This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said Travis Wilson is going to play more in the future. Nothing against Jon Hays, but good call, don't you think? Normally I'm not one for playing for the future and all for winning now, the philosophy Whittingham always uses. He has shown he has never been afraid to pull a guy out of a redshirt year or play a freshman if he thinks he can help the team win. In Wilson's case, it seems increasingly apparent he should get more time for a couple reasons. First of all, as much as Hays has improved, I don't know if there is much of a separation between the two, particularly since the Utes are going to more of a spread offense. Whittingham really liked how the shovel pass worked against USC and feels it suits Wilson's game even better than Hays. In the past when Wilson has gone in his playbook has seemed extremely limited and flat out stopped working. Judging from what Whittingham said on Friday, the Utes are ready to let Wilson have a little more control. Doing so could help the Utes win now. Course there is always the chance that Wilson is going to make some freshman mistakes that could even cost the Utes a win. However, as we all know, Hays isn't above such mistakes either and even when he is at his best he might not have enough in his personal arsenal to beat Pac-12 teams, so really, how great is the risk by using Wilson for a series or two? And yes, there is the future to think about as well. If Wilson indeed is the future quarterback for the Utes, giving him experience now will go a long, long ways in prepping him for next year. Otherwise the Utes are going to be in the same situation they've been in for a couple seasons now, having a veteran team but an inexperienced quarterback. - Lya Wodraska