It’s a big week in Salt Lake City.
For the fourth time this season, the Utah Utes will face off against a ranked opponent, and for the third time this year, one of the two national pregame shows will originate from the site of a Utah game — this time, it’s ESPN’s “College GameDay” making its return to Utah’s campus.
The question on everyone’s mind as the Utes fight to stay alive in the Big 12 race? Will starter Devon Dampier make his return as No. 24 Utah hosts No. 17 Cincinnati on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. MDT?
“We’ll see how practice goes. It’s only Monday, obviously. Practice cranks back up tomorrow and he’s certainly feeling better each day,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “But really we’ll just have to see how he progresses and where that goes. And if he’s not ready, then we know Byrd is ready to go again if he needs to be.”
Dampier missed his first game of the season against Colorado with an ankle injury, and Whittingham said it was a “game-time” decision on whether he would play or not. Dampier was officially listed as available for the Colorado game, but after warming up and testing out the ankle, he would have only played in an emergency.
“We’ll just have to measure Devon’s progress day by day and see where he ends up. He’s got a lot of input and he’s an experienced vet and Saturday night he just says, ‘Hey, I’m just not feeling it. I’m ready if you have to have me.’
“He was ready for an emergency situation if it came to that, but we’ll lean on Devon a lot to figure how he’s feeling and he’s going to do what’s best for the team,” Whittingham said.
“I think the bottom line is, and always will be, which quarterback, which player for any position for that matter, gives you the best chance of winning.”
— Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
Ficklin took the majority of the practice reps in the week leading up to the game, and Utah’s coaches felt that he would give the Utes the best chance to win over playing an injured Dampier.
Ficklin helped the Utes to a 53-7 victory over Colorado in his starting debut, throwing for 140 yards and two touchdowns on 45% accuracy and adding 151 yards on 20 carries, including a 63-yard touchdown run on the game’s second play.
He was named both the Big 12’s co-offensive player of the week and freshman of the week after his performance.
As Utah gears up for another big contest, Whittingham says the Utes will play the quarterback that will give them the best shot to win the game. If Dampier doesn’t progress the way he’s hoping to with the injury, that could end up being Ficklin.
“I think the bottom line is, and always will be, which quarterback, which player for any position for that matter, gives you the best chance of winning,” Whittingham said.
“If a 90% Devon Dampier we feel gives us a better chance than a 100% Byrd — that’s just an example — then we go with the guy that we think gives us that best shot. And so I can tell you we’ve got a lot of confidence in Byrd, especially after what we saw on Saturday night. But Devon is still QB1, make no mistake, there’s no QB controversy of any sort.”
This season, Dampier has led Utah to a 5-2 record, throwing for 1,375 yards and 13 touchdowns with four interceptions on 69% accuracy and rushing for 442 yards and five touchdowns.
Offensive coordinator Jason Beck and his former quarterback at New Mexico have turned around Utah’s offense, which struggled under backup quarterbacks in the past two seasons.
Now, in the biggest game remaining on Utah’s schedule, we’ll see if Dampier is able to play — and play at his best.
