Utah’s current QB3, position changes, and what Kyle Whittingham wants to see in the opener

As last year proved, when the Utes needed to turn to what was essentially their QB5 in Luke Bottari in the last regular-season game of the year against Colorado, it’s always good to have a contingency plan.

While the top two on the quarterback depth chart — Cam Rising and Isaac Wilson — have been known for weeks, Whittingham shared the rest of the position’s depth chart Monday.

As of right now, Brandon Rose is QB3.

“Right now it’d be Brandon Rose,” Whittingham said. “Sam Huard has been really making progress, but again, we’re established at one and two right now, but Sam is pressing for that No. 3 spot and if something happened where we got to that spot, it would probably be a competition between Brandon and Sam to see who ultimately is the guy.”

Rose, a sophomore, is in his third season in the program and has not seen the field yet in a college game. Huard, a senior with two years of eligibility left, transferred from Cal Poly, where he threw for 2,205 yards on a 60.9% completion rate with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2023. Prior to Cal Poly, the former five-star recruit was at Washington for two years, where he played sparingly.

What is Whittingham looking for on Thursday?

Obviously, the goal for Whittingham is to coach his team to a win over Southern Utah, but aside from that, what is he looking for to show success?

A clean game with no “sloppy” penalties.

“Executing the way that we should execute, limiting penalties, just the whole mechanism of substitution, the special teams functions, everything,” Whittingham said. “The whole operation needs to be clean and that’s what we’re really looking for is no delay of games, minimize false starts, just those sloppy penalties that can show up particularly early in the season. We’d like to get a great start on all that stuff.”

Utah was fairly disciplined last season, drawing 65 penalties for 541 during the season (tied for 29th in FBS), and Whittingham wants that number to keep going down this year.

Position changes

It happens every year, and 2024 is no different. Utah’s opening depth chart had a few position changes — Jonathan Hall moved from safety to linebacker and John Randle Jr. moved from running back to cornerback. Previously known was Hunter Andrews changing from linebacker to running back.

Hall came to Utah as a safety, but the coaching staff thought his eventual fit — and highest ceiling — was at linebacker.

“That, combined with a little bit of a lack of depth at linebacker — I wouldn’t say it’s a problematic position, but it’s a position that wasn’t maybe as deep as some of the others. And so based on his ceiling, where he’s going to ultimately be the best player, and where he could factor in sooner would be at the linebacker spot,” Whittingham said.

Hall moving to safety to shore up linebacker depth allowed the Utes to move Andrews to running back, where he starred in high school, rushing for 1,244 yards and 18 touchdowns on 137 carries (averaging 9.1 yards per carry) in his senior season.

“Knowing Jono was going to move forward allowed us to take Hunter and give us a chance to get a big back over on offense, at least for now,” Whittingham said. “That change is not necessarily permanent, it will be for this season, but down the road, whether we switch him back to linebacker remains to be seen, but he’s a proven commodity at running back.”

With a crowded running back room — Micah Bernard, Jaylon Glover and Mike Mitchell make up the “first tier,” with Andrews, Charlie Vincent and Dijon Stanley making up the “second tier” — four-star talent Randle Jr. was the odd man out.

“He wasn’t figuring into the rotation in the running back room, but he’s a tremendous athlete,” Whittingham said.

“You look at his testing scores and his vertical jump, his 40-yard dash, his shuttles are all among the best on the team. And so that led us to the place where we said, ‘Hey, let’s move you over to the defensive side and see how you do there.’”

Cornerback depth, which Whittingham called maybe the “thinnest” on the team, also played a role in the move, but Utah believes Randle Jr. has all of the tools to be a successful college cornerback, but just doesn’t have the experience yet.

Cameron Calhoun, who is listed as the backup to both outside cornerbacks on the depth chart, had a “setback” during summer conditioning, but is scheduled to rejoin the team in practice in Week 2. Whittingham says that he will be a big factor at corner.