It may sound extreme, but I'm proposing that the Utes start 3rd-string quarterback Kevin Dunn. Yes, forget Tommy Grady and Brett Ratliff and go for the guy that no one ever thought would see the football field this season. This is, as they call it, a last ditched effort to save a season quickly tumbling into despair.
I don't want to blame Brett Ratliff for the problems this team faces, because I think a lot of it -- as I've said for a while now -- falls on the shoulders of both Andy Ludwig and Kyle Whittingham. However sometimes you need to shake things up just enough to light a spark and starting Dunn may be what the doctor ordered. But there's a catch, we build our game plan around Dunn and don't just throw him in with the same blasé offense we've seen all year. Put Dunn in, actually secure a running game and play off of that. Surely Dunn can't be any worse than what we have currently, right?
I honestly don't know how good of a quarterback Dunn is outside of his impressive showing in the spring game. There he looked like a formable foe to Tommy Grady and I honestly think he'd at least move the ball without the game killing turnovers we've seen from both Ratliff and Grady in all 3 of Utah's losses. Really though, I don't know if Dunn is the answer, but at this point Whittingham needs to send a message. By bypassing both Ratliff and Grady and starting Dunn against New Mexico, it shows Whittingham is not about to accept losing and that actually may make Ratliff win his job back, or at least position Grady into taking over the role for the remainder of the season.
Basically, Whittingham needs to sit down and have a talk with Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. He's a master at yanking players that are ineffective and throwing them into his doghouse. Often times those players bounce back and improve greatly, much like Williams did last year. Sometimes they do not, but it's definitely a gut check experiment that I believe has more positives than negatives. We should not concede this season, however I fear keeping with the status quo will do just that.