Charlie Brewer has been named the Utah starting quarterback for the 2021 college football season. Brewer, a Baylor transfer, beat out fellow Big 12-transfer quarterback Cameron Rising for the job this fall.
Who is Charlie Brewer?
Brewer is scheduled to lead the Utah offense in 2021 after starting the past four seasons at Baylor. A native of Austin, Texas, Brewer started 39 of his 44 career games for the Bears.
He left Baylor as the school’s all-time leader in total completions at 828. Brewer also ranked second in Baylor history in completion percentage (63.5%), passing yards (9,700), and touchdown passes (65). Announcing his transfer in December of last year, Brewer had a solid spring and fall camp, leading to Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham naming him the starter.
With his accurate arm and quick decision-making, Brewer proved he could win big games at Baylor. He may not test the deep waters too often, but when he does, it’s more often than not a catchable ball thrown to his receiver’s hands.
It didn’t just start at Baylor, either. Brewer was a dominant high school star at Lake Travis High School. The Cavaliers were led to an impressive 30-2 record during his time as the starting QB, winning two state titles in his junior and senior seasons.
Carrying that momentum over to Baylor, Brewer finished his career with the Bears with two 400-yard passing games and 25 career games with at least 200 passing yards.
Beating out Cameron Rising
After it was announced that Brewer was transferring to Utah, a quarterback battle quickly developed between him and Cameron Rising. A fellow transfer from a Big 12 school, Rising transferred to Utah from the University of Texas in 2019.
A highly sought-after recruit, Rising redshirted at Texas in 2018 before sitting out 2019 with the Utes. He started one game in 2020 before suffering a season-ending injury against USC. He finished 3/6 for just 45 yards with 1 INT against the Trojans last season.
Rising was unable to beat out Brewer despite being named a 2021 Fall Captain for the Utah football program, something that has become a trend for the Utes as of late. The news of Brewer’s nod as the starter didn’t come as much surprise after he was named to the Davey O’Brien Award and Maxwell Award preseason watch lists this offseason.
For the second consecutive year, the Utah Utes will trot out a Power Five transfer as their starting quarterback. Brewer follows then-South Carolina transfer QB Jake Bentley, who started the 2020 season for the Utes. Bentley — now at South Alabama — finished 3-1 as the starting quarterback a season ago with wins against Oregon State, Colorado, and Washington State.
Charlie Brewer’s prognosis in 2021 as Utah’s starting QB
As mentioned, Brewer presents a unique challenge for defenses. He’s a quick decision-maker and has an incredibly accurate arm. Few quarterbacks are as experienced as Brewer is in 2021, if any. It also helps that the season-opening game for Brewer comes against Weber State on Thursday, September 2.
The game against Weber will be a terrific warm-up contest for Brewer as they’ll prepare for this year’s Holy War against BYU. The two teams missed last season’s annual matchup due to the pandemic.
Brewer has all the tools to defeat BYU and make a run at the Pac-12 South title. They have a tough Pac-12 schedule ahead of them, but with Brewer’s announcement as the starting QB, few have the amount of experience at quarterback as Utah.
For Brewer to see success this season, he’ll certainly need to rely on his accuracy early on while continuing to develop a good rapport with his receiving corps. He’ll also have to rely on some wins to ingratiate himself with those inside the walls of Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Starting 2-0 — specifically winning that contest against BYU — would be a terrific way to do that. Brewer would also become a hero in the process.
Cam Mellor is the Senior Director of NFL News/Analysis for Pro Football Network. He is also the co-host of Between the Hashes, a college football, and NFL draft podcast. You can find his writing here. Follow him on Twitter @CamMellor.