3 in hunt to start at tailback for Utes

And then there were three.

Head coach Kyle Whittingham and his staff have narrowed the field of candidates for Utah's starting tailback job to Matt Asiata, Darryl Poston and Ray Stowers.

"We feel good about all three of those guys," said Whittingham, who plans to give each running back an opportunity to win the position in Thursday's season opener at Oregon State. "... All will get a shot."

The most efficient back, he explained, will get a majority of the carries. Other than seeing how things flow in the game, there's no specific timetable.

"As soon as it sorts itself out we'll start redistributing the reps accordingly," Whittingham said. "It could be midgame, it could be the first couple of series. I really can't give you a concrete answer."

The Utes, he noted, hoped to have the issue settled long ago. But a sprained left foot prevented Asiata from participating in any live work during camp.

Asiata's injury, coupled with strong showings by Poston and Stowers, left little separation between the challengers.

"We're going to rotate our running backs into the game," Whittingham said. "Whoever has the hot hand is who we're going to go with."

Whittingham acknowledged a case can be made for each competitor. He said that Poston, a senior who led the Utes with 553 yards rushing in 2006, got better as the season wore on. And Stowers, he continued, may have been the best back in spring and arguably fall as well.

Darrell Mack, a junior who was also in the mix, will likely redshirt — an option Poston and Stowers do not have. As for Asiata, a junior college All-American at Snow, Whittingham said he was brought in for a reason — to play right away.

"Darrell had a redshirt year still available and it made no sense to burn all of our running backs' eligibility all at once," he said.

Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig said each of the backs will play an important role for the Utes.

"Matt's done a good job with the reps that he's had," he said. "As I've mentioned before, the other backs in the program have gotten better. We're better and deeper at that position than we have been in my first two years here."

The key thing, he emphasized, is getting one guy to step up and go.

"I believe I can be the hot-hand guy," said Asiata, who is comfortable with the upcoming auditions against Oregon State. "But we've got to see what the other players can do first."