SALT LAKE CITY — Who will be the starting quarterback for the University of Utah football team when they play their next game against Oregon State?
That’s the big question facing head coach Kyle Whittingham and his coaching staff after Kendal Thompson replaced an ineffective Travis Wilson and led the Utes to an upset win over UCLA.
“We haven’t decided that yet,” Whittingham said. “We’re still working through the depth chart. That will be released probably Wednesday. But he’s made a strong case for himself. It’s obviously an important decision and we want to make sure we do everything we should do evaluation wise and come up with a right answer.”
Does Thompson now see himself as the starting quarterback?
“I don’t know,” Thompson said. “I feel like a performed well. That’s for the coaches to decide. I’ll be ready either way.”
Giving Thompson a chance to play if Wilson and the offense were struggling was part of the game plan going into the game against UCLA.
“We had sputtered the last two weeks offensively against Michigan and Washington State,” Whittingham said. “The plan was if we didn’t see some consistency early we would give Kendal a shot. He’s earned it. He does well in practice. He’s a dynamic player and we thought if you’ve got a chance for someone to spark you let’s take a shot at it.”
“They felt like it was a fit to use me then and I was ready when my time was called,” Thompson said.
The Utes are on a bye week. They play their next game on Oct. 16 at Oregon State.
