In recent years, Utah has signed a few four-star quarterbacks. At those times, there was significant excitement around the program and among fans.
However, those signings haven’t always worked out.
That became abundantly clear once again last week when starting quarterback Cam Rising was unavailable to play against Washington State.
It wasn’t a four-star quarterback that took Rising’s place. It was a walk-on from Milford, Utah, — Bryson Barnes.
So what happened to the recent four-stars that Utah had signed — Jack Tuttle and Peter Costelli?
In 2018, Tuttle signed with the Utes as a four-star prospect. He joined the program for spring ball as an early enrollee before leaving that fall. Tuttle never played for Utah and he transferred to Indiana.
With the Hoosiers, he completed 55.9% of his passes for 819 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions. Though named a team captain at Indiana, he lost his starting job to Connor Bazelak and hasn’t played in 2022.
Tuttle is looking to transfer again at the end of the season.
In 2021, the Utes signed four-star recruit Costelli, who was rated the nation’s No. 27 overall quarterback prospect.
During the 2021 campaign, Costelli found himself buried on the depth chart before Rising (a Texas transfer) and Ja’Quinden Jackson (another Texas transfer).
Costelli never played a down for Utah and he opted to transfer last season. He ended up transferring to Troy but he has not played this season.
Currently, Utah has another four-star quarterback on the roster — true freshman Nate Johnson from Clovis, California.
Had something happened to Barnes at Washington State, Johnson would have stepped in at quarterback.
“He hasn’t had a ton of reps because there’s only X-amount of reps to go around,” said coach Kyle Whittingham. “He’s had very few of those. We think he’s got a high ceiling. He’s going to be a very good player down the road.”
Whittingham said this week that his recruiting approach hasn’t changed despite watching Tuttle and Costelli leave the program before they even took a snap.
“No, not really because I don’t know if things will ever change,” he said. “That’s the nature of it. If you’re a No. 2, and you see yourself being a No. 2 for X-amount of time, typically, they go somewhere else.”
Of course, Barnes was content to be a No. 2 quarterback and his willingness to wait paid off for himself, and the Utes, last week.
“It’s all about if a kid is patient, is willing to wait his turn, what other options are out there for him?” Whittingham said. “There’s a lot of things in the mix. The bottom line is, when a guy sits and thinks he should be playing and the guy ahead of him maybe isn’t going to leave, then they tend to test the waters.”
Whittingham is glad to have Johnson on the roster.
“He’s got a big upside. He’s learning the ropes. But he’s made a lot of progress since he’s been here,” he said. “He has a lot of tools and blazing speed. He’s in his infancy in learning this system. He’s figuring out how to play quarterback at this level.”
The Utes are hopeful that Johnson sticks around long enough to realize his potential in Salt Lake City.
Utes on the air
Arizona (3-5, 1-4)
at No. 12 Utah (6-2, 4-1)
Saturday, 5:30 p.m. MDT
Rice-Eccles Stadium
TV: Pac-12 Network
Radio: ESPN 700