturday.

With a pivotal Big 12 matchup against Cincinnati on deck, the Utes will monitor Dampier's health throughout their week of practice.

"We'll see how practice goes," Whittingham said when asked if Dampier might play against the Bearcats. "Practice cranks back up tomorrow, and he's certainly feeling better each day. But really, we'll just have to see how he progresses and where that goes. And if he's not ready, then we know Byrd is ready to go again if he needs to be."

Sep 27, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Here's more from Whittingham's weekly press conference.

On the Utes rallying around Ficklin on Saturday, what it says about the team's leadership

"Yeah, it says a lot, and also a lot about our leadership on the football team. We've got great leadership on this team. Our captains have done a phenomenal job all season long. We announced to the team after warm ups, 'Hey, it's Byrd's show, we got to support him and rally around him.' And they were fired up about the opportunity to help him out and be at our best. And so, compliments and kudos to the team for doing just that — for being able to rally around the replacement quarterback and play like we did."

On what it means to have College GameDay coming to town for Cincinnati game, whether he sees it as a distraction

"Well, that's the thing you want to avoid, is distractions. And those shows — they do a good job of not really being a distraction for your guys. I mean, the biggest distraction is guys just knowing that they're on the center stage and having those guys come to town. But they're very non invasive, for the players especially, and they get it."

"And so, it's good for the program, the overall big picture; it's great for the university, the program, the community, the state of Utah. I think it's got so many positive aspects, and as a coach, you just try to, early in the week, make sure that your guys understand that, 'Hey, they're here, but it's business as usual.' We don't approach it any differently as far as our preparation and that they got to be able to block out the noise and not get caught up in it, because we got a game to play, and we got to prepare and go through our paces just like we always do."

On attacking Cincinnati's balanced offense

"Yeah, they're very balanced. Red zone touchdown percentage is over 70%; Balanced, as you say, nearly 200 yards rushing ... scoring nearly 40 points a week. They can hurt you in different ways, but maybe the biggest RPO team that we faced as well. They really lean heavily on the RPOs, and so coach Scalley and the defense has their work cut out for him. But I got no doubt that we'll have a good plan, and it's just a matter of going out and executing but, they present problems. There's no doubt about it. They're one of the best offenses in the league."