But like all "gambles" the decision had a chance of backfiring. And like most "gambles" the decision was not based on a consistant thread of logic. At the half, Terrance Cain was having as good a night as he has had all seaoson throwing for 121-yards on 10 of 13 passing without a turnover. And yet was still pulled in favor of the freshman Wynn.
"A spark," is what Whittingham said he was looking for offensivley as he was obviously disappointed in the Utes inability to finish drives in the first half. This after twice getting inside the red zone and coming away with only 3 points.
"Terrance did not play poorly," Whittingham said, "We just got to find ways to finish drives and get it in the endzone. We thought it was a great oppurtunity to give Jordan the reigns and see what he could do."
Wynn for his part help the gamble pay, by showing that, despite not knowing he was going to get playing time, he was ready and able to lead the Utah offense.
The QB switch wasn't the first move of the night to ignite the spark either.
As the ball was being kicked, an announcement was made that offensive coordinator Dave Schramm would not be calling plays in the booth, Schramm was moved down to the field to "work with the quarterbacks." Wide receivers coach Aaron Roderick was moved to the booth to call plays.
Whittingham said after the game that he liked being able to have Schramm's "fire" on the sideline, while at the same time having Roderick's experience in the booth calling plays. Whittingham also reminded the media in the post game that Schramm and Roderick were initially hired as Co-Offensive Coordinators, but Roderick left for Washington for about a week and was releaved of the title. While bringing that fact up, Whittingham quickly pointed out that Schramm was still the Coordinator and it was not a "Co" position.
As Whittingham refered to the QB decison as a gamble, the same can be said about the move at play caller. Which left many questioning the decisons throughout the first 3 quarters of the game as Wyoming took a 10 - 9 lead into the 4th quarter. But as has been the trend at the University of Utah, when it came down to it, the Utes found a way to pull a win out of the jaws of defeat.
Thus, while many may still be bewildered at the inconsistancy and timing of decision making, the most important number is 7 - 1. The Utes record.
And as Stevenson Sylvester said after the game, "A win is a win, and any way we can fight back in a game like we did tonight or any other week we'll take a win."
NOTES
A 2 QB System?
"You never say never," Whittingham said about a two quarterback system, "I'm not a fan of that, and prefer to have one guy be the guy."
Whittningham went on to say that, "It's my hope we don't go that direction." But did say that he would wait to see the game film prior to making any decision as to who would be the starter against New Mexico or if indeed there could be a two quarterback rotation next week.
5 for Wide!
Eddie Wide rushed for a total of 137-yards in the win, which gives him 5 straight games with 100 or more yards rushing. The feat tied a school record held by 3 former Utes (Carl Monroe '82, Mike Anderson '98, and Darrell Mack '07).
