Copyright Salt Lake Tribune
For the second week in a row. Utah quarterback Devon Dampier’s status will be a question mark for the Utes. The junior has been battling a lower-leg injury he suffered in the loss to BYU two weeks ago. His health is once again in question for No. 24 Utah’s highly anticipated matchup versus No. 17 Cincinnati this Saturday. Dampier was “probable” heading last weekend’s win over Colorado, but the quarterback “wasn’t feeling it” in pregame warmups, head coach Kyle Whittingham said, so Dampier opted to sit out as an emergency backup against the Buffaloes. “We’ll see how practice goes,” Whittingham said. “It’s only Monday, obviously practice cranks back up tomorrow, and he’s certainly feeling better each day. But really, we’ll just have to see how he progresses and where that goes. “If he’s not ready, then we know Byrd is ready to go again if he needs to be.” True freshman and former 3-star recruit Byrd Ficklin played in Dampier’s place on Saturday and he shined in his first collegiate start. Ficklin tallied 140 passing yards, 151 rushing yards and three total touchdowns. He earned Big 12 Offensive Player and Big 12 Freshman of the Week awards for his performance, the conference announced on Monday. Alongside addressing Dampier’s health, Whittingham said that the Utes don’t have a quarterback controversy brewing. “Devon is still quarterback one, make no mistake,” Utah’s head coach said. “There’s no controversy of any sort. And we’ll just have to measure Devon’s progress day by day and see where he ends up. “Pretty much he’s got a lot of input, and he’s experienced. ... He was ready for an emergency situation, if it came to that [last Saturday]. But we’ll lean on Devon a lot to figure out how he’s feeling. He’s going to do what’s best for the team.”
