After a summer-long quarterback battle between Baylor alum Charlie Brewer and redshirt sophomore Cam Rising, the Utah Utes have declared a starter.

Brewer won the job, thanks to a tremendous offseason which started in January after he arrived in Salt Lake City with a strong veteran’s resume. Across four seasons at Baylor, Brewer passed for 9,700 yards and 65 touchdowns. In 2019, he led the Bears to Big XII Championship Game and Sugar Bowl appearances.

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Since joining the Utes for his final year of eligibility, Brewer has earned heaps of public praise from Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, who said that Brewer’s handle of the offensive playbook already rivals Rising’s understanding, despite Rising being in the program two years longer.

Luckily for Rising, although he lost this quarterback competition, he still has multiple years of eligibility left and a coach who clearly wants him to succeed in Salt Lake City. Had he not been injured in the first game of the 2020 season, he would have been the incumbent starter, and Brewer likely would never have even come to Utah.

But now, instead of starting, he’s forced to watch from the sidelines, which obviously must sting. Next season, though, the Utes will be primed for Rising to take the job without question. Quite frankly, based on information coming out of Utah, the rehabbing-Rising made the competition on Brewer much tougher than anyone expected internally.

Following the team’s first scrimmage on Aug. 14, Whittingham called the quarterback competition "neck and neck," while adding that a decision would not be made before the second scrimmage (which took place over the weekend).

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Brewer may be the starter, but clearly the team has a lot of respect for Rising, as they recently voted him a captain despite being the probable backup quarterback at the time. Utah kicks off the season next Thursday, Sept. 2, against Weber State.