Utah freshman quarterback Byrd Ficklin got the start against Colorado as Devon Dampier sat out with an injury.
Dampier has been nursing an ankle injury this week. He reinjured his right ankle in the third quarter last week’s game against BYU, and though he played through the rest of the game, he was clearly hampered and didn’t run from that point on.
Dampier was available to start Saturday night’s game, but the Utes chose to start a healthy Ficklin instead.
Ficklin — 6-foot-1, 200-pounds — has played in 65 snaps, the vast majority of which came in garbage time. He has thrown from 138 yards and a touchdown on 9 for 9 accuracy and added 111 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries on the ground.
“He’s got a lot of ability, just physical ability. He’s an excellent athlete, a really good runner, throws a really good ball,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said of Ficklin.
“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.”
Ficklin took first-team reps at practice early this week as Dampier healed from the ankle injury. That’s something that hasn’t been uncommon this season.
“Well, Byrd gets more reps early in the week because Devon kind of heals up from the game and that’s kind of been standard procedure for a lot of the weeks this year,” Whittingham said.
Wide receiver Tobias Merriweather and defensive tackle Dallas Vakalahi also missed the Colorado game with injuries.