Brandon Rose has stuck it out at Utah. Will he get his first start against BYU?

In the current age of college football, Utah quarterback Brandon Rose is somewhat of an anomaly.
The three-star signal-caller, who had offers from Arizona State, Boise State, Northwestern, Colorado and Kansas before committing to Utah, arrived on campus in 2022.
Until two Saturdays ago, he had never seen the field, aside from three snaps in garbage time in this year’s season-opening win over Southern Utah.
Rose’s arrival in Salt Lake City coincided with the second of back-to-back Pac-12 titles for the Utes, led by starting quarterback Cam Rising. With Rising entrenched as the starter in 2022, Rose redshirted, with Bryson Barnes winning the QB2 job that year.
Last year, the competition to be Rising’s backup was intriguing, with the more-experienced Barnes battling it out with relative newcomers Nate Johnson and Rose. By the end of spring, it was Rose who had emerged in pole position to be Rising’s backup, which eventually turned into the starting job after Rising missed the entire 2023 season.
But Rose suffered an injury during fall camp, which kept him out for the better part of two months. By the time he was healthy, Barnes had a solid grip on the starting job, and the time missed was deemed by Utah coach Kyle Whittingham as too much of a setback to overcome.
“He’s done well and he was really doing well last year in addition, but had that injury that knocked him out for six or eight weeks, which really set him back and then didn’t get much of anything going last year because of that,” Whittingham said.
Though Utah’s coach said Rose “took a step forward in just about everything” this spring, he was beat out by true freshman Isaac Wilson in fall camp for the QB2 job, which again essentially turned into the QB1 job after Rising’s season-ending injury.
“Spring ball, had some reps, Isaac got a bunch of the reps as well, but Brandon has made steady and continual progress since he’s been in the program,” Whittingham said.
Once again, Rose had to start the season watching from the bench.
But in the third quarter of Utah’s 17-14 loss to Houston, his number was called.
It’s not fair to pin the entirety of Utah’s offensive struggles on Wilson — everyone’s had a hand in it — play-calling, offensive line, wide receivers, tight ends and running backs — but after another less-than-inspiring performance from the true freshman, coaches had seen enough, and inserted Rose, trying to spark the offense.
“Trying to get a spark, trying to create something,” Whittingham said of the quarterback change. “We’d only scored one touchdown and just didn’t seem to be gaining any momentum offensively, so we figured it was time to give Brandon an opportunity.”
Just like Wilson, who has played injured since the Arizona game, hasn’t been put in a great situation, it was a tough spot for Rose in his first action — a tie game on the road without a ton of first-team snaps.
In his quarter-and-a-half of play, Rose looked slightly more comfortable than Wilson but couldn’t do much to turn around Utah’s offensive fate. He completed 7 of 15 passes — a couple were dropped by receivers — for 45 yards and threw an interception on the Utes’ final drive of the game.
While it wasn’t the result Rose, or the Utes, wanted, for the sophomore from Temecula, California, finally getting the chance to play was a dream come true.
“I mean, everybody dreams of that moment when they’re a kid, wanting to play big Division I football, so it was a dream come true, but we fell short. We got a loss, but shake it off and we’re on to the next,” Rose said.
In his third year in the program, after remaining loyal to Utah and sticking it out even as others got opportunities over him, it seems like Rose may get his shot to start in the Utes’ most important game on the schedule.
About all that’s left this season for Utah is to play spoiler against its rival — BYU enters the renewal of the rivalry with an undefeated record and No. 9 ranking — and try to win two games to become bowl eligible.
The book has been out on Wilson, but there’s not a ton of game film out on Rose, something that could work in Utah’s favor against BYU. Still, the Cougars won’t be caught off guard no matter which quarterback runs out there and are preparing for both.
“We have to take a look at all the quarterbacks on their roster and be ready for them,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “I think Jay (Hill) has a good start on that. I don’t think you can give Utah (coaches) a hard time about it. We have been there before, trying to figure out who will be the best guy to earn the spot. We have to prepare for all those guys.”
At 6-foot-2 and 212 pounds, Rose is bigger than Wilson and has a strong arm. He might not be as mobile as the former Corner Canyon High star, but is still a bit of a threat in the run game.
If the plan is indeed to start Rose, then he’ll have had a full week of first-team reps and a week for offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian — who will have had two weeks to put more of his spin on Utah’s offense — to game plan around him.
Even with the relative unknown of Rose in game situations, with Wilson dinged up and unable to get the offense to that next level, could he provide a better chance for the Utes to beat their rival?
We may soon find out.
“I mean, it’s a production-based business, right?” Rose said. “So if you produce, you’re producing and putting up numbers and everything, offense is rolling, offense is scoring, you’re likely to see that (QB) position stay.”
For what it’s worth, Whittingham says Rose has played his “best football as a Ute” lately in practice. Whether that translates in the game Saturday, if Rose starts, remains to be seen.
“There’s not a big body of work to gauge it off in a game situation, but he’s done a nice job in practice and continues to get better and that’s why you coach ‘em is to hopefully make ‘em better,” Whittingham said.