SALT LAKE CITY — After eight months of living in the spotlight as college football’s latest rock star, Jim Harbaugh is ready to move past the hype and get gritty on the football field.
Michigan travels to Utah on Thursday night for the season opener, a game that has to some degree, been overshadowed by the hype surrounding Harbaugh’s return to the college ranks. Not that all the interesting stuff will be on the sideline.
Both teams opened fall camp with questions about their quarterbacks, and only one has given fans a definitive answer.
Harbaugh refused to publicly name a starter but says the players know who it is. Junior Shane Morris is the lone QB to return to Michigan’s roster with starting experience — two games. Senior Jake Rudock transferred from Iowa with 25 starts under his belt. He threw for 2,436 yards with 16 touchdowns and five interceptions in 2014.
“I want both of them going into this game with the mind-set that they’re one play away or they’re starting,” Harbaugh said. “It’s the mind-set I always want our quarterback and backup quarterback going into the game with.
“If (keeping Utah in the dark) is a byproduct of it, we’ll take that as well.”
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham had a different issue. Senior Travis Wilson is a four-year starter who has struggled with consistency throughout his career. He lost the job twice in 2014 but still had an edge on senior Kendal Thompson, who replaced Wilson last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
Whittingham said the job was Wilson’s to lose at the beginning of camp and there was never an indication that he was losing it. The Utes made it official Monday.
“He just continued to play well,” Whittingham said. “He played extremely well at the end of the season, was the MVP of our bowl game, played well throughout spring. Just continued to play with that poise and confidence all through fall camp.”
Both teams are expected to roll out run-heavy offenses that don’t require the quarterback to win the game. Harbaugh was weaned on physical, run-first offenses at Michigan in the 1980s and had a similar philosophy as coach at San Diego, Stanford and with the San Francisco 49ers.
