There’s a “distinct possibility” that freshman quarterback Byrd Ficklin could play this week for Utah against Colorado, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said at his Monday press briefing.
In the third quarter of Utah’s loss to BYU on Saturday, starting quarterback Devon Dampier limped off the field and returned with his ankle heavily taped.
The injury might have occurred on Utah’s fourth-and-3 with 8:47 left in the third quarter, as Dampier ran for the first down but was stopped.
The dual-threat Dampier, who has rushed for 442 yards and five touchdowns this season, had been effective on the ground against the Cougars, rushing for 64 yards.
From that moment in the third quarter on, however, Dampier didn’t run the ball once for the rest of the game.
“When Devon’s hobbled, that obviously causes you to rethink some of the QB run game,” Whittingham said. “You don’t completely go away from it, but you might when it could go either way situation, you might opt to not do it because of his mobility and he got beat up in this game pretty good.”
Instead, Utah freshman Ficklin came in three times for quarterback runs. Ficklin’s first run, on the Utes’ fourth-quarter touchdown drive that gave Utah a 14-10 lead, went for 16 yards and led to Daniel Bray’s score.
Asked about his health postgame, Dampier said “I’m solid,” but he was clearly limited in his mobility after the injury.
“We’ll just check the availability report comes out Wednesday and we have to wait a few days to see how these guys are healing up from the game, and so that’s a distinct possibility, I can tell you that,” Whittingham said of Ficklin playing this week.
“But on Wednesday you’ll start getting the availability report and the likelihood of who’s playing, who’s not.”
Ficklin, a three-star prospect from Muskogee, Oklahoma, has for all intents and purposes been Utah’s backup quarterback this season as the Utes look to preserve Isaac Wilson’s redshirt.
Ficklin has played in six games this season, totaling 65 snaps in mostly mop-up duty for Utah.
With the caveat that the games he has played in have already been well in hand during Ficklin’s appearances (with the exception of his three runs against BYU), the true freshman has looked good.
“We got a ton of confidence in him. Every time he’s entered a game so far this year, he’s done positive things,” Whittingham said. “And if we have to go that route, I shouldn’t say if we have to go, if we end up going that route based on health, then we got the confidence in him that he can get it done.”
Utah hasn’t passed the ball much with Ficklin in the game due to the situations he’s been inserted in, but he is a perfect nine for nine through the air this season for 138 yards and a touchdown.
He has a strong arm and has been accurate in his appearances this season, and his running ability makes him a similar archetype to Dampier, so the game plan, if the Utes need to start Ficklin, doesn’t drastically need to change.
Ficklin has rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries. His most important run of the season was the 16-yard run that set up the Bray touchdown against BYU, but his most impressive came against Cal Poly. Ficklin had a 38-yard touchdown run, which included a stiff arm, to get in the end zone for the first time as a Ute.
“He’s got a lot of ability, just physical ability. He’s an excellent athlete, a really good runner, throws a really good ball,” Whittingham said. “In fact, he’s what, nine for nine, I think, on his nine throws this year so far. And so he’s a guy that has showed nothing but a lot of promise ever since he set foot on campus.”
The attribute that Whittingham has praised Ficklin for over and over is being cool and calm under pressure. If the freshman makes his first start, Utah believes the moment won’t be too big for him.
“Performance in practice, performance in games,” Whittingham said when asked what has allowed Ficklin to move into the backup role.
“Started back in spring. He was just fresh out of high school and really had the poise and the demeanor of a second- and third-, fourth-year player in your program. I mean, he just did not operate like a true freshman and he’s got a lot of self-confidence.”
Utah’s initial Big 12 availability report will be released Wednesday at 8 p.m. MDT. The Utes will release subsequent injury reports on Thursday night, Friday night and, finally, 90 minutes before Utah’s 8:15 p.m. kickoff against Colorado at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday.
Per Big 12 guidelines, an athlete only needs to be listed as probable (or questionable, doubtful, out, etc.) if there is a less than 75% chance that he will play in the upcoming game.
The Utes are currently a 13.5-point favorite against the Buffaloes.
