Charlie Brewer’s Experience Was ‘Biggest Reason’ To Winning Utah QB Job

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham addressed the decision to start Charlie Brewer at quarterback ahead of the season opener.

It was reported by multiple outlets on Monday, August 23 and confirmed by KSL Sports that Charlie Brewer was named the starting quarterback for the opener against Weber State.

Whittingham held his first press conference of the 2021 season and was asked what ultimately led to Brewer getting the starting nod at QB.

“He (Brewer) had the edge statistically, first of all, and that’s not the only thing you take into account,” Whittingham said. “But he did have a slight edge statistically. Just a guy that has a lot of leadership. It was so close, it could have gone either way. But Charlie’s experience having played in over 40 Division I games and the success he had at Baylor throwing the football. I believe our team would have been just fine with either decision. I mean, they would have rallied around whichever guy ultimately won the job. They’re both very well respected and hard workers. Prepare the way you’re supposed to. So it was really close. But ultimately, Charlie, and probably the experience factor was probably the biggest reason behind it.”

“Experience probably was the biggest factor behind the decision.” – Kyle Whittingham on Charlie Brewer getting the nod at QB. #GoUtes

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 30, 2021

What Brewer Brings To The Utah Offense

It’s no secret what Brewer can do at quarterback. Coaches have over 40 games of film on him playing at the Power-Five level. Whittingham was most impressed with his decision making.

“Poised, calm under pressure, goes through his read progression very quickly, is decisive, gets the ball out of his hand quickly. Accurate thrower, has a good pocket presence, he can feel the rush and move around in the pocket. The way you want a quarterback to use escape ability is good. He’s not a statue back there. Both him and Cam are very mobile quarterbacks. Probably the main thing is that we see is his decision making. He’s a great decision maker.”

How Cam Rising Took The News Of Being Backup QB

This is new to Rising because last season, he beat Jake Bentley for the starting job before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in the opener against USC. Now that Rising lost the starting job to Charlie Brewer, Whittingham was asked how he took the news.

“Exactly what you’d hoped,” Whittingham stated. “He’s professional, he understood, disappointed because he’s a competitor but no drop off whatsoever in practice habits, preparation, attitude, it was all absolutely outstanding you know his numbers called he’ll be ready we have no doubt about that.”

Utah will open the 2021 season on Thursday, September 2 against Weber State at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. MDT on the Pac-12 Network.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.