Whitt announces Barnes as starter –

[ProudUte]

if Cam cannot go. He just said this in an interview with Josh Furlong.

He also said that Johnson will play.

[Tony (admin)]

What we all expected, but the reality of it is concerning…

[ProudUte]

It is not ideal, but I don’t think Cam can be close to 100%. Ludwig needs to make a game plan that allows Barnes to use his skills. He is not my first choice, but the kid has some athletic ability and he is familiar with our system. The interesting thing is that I hear Barnes still doe not have a scholarship.

[PhiladelphiaUte]

Barnes has scholarship.

“For Barnes, it’s his collegiate start. He was a walk-on in 2020 before earning a scholarship.“

[RoboUte]

When did I change my name to we all? Because I’ve been repeatedly told how wrong I was about this by everyone who bothered to comment and I’m not the only one (see below).

This is what y’all were doing to posts that simply stated they thought Cam might not make week 1 less then two months ago. Who here wants to own up to being one of those 12?

View post on imgur.com

[chinngiskhaan]

Those downvotes aren’t about what I said, they are simply a representation of the number of passive-aggressive pre-teen girls on this site.

[RoboUte]

Oh it’s definitely both.

[pedro]

Seriously? Do yourself a favor, be happy with who you are and stop worrying about what others may say or think about you. It’s liberating.

[RoboUte]

First of all that ain’t me in the screenshot.

So I have to be right, get flak for it. AND take the high road? Ha, no problem. But then it leaves me wondering what are the standards for the delusional flamers, if any, because that’s who I’m talking about.

By the way only 11 left. We’ll see if anybody else has the nuts to raise their hand, not like it takes much.

[Ghost of the HEB]

Florida’s defense thumbs upped this post

[Yergensen]

Like your optimism Proud, but I’m expecting a game plan circa 10 or so years ago. Heavy on the run complimented with some more run.

[fosternano]

Yep, I would be surprised if Utah throws more than 20 times with 40+ runs if rising is out.

[uteman12]

Hopefully this is just a smoke screen. I’m a firm believer we need Cam healthy in order to win Florida. I do not think we can depend on the ground game to win this one.

[Utesbyfive]

Barnes has been qb2 for three years now. So we’re back to not developing quarterbacks. ☹️

[RustyShackleford]

Barnes is third string.

[Rick]

Well if the WSU game last year is any indication, we threw 27 times and ran 41 times. A total of 68 plays so we took the air out of the ball and played solid defense. I expect a similar game. Hopefully the Florida boys will be gassed by the 4th quarter.

[D T]

We’ll air it out enough to keep our rushing attack churning out yards/clock.

With our elite D, that’s all we’ll need.

[EagleMountainUte]

[Distantute]

Too late for portal transfer? Watching barnes against penn st was as bad as it gets. Other than 1 throw against osu he has been awful. Shocked we dont have someone better.

[2008 National Champ]

because the 8-21 with a pick that Rising threw up in that game was inspiring?

[RoboUte]

He couldn’t get it done through the air against Florida last year either. If he’s immobile in that game (as he is now) he probably throws for 150 yards in 4 quarters. If he has no Kuithe (as he does now) he probably gets pulled in the 3rd quart with fewer than 100 yards in the air. Kuithe accounted for half of Cam’s yards through the air

He was a genuine dual threat in that game with Kuithe giving him and barely scraped over 200. Then of course he also chocked the game away.

[2008 National Champ]

Rising isn’t the reason for the Florida loss. He didn’t lose contain on Richardson multiple times for huge plays. He didn’t call a double reverse on a two-point conversion that failed miserably. Yes, if Rising’s last pass was a foot to the left it doesn’t get intercepted. But that’s a pretty small margin to hang an entire loss on.

In order of importance I’d rank that loss on:
1. Defensive Ends
2. Linebackers
3. O-Line not getting push in the red zone
…
10. Rising throwing a pick

[AlohaUte]

I’m willing to give it a shot. Essentially, this will be the first major game Barnes starts (I think) where he gets the prep and reps ahead of time. Hopefully that gives him confidence and an edge.

[AlohaUte]

I wonder if Nate Johnson is in a JJ type situation, where is an incredible athlete but QB may not be the right position for him?

[22Ute22]

I love Whitt, but it’s more likely that Whitt’s conservative play style and his offensive philosophy is something that stunts QB growth. I do find it likely that his severe emphasis on turnovers is something that prevents growth as a downfield passer and taking shots when guys are on an island (50/50 balls). I’m shocked that we don’t have a QB coach whose sole job is QB development, because Ludwig should not be the QB coach. I also don’t want to hear the excuse of WR’s not being good enough. Plenty of teams have had great success at a passing game, with WR’s who aren’t elite explosive playmakers like Ohio State’s WR’s. Look at what Mike Leach did at WSU with average WR’s, due to his scheme. If they can do it, so can Utah. If it means throwing a few more interceptions a season, so be it.

[chinngiskhaan]

This is not an issue of QB development at all. We have a developed QB, he is now injured. Ludwig did a great job of developing him, and considering where Barnes is coming from, they’ve done a great job with him as well. Those are the only two QBs that we have seen play in real game situations. Rose has supposedly done quite well, and Johnson was allegedly not far behind (though I’m not sure how true that is). I don’t see any reasons to believe we have a QB development issue under Ludwig. What we have at this moment in time is our top 2 QBs recovering from injury. My bet is the coaching staff thought Barnes was as good as any JC qb they could have gotten out of the portal as an insurance policy.

[Roy Rangum]

I think we have a QB development problem, but I think it also may be bigger than Ludwig too. But bottom line for me is I would be all in to hire a dedicated QB coach.

If we couldn’t do that, maybe we could try to get Brian Johnson or Alex Smith to give us some QB consult sessions during the off season?

[chinngiskhaan]

Maybe we aren’t as good at it as some other schools, but we do develop QBs. Our last two regular starters have both gotten progressively better in their time at Utah. Since they were the only ones that really played during that time, we don’t know whether or not the guys behind them have been developed.