Utah Utes football notebook: Backup QB Wynn's still a candidate to redshirt this year

After naming Terrance Cain as the starting quarterback over freshman Jordan Wynn in August, both coach Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Dave Schramm said Wynn would see action this year as Cain's backup.

However, after four games, Wynn has done nothing but hold a clipboard and help send in signals to Cain.

On Monday, Whittingham said it's a "possibility," that Wynn could end up redshirting, which would save him a year of eligibility. But what happens if Cain goes down with an injury in one of the final games of the season?

"I don't want to speculate on speculation," Whittingham said.

Ideally, the Utes would like to save a year for Wynn, but with no other backup quarterbacks, the Utes may try to get Wynn some snaps during the next month and give him some experience in case something happened to Cain.

WHERE'S DEVONTE?: At the conclusion of fall practice, Whittingham praised DeVonte Christopher, the quarterback-turned-receiver as the most improved player on the team.

So where has Christopher been all year? Although he has played, he has yet to catch a pass or run the ball in any of Utah's four games.

"We've got a lot of good receivers," Whittingham said. "He's behind some pretty good players."

Whittingham points out that Christopher is playing on a couple of the Utes' special teams and is "contributing" to the team even if he isn't catching a lot of passes. With receiver Shaky Smithson getting reps as a running back, Christopher may get more chances to catch passes, Whittingham said.

NO POWS FOR UTES: Last year, Utah dominated the MWC Player of the Week awards with 12 honors, four more than TCU and BYU.

This year, the Utes aren't faring so well. After five weeks, the Utes have yet to pick up a MWC POW honor. The only other team that hasn't picked up a MWC weekly award is 0-5 New Mexico.

A year ago, kicker Louie Sakoda led the league with five POW honors, while quarterback Brian Johnson had three.

EXTRA POINTS: The Utes rank first in the MWC in total offense with 423.8 yards per game and 23rd in the country. Utah is also 23rd in rushing offense and third in the MWC . . . Among individuals, safety Robert Johnson is tied for seventh in the country in fumble recoveries and placekicker Joe Phillips is 21st with 1.67 field goals per game . . . With Walter Watts questionable for this week, freshman Tevita Stevens will likely get most of the reps at right guard against Colorado State.

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