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SALT LAKE CITY — BYU and Utah open football training camps next week with similar concerns for different reasons at the game's most important position.
Starting with the team that has the more pressing need, the Cougars will use the next few weeks to determine a quarterback for the season-opening game against Southern Illinois on Aug. 31. Jake Retzlaff and Gerry Bohanon are the leading candidates, with recent transfers McCae Hillstead and Treyson Bourguet also in the mix.
Unlike last season, which ended with a disappointing 5-7 record, all four quarterbacks have a decent amount of playing experience.
Kedon Slovis, last season's starter, brought significant experience gained at USC and Pittsburgh, but a midseason injury forced BYU to bring in Retzlaff, whose resume included two years of junior college.
"I don't know how many coaches can say they have four guys that have started Division I football games," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said during Big 12 media days two weeks ago. "We're in a really good spot. Now, it's learning our system."
Retzlaff was winless in four starts last season, but having the most familiarity with offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick's system makes him the front-runner to win. He had a distinct advantage in spring practice over Bohanan, who was still nursing a shoulder injury.
Bohanan has the most impressive credentials, passing for 2,194 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2021 for a Baylor team that went 12-2 and won the Sugar Bowl. After losing the competition to start the following season, he transferred to USF but suffered a shoulder injury on his throwing arm that sidelined him all last season.
Hillstead, who played at Skyridge High in Lehi, started four games as a freshman last season and threw for 1,062 yards and 11 touchdowns. Bourguet, who has three seasons of eligibility, passed for 1,314 yards and six touchdowns during two seasons at Western Michigan.
"I see a really good group of quarterbacks," Sitake said. "The guy that deserves to start is the guy that's going to earn it. As soon as we get to that point, I would love to do that and figure out the depth chart."
Without little depth the last two years, Roderick was reluctant to utilize the quarterback run game. Expect to see BYU to rely more on the quarterback's legs to augment the rushing attack this season.
Entering his seventh season in college, Cam Rising is firmly entrenched as Utah's starting quarterback. Like Bohanon, Rising is coming off a major injury suffered in Utah's Rose Bowl game to conclude the 2022 season and hasn't played since the Utes lost to Penn State.
With a healthy Rising, who has suffered two major injuries as a starter, Utah is favored to win the Big 12 and believes it has the talent to compete for a national championship. But he's got to stay upright all season, as coach Kyle Whittingham fully appreciates.
Unlike their rivals, the Utes don't have much experience behind Rising. The objective over the next month is to name a backup and then flesh out the depth chart.
Two quarterbacks — Brandon Rose and Isaac Wilson — each showed flashes of potential during spring ball but neither has taken a snap in a FBS game. Both could endure significant growing pains if asked to win games this season.
In the era of the transfer portal, players are quick to hopscotch from team to team. Credit Rose for entering his third year in the program, but it is troubling the coaches went with a walk-on quarterback late last season over a scholarship player.
Wilson put up huge numbers at Corner Canyon High in Draper, as all the program's quarterbacks do, but he is a freshman. One run through spring practice and preseason camp probably isn't enough to rely on him yet.
Desperately needing experience, Utah picked up transfer Sam Huard last May. The Seattle-area native began at Washington and then transferred to Cal Poly, for which he threw for 2,206 yards and 18 touchdowns last season.
