SALT LAKE CITY — Being the backup quarterback can be one of the most exasperating and exhilarating positions on a football team.
Exasperating because you can stand on the sidelines for a whole game or even a whole season without ever snapping on your helmet. Exhilarating because you’re always just a minute away from playing if something bad happens to the starter.
The Utah football team has a pair of backup quarterbacks, who both saw significant action in last week’s win over Arizona. Junior Drew Lisk is a former walk-on from Jordan High School who has been in the program for three years, while Jason Shelley is a sophomore from Texas, who started five games last season when Tyler Huntley went down with an injury.
One or both could be back on the field this week, depending on the health of Huntley and the decisions of the Ute coaches.
Huntley was available for media interviews Monday and while he didn’t say much, he did say, “I’m playing,” in Saturday night’s game against Cal.
That doesn’t necessarily mean he will play. It’s possible that if the leg injury that slowed him against Arizona State, and prompted the Utes to pull him out of the game twice, is still a problem, he may not play. It’s also possible the Utes may choose not to play him if he’s not quite 100%, against a team that has lost three straight, in case Huntley needs to heal up for a big game against Washington the following week.
The No. 2 quarterback position at Utah has gone back and forth this season and coach Kyle Whittingham expressed confidence in both of his backups.
He calls Lisk “an absolute student of the game,” who has “a complete understanding of the offense” and is “accurate throwing the football.” Of Shelley he says, “he’s more athletic, a better runner and of course, you have a good idea of what Jason’s about from the playing time he got last year.”
Shelley had beaten out heralded recruit Jack Tuttle in fall camp of 2018, which caused Tuttle to leave the program, eventually ending up at Indiana. Shelley replaced Huntley when he went down with a shoulder injury against Arizona State last year and started the final five games, leading Utah to three victories before losses to Washington in the Pac-12 Championship and Northwestern in the Holiday Bowl.
Most folks were surprised when Lisk was the first guy off the bench in a blowout win over Idaho State. He completed all six of his passes for 38 yards. Then against Washington State, Shelley was the first QB off the bench as he rushed three times for 21 yards.
This past week, Lisk came in when Huntley limped off the field late in the first half. He said he knew he was No. 2 for the game and Whittingham said it was offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig’s call because Lisk had a better week of practice.
After a pair of running plays, Lisk hit Zack Moss with a dump-off that Moss turned into a 14-yard gain and a first down. On the next set of downs, Lisk threw two passes, the second of which missed badly, but Whittingham said later it was the receiver’s fault for turning the wrong way.
It was fourth-and-8 and after a timeout, Huntley came back into the game, apparently after talking his coaches into it, and promptly threw a pass to Derrick Vickers that went for 16 yards. Three plays later, the Utes were in the end zone and up 14-0.
Huntley came back for the second half and played in the third quarter, but not effectively as he fumbled the ball while being sacked, then threw his first interception of the year right to an ASU defender.
So in the fourth quarter, the Utes turned to Shelley, because “Jason is the better run guy” and “we were trying to take some clock off,” said Whittingham.
Shelley didn’t do much, completing 1-of-3 passes and scrambling for an 8-yard gain, but was helped by an ASU fumble on a punt and a long touchdown run by Moss.
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Lisk is originally from North Carolina and moved from Virginia before his first year of high school. He was all-state for Jordan High School, where he was also a star baseball player as a pitcher and shortstop. He had a chance to play either football or baseball at a lower-division school, but opted to walk on at Utah.
“I just wanted to give myself an opportunity, and it’s worked out great,” he said.
Shelley calls himself, “very mobile with my legs” and said he’s worked on being more patient in the pocket this year and not giving up too early to run the ball.
Of being the backup, Shelley says, “You have to be ready for the unexpected, always be ready for anything that can happen. You go from cold to hot right away. As soon as your name’s called, the switch turns on.”
“One, two or three, there’s a good chance you may have to go in, you never know,” said Lisk. “So regardless of where you’re at, you always have to be ready. There’s a chance you could be playing the whole game, so you have to know (the playbook) as well as the starter.”
Regardless of who is called to play, Lisk and Shelley are are supportive of each other.
“It’s good for both of us,” said Lisk. “Each day at practice we’ve got to bring it and prove ourselves. I certainly enjoy knowing that each day I have the chance to prove myself.”
“Tyler a little banged up, so I might be called upon or Drew might be,” said Shelley. “We’re all brothers, we’re all family, so we all go out there and do what’s best for the team.”