Kyle Whittingham met the media on Monday ahead of Utah’s 2023 season opener against Florida.

Leading up to Monday, Whittingham hadn’t tipped his hand on who would be his starting quarterback, and it was the same story during his game-week press conference, either. Cam Rising, who threw for 3,034 yards and 26 touchdowns a season ago while running for six more, tore his ACL during the Rose Bowl Game in January.

That leaves it to either Bryson Barnes or Nate Johnson. Whittingham did state that Johnson would at least get some reps against the Gators.

“You’ll see Nate Johnson in this game no matter what happens,” he said. “It’s very close. Nate has really closed the gap. You’ve got to weigh everything. You’ve got Barnes, who won the Washington State game, [who] performed very well in the Ohio State game when he went in. Nate has done well in the limited reps that he’s got, but it hasn’t been extensive. So there’s been a lot of — I don’t want to say guesswork, but you’ve got to project him.”

The Utes and Gators kick off at 6 p.m. MT on Thursday from Rice-Eccles Stadium. It will be televised on ESPN.