Utah quarterback battle to replace Tyler Huntley: Jake Bentley vs. Cam Rising

There are big shoes to fill on the Utah football team with three-year starting quarterback Tyler Huntley now a member of the Baltimore Ravens. Huntley started 33 games in his career and went 23-10 with the Utes. He was first-team All-Pac-12 last year and holds the school record for career completion percentage at 67.2.

One of two transfers is likely to replace him: Jake Bentley or Cam Rising. Former walk-on Drew Lisk is also in the mix theoretically, but it would be a huge upset if he were to pass Bentley and Rising. Coach Kyle Whittingham was only able to get three practices in this spring before shutting things down due to the coronavirus.

Bentley had a 19-14 record as a starter at South Carolina and was a two-time captain who is probably the leading candidate to start. He's eligible immediately as a graduate transfer. Bentley's 2019 campaign with the Gamecocks was cut very short as he suffered a season-ending injury in the opener. The year before, he threw for 3,171 yards and 27 touchdowns and became the first Gamecock since 1995 to throw three or more touchdowns in three straight games.

Rising never saw the field at Texas, redshirting last year. He was a four-star recruit out of Newbury Park High School in California in the Class of 2018, ranked as the nation's No. 11 overall pro-style QB by sister site 247Sports. Rising has three years of eligibility remaining but hasn't played in a game since high school.

Whittingham returns nine starters overall and just two on defense. The biggest-name back is receiver Britian Covey. He was Utah's leading receiver in 2015 and 2018 but served a two-year LDS church mission in between. Covey suffered a major knee injury in the 2018 Pac-12 title game and missed all of last year.

Utah is a +600 fourth-favorite on the William Hill moneyline odds to win the Pac-12 title. The Utes have reached the game each of the past two seasons but lost to Oregon and Washington, respectively. They open the season at home against bitter rival BYU in the Holy War. The Utes should open around -6.5. 

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