SALT LAKE CITY — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham had this to say about who will start at quarterback Saturday against Stanford: “We’ll see.”
Whittingham added that everything’s up in the air at a lot of positions after the Utes’ bye week. Starting quarterback Tyler Huntley suffered an apparent shoulder injury in a 30-24 win at Arizona on Sept. 22 and was replaced in the second quarter by Troy Williams. The senior started all 13 games last season before losing the job to Huntley in training camp.
“If Troy’s the guy then great,” Whittingham said. “We’re not really overly concerned who the guy is because we know whoever the guy is going to need to get it done.”
However, when asked for clarity on Huntley’s situation, Whittingham did give an update. He said Huntley was just continuing to go through the evaluation process every day, later adding that “we’ll see what transpires from this weekend.”
Whittingham also addressed the status of defensive end Kylie Fitts, who was also injured in Tucson. The coach said he was very confident in the depth the Utes have up front if Fitts isn’t able to play, mentioning players like Caleb Repp and Maxs Tupai.
“We’ll see what happens with a lot of our guys that got banged up in the last game — whether or not they’re ready,” Whittingham said.
The team, he added, never really concerns itself with injuries.
“If you can’t play, you can’t play,” Whittingham said. “The next guy that’s out there has got to do the job.”
MINER RUMOR: ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg listed Utah receivers coach Guy Holliday as an early candidate for the head coaching job at UTEP. Holliday coached the Miners’ receivers and was the team’s recruiting coordinator from 2008-12.
At his press conference Monday, Whittingham said that was the first he had heard of it.
“Guy Holliday is a heck of a football coach,” he noted. “I know he’s had a stint there at UTEP and so it makes perfect sense.”
UTAH GUYS: Stanford has successfully recruited several players from Utah. The current Cardinal roster includes junior linebacker Sean Barton (Woods Cross HS), senior offensive guard Brandon Fanaika (Pleasant Grove HS), freshman fullback Houston Heimuli (Bountiful HS), freshman running back Sione Lund (Brighton HS), freshman linebacker Gabe Reid (Timpview HS) and senior tight end Dalton Schultz (Bingham HS).
“There are a lot of good players on their team from Utah and like I’ve said many times, you can’t get them all. You try to put a fence around your state but it’s unrealistic. I don’t know anyone in the country that’s able to do that 100 percent of the time,” Whittingham explained. “And so, you win with the players you’ve got. You don’t worry about the players you’ve lost in recruiting battles. You just focus on the ones you have.”
EXTRA POINTS: Utah’s game at USC on Oct. 14 will kick off at 6 p.m. MT . . . Tight end Harrison Handley is slated to replace Alex Whittingham as the team's long snapper this week . . . The rest of the depth chart remains unchanged this week with Huntley and Fitts still listed as starters . . . Receiving leader Darren Carrington II was added to the Biletnikoff Award (nation’s top receiver) watch list. The Oregon transfer tops the Utes with 30 catches for 485 yards and four touchdowns.
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