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Two years in a row University of Utah quarterbacks Troy Williams and Tyler Huntley have gone into preseason camp looking at each other as their primary competition for the starting job.

Williams, a senior who started all 13 games last season, and Huntley, a sophomore who played in four games as a true freshman, will share the majority of the snaps early in camp, as they did in Friday's first practice.

Graduate transfer Cooper Bateman, a Cottonwood High School graduate who started his college career at the University of Alabama, will also compete for the job. Bateman sits third in the pecking order — at least in terms of practice reps — initially. Though the staff has been impressed with his performance in limited time.

"I think we've got three guys that are talented, three guys that we can win games with, and now somebody has got to separate themselves," Utes first-year offensive coordinator Troy Taylor said.

Williams, a 6-foot-2, 208-pound former California high school standout who began his college career at Washington, ranked fifth in the Pac-12 in passing yards last season (2,757) and tossed 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions while guiding the Utes to nine wins.

However, Williams led a Utes offense that had well-documented struggles in the red zone — they ranked 106th in red zone offense among FBS teams.

Huntley, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound former Florida Gatorade Football Player of the Year enrolled early in order to participate in spring ball last year. He lost last year's battle for the starting job, but he earned his way onto the field in the team's bowl game and even rushed for a touchdown in the win over Indiana. He also performed well in this year's spring game.

Huntley said the atmosphere in the quarterback meeting room isn't the slightest bit adversarial. They laugh and joke with one another, and then they take a business-like approach when they step onto the field.

"We're still like best of friends," Huntley said of Williams. "We're roommates in the hotels [on the road] so we sit down and talk every day."

Aside from a more quarterback-friendly offense, Williams and Huntley have their reasons to believe they're better positioned to start this year.

Williams has an entire season of experience under his belt, and he claims the shortcomings of the offense last year made him more hungry going into this season. He's also healthy and ready to carry the ball more this season after playing with a meniscus injury last year.

Huntley has adjusted to the speed of the college game, and has gained a better grasp of the position after dedicating more time to watching film.

"We have similar backgrounds," Williams said of himself and Huntley. "Both African-American QBs. We know how hard it is on QBs of our race. We have a good relationship though, good bonding — Madden 2K, all that stuff. It's all good."

Williams explained that he and Huntley have both dealt with the stereotype of African-American quarterbacks just being runners unable to sit in the pocket and make "the Tom Brady throws," but they view themselves as being the best of both worlds — athletes who can make all the required throws.

Over the next few weeks, each will try to establish himself as the alpha dog.

lworthy@sltrib.com Twitter: @LWorthySports —

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