Utes offense will remain ‘wide open’ if Tyler Huntley plays Saturday

Tyler Huntley’s return to practice earlier this week and the image of him standing in front of a group of reporters and cameras in full pads, flashing a familiar grin, likely provided increased optimism for the Utes faithful who have seen back-to-back losses in the two starts he missed.

However, Utah has been careful not to give a definitive ruling on Huntley’s status going into this weekend — part of coach Kyle Whittingham’s standard operating procedure of giving away as little information as possible to his opponent. Senior quarterback Troy Williams stands at the ready having started the past two games.

“Huntley, obviously, was their starter [with] a tremendous throwing arm, can make all the throws, great athleticism,” Arizona State coach Todd Graham said. “... We played against Williams last year and he tore us up. We think that both of them are very, very talented. I consider both of them starters the way they’ve played.”

If Huntley returns to the starting lineup Saturday for the first time since Sept. 22, the offense will not get scaled back or altered in an attempt to protect the dual-threat sophomore signal caller from Dania, Fla.

All indications have been that when the 6-foot-1, 190-pound sophomore gets back into game action, the Utes expect the same sort of electric play-making ability he flashed through the first three-plus games. Whittingham said the playbook will remain “wide open” if Huntley plays.

“I don’t feel like coach Troy [Taylor] is going to change the offense at all,” Huntley said referring to the Utes’ offensive coordinator. “We’re just going to keep rolling. He trusts that when I do get in, I’m 100 percent so he can trust in everything that I do.”

Going into the Arizona game, Huntley had completed 72 percent of his passes, posted consecutive 300-yard passing games and led the Utes in rushing with 212 yards and a team-high three touchdowns on 51 carries through three games (70.7 yards per game).

Then Arizona linebacker Tony Fields II came charging from the backside of the formation to sack Huntley for a 7-yard loss in the second quarter. Huntley sat up clutching at his right collarbone/shoulder region, and Utes fans haven’t seen him in a game since.

“You know, he got hurt on a pass play, a sprint out pass,” Taylor said last week. “Sometimes that’s deceiving because some guys protect themselves better running. Now Tyler has got to do a better job of — and I’ve talked to him about this — running out of bounds and getting down at the appropriate time because you can survive for a long time.

“Obviously we don’t want him to take a lot of hits. But the quarterback run game, when he’s in the game, is one of the things that we’re going to do. We did a little bit with Troy. We’ll probably do a little bit more with Tyler. I think part of it is managing that, and part of it is him playing smart.”

Huntley said Tuesday that he was not concerned about taking a direct hit and getting injured again. He described the Arizona play as the defense having caught him “slipping” because he didn’t see the pass rusher coming from behind.

Williams performed fairly well in the immediate aftermath of Huntley’s injury. He came in and completed 9 of 18 passes for 131 yards and ran for a touchdown at Arizona. He also had a touchdown pass taken away upon review when officials ruled Sioasi Wilson’s foot had not landed completely inbounds in the back of the end zone.

The Utes have suffered two losses by a total of four points in the two games since the Arizona game. Williams struggled against pressure and made costly mistakes late in a three-point loss to Stanford. He played better at USC, but couldn’t convert a 2-point conversion in the final minute of a one-point loss.

“I’m very itchy to get back because I hate losing, but we all good,” Huntley said. “We just learned from two great games, and we’re just going to come out firing.”