Isaac Wilson is heading back to Utah.
The Ute quarterback entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal when it opened, intending to explore his options, but the opportunity to return to Utah was always there, even after the Utes picked up New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier.
Less than two weeks after entering his name into the portal, Wilson is rejoining Kyle Whittingham’s program.
The move gives the Utes four quarterbacks in the room ahead of the 2025 season — Dampier, Wilson and true freshmen Wyatt Becker and Jamarian Fickli — after signal-callers Brandon Rose and Sam Huard entered the transfer portal.
“Got to sit down on Friday with coach Jason Beck and coach Koy Detmer and go over the offense,” Wilson told 247Sports’ Blair Angulo. “It’s a lot more of what I did in high school and I’m very excited to compete and to see what I can do in it. They’ve had a lot of success with quarterbacks in the past.”
Wilson returns to Utah after a tumultuous 2024 season that saw him thrust into the starting role as a true freshman.
Cam Rising only played 2.5 games last year, suffering a finger injury in Week 2 against Baylor that kept him out until Week 6 against Arizona State, where he suffered a season-ending lower-body injury.
Wilson, who won the backup quarterback job over Rose in fall camp, played in nine games in his first collegiate season, with seven starts.
The former four-star Corner Canyon quarterback won his first two starts against Utah State and Oklahoma State on the road to boost the Utes’ record to 4-0, but it would be downhill from there as Utah lost the next five games Wilson started.
In the third quarter of Utah’s loss to Houston, Wilson was benched, with Rose finishing out that game and starting against BYU, but after Rose suffered an injury, Wilson was back as the team’s starter against Colorado and Iowa State before suffering a season-ending injury in the loss to the Cyclones.
Wilson threw for 1,510 yards and 10 touchdowns with 11 interceptions on 56.4% accuracy in 2024.
Utah’s offense was the weak link on the team as the Utes averaged only 23.6 points per game (14th in the Big 12), passed for just 199.4 yards per game (15th in the Big 12) and rushed for 130.4 yards per game (12th in the Big 12).
Offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig resigned midseason after Utah failed to put up more than 19 points in three games against Arizona, Arizona State and TCU, with Mike Bajakian taking over as the interim offensive coordinator.
Despite a mostly disappointing season, there were a few bright spots in Wilson’s play.
His best throw of the season came late in the year on a 40-yard touchdown pass to Dorian Singer, who caught the perfectly-placed ball over Heisman-winner Travis Hunter. He showed flashes of potential in other games, including a throw against Utah State where Wilson didn’t take the easy underneath first-down completion, but instead made a tougher downfield throw to Money Parks, dropping the ball perfectly between two defenders for a 20-yard gain, and on a 71-yard touchdown pass against TCU.
There are, however, certainly things to improve in his game if he wants to be an effective Power Four starting quarterback.
In his first year as a college quarterback, Wilson was too inaccurate, too turnover-prone, held the ball too long at times, and his field vision and reads need to improve.
“He comes in on his own and watches a ton of film so we’re doing everything we can. He’s doing everything he can to continue to develop and see things quicker,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “And that was another issue in the (Colorado) game particularly early on. It got better as the game wore on, but holding the ball too long and need to go through those reads and spit it out or tuck it and run.”
At the same time, there were some factors working against Wilson. Until Week 7, the true freshman was sharing starting practice reps with the Rising as the starting decision sometimes came down to game day.
The success stories of true freshmen starting in college football are rare for a reason, as Utah found out, and starting a player that was in high school less than a year earlier usually doesn’t lead to instant success.
With Wilson returning to Utah, what does the immediate future look like for him and the Utes?
The expectation is that Dampier will win the starting job in 2025, though there will certainly be a competition between him, Wilson and the other quarterbacks. Dampier has his own accuracy issues, completing just 57.9% of his passes, but was one of the most productive quarterbacks in college football in 2024, totaling 3,934 yards of offense. Dampier has the advantage of experience in Beck’s system, where he fits perfectly in the quarterback-run-heavy offense.
If the Utes don’t land another transfer portal quarterback, Wilson would be seemingly in line to be the backup, barring a fantastic spring and fall camp performance where he beats out Dampier. The best-case scenario would be that Dampier, who was durable at New Mexico and started every game for the Lobos despite rushing the ball 155 times, remains healthy, providing Wilson with a developmental redshirt year.
Utah still believes in Wilson’s potential, which is why the school welcomed him back for another season. Now it’s up to Wilson, and Utah’s coaches, to try and make the most out of that potential.
