Utah Football: 3 reasons Charlie Brewer should be Utes’ QB1
A career that should’ve been celebrated as one of the all-time greats in Baylor history, ended in somber fashion for quarterback Charlie Brewer. The signal-caller that raised the Bears out of the Big 12 cellar, and away from the Art Briles’ scandal, went through a brutal, 2020 season where much of the blame was unfairly placed on him.
Brewer transferred to the Utah football program after the year and is out to prove the doubters wrong.
The upcoming, fifth-year senior enters a position battle where experienced quarterback play is in short supply. Last year’s starter Jake Bentley transferred away. The only returner is Cameron Rising who has six career pass attempts. Redshirt freshman Ja’Quinden Jackson also transferred in from Texas, but he has zero pass attempts in his career.
Rising is a former four-star recruit that totaled 51 touchdowns (40 passing and 11 rushing) in his final year of prep ball, and Texas transfer Jackson was the third-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the country coming out of high school.
With that said, neither compare to Brewer in this battle when it comes to experience, production, and leadership in a college game. And here are three reasons why he will end up as Utah’s starter in 2021.
3. Production/experience
Production-wise, Brewer left Baylor as the program’s greatest passer not named Robert Griffin III. He is the all-time leader in completions (828) and attempts (1304) and second only to RG3 in passing yards (9,700), completion percentage (63.5), passing touchdowns (65), and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (22).
He’s a QB that’s faced extreme adversity, seen both ends of success and failure in college football, and stayed composed above all of it nonetheless. The Bears went 1-11 in 2017, but he showed he could start at the college level as a true freshman throwing for 1,562 yards, 11 touchdowns against four interceptions, while completing 68.1-percent of his passes.
He then led them to a 7-6 record and Texas Bowl win in 2018, upping his numbers to 3,109 passing yards, 19 touchdowns to nine interceptions, 375 rushing yards, and four scores on the ground.
Finally, his career peaked big time in 2019, going 11-1 in the regular season, earning appearances in the Big 12 title game and Sugar Bowl. In his junior season, he set career highs, passing with 3,161 yards and 21 touchdowns to go along with just seven interceptions. He added 344 rushing yards and 11 scores for good measure.