Nate Johnson and Bryson Barnes in ‘dead heat’ for Utah’s backup quarterback job
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Last Tuesday, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said that junior Bryson Barnes would be Utah’s backup quarterback if the opening game vs. Florida was played that day.
Since then, the battle has tightened.
Whittingham said after Monday’s practice that walk-on Barnes and redshirt freshman Nate Johnson are on “equal footing right now.”
“Nate’s closed the gap and they’re exactly in a dead heat at this point,” he said.
The Utes scrimmaged over the weekend, and unlike the previous outing, the offense and defense were “more balanced.” In the Utes’ last scrimmage, the defense got the better of the offense.
“Better execution, better pass protection, ran the ball more effectively, caught the ball more effectively,” Whittingham said of the offense.
Barnes and Johnson’s quarterback play also improved.
“QBs made better decisions just across the board. There wasn’t any one glaring error, less penalties offensively. We had quite a few penalties in that first scrimmage, so just a much cleaner scrimmage,” Whittingham said.
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Last season, Barnes — a walk-on quarterback — won the backup job over Johnson and Brandon Rose, who is seemingly out of the backup QB race to start the season after being injured earlier in 2023 fall camp.
Last year, Barnes filled in when starting quarterback Cameron Rising was scratched from the lineup against Washington State moments before game time. On short notice — Barnes didn’t take starting reps before that game — he was 17 for 27 and threw for 175 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions in a Utah win on the road.
His other appearance last year came in the Rose Bowl loss to Penn State after Rising’s ACL tear in the third quarter. He passed for 175 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Johnson, a four-star recruit, played in four games in 2022, preserving his redshirt, mostly in designed running packages. He had five rushes for 51 yards and two touchdowns. His only pass attempt of the season was a 16-yard touchdown to Logan Kendall against Stanford.
Wide receiver Devaughn Vele has seen the vocal leadership from both quarterbacks grow over fall camp.
“Obviously the quarterback, you’re going to have to be the one that knows everybody’s jobs and positions. You have to be the one to lead us on the field and when times are getting tough, you got to be the one to pick us up,” Vele said. “So I think from them, I’ve noticed a lot of vocal leadership that’s kind of been helping us gain that trust and that confidence in them — whoever it is to be the one to step up on Thursday night.”
Rising’s — and tight end Brant Kuithe’s — status is still day-to-day, Whittingham said, though he did say Rising is “progressing through practice.”
“They’re kind of in the same category where we just get an update every morning and we’ll see where they’re at,” Whittingham said.
Whittingham previously mentioned if Rising is not cleared by doctors by this Thursday, he would have to “make some decisions” at the quarterback position for the Florida game.
Utah will release a depth chart on Thursday or Friday, which could provide a clearer view of who emerged in key position battles, like at left tackle and center, for example. The starting offensive line is set, Whittingham said, but he declined to name the starters, saying he will wait until the depth chart releases. Of course, as it has in the past, that depth chart could contain lots of “ors” at positions.
Don’t expect the veteran Utah coach to spill the beans if Rising indeed does get cleared this week. Utah fans may have to wait and see which quarterback trots out on the field on August 31 against Florida.
“Obviously we’re keeping things somewhat close to the vest just because, but I don’t know in the final analysis if it’s a big deal or not. But we’re truly unsettled right now, so there’s really no deception at this point. It’s just see how things progress day by day,” Whittingham said.
