Sophomore quarterback Adam Schulz has been waiting for his chance to shine since 2011.
Last Saturday, he got it — and he didn’t disappoint. He was 12-23 passing with no interceptions and a touchdown. He started six for six, helping the Utes briefly reclaim the lead over the Arizona Wildcats in the second half after Travis Wilson’s departure. Schulz will be ready to take the reins again if Wilson can’t go Saturday.
I spent some time with him after Wednesday’s practice getting to know the QB who’s poised and ready to live his gridiron dreams.
CM: You’re from Wisconsin, so you’re probably used to the cold weather. Do you do any winter sports?
Schulz: I can’t do those skis. I can waterski a little bit. Snowboarding, my roommates have been trying to get me to do it. They’re all on the team, but I’m gonna eat it, so I’m just gonna stick to the tube. Stickin’ to the tube.
CM: Inner-tubing? Is that what they do in Wisconsin?
Schulz: Yeah people get like blow-up mattresses and stuff. It was kinda weird.
CM: You have two sisters and a brother right?
Schulz: I have an older sister, Emily, a younger sister, Alli, and a younger brother, Zach.
CM: Who are you closest with?
Schulz: Out of the kids? Probably my older sister growing up, but now I’m closer to my little brother, cause he’s like my mini-me. He plays everything I played. Almost every position. He’s going to be in high school next year.
CM: Your dad played football too, right?
Schulz: My dad played football. He was pretty good, but he ended up tearing his ACL twice. Once in high school, his senior year, and then once at junior college.
CM: You were a walk-on in 2011. How does it feel to make it to the No. 2 spot on the Utes’ depth chart?
Schulz: I owe a lot to my coach in high school who coached me at quarterback. His name is Coach Cutshaw. He got me here. Without him I would probably be going to a division 3 school back home just playing ball and staying close to home. But making it here where I’ve always dreamed to play, I owe a lot to him and my parents. If they didn’t push me, if they didn’t support me my first year, I wouldn’t be here. It just makes me happy that they don’t have me as a burden anymore.
CM: How’d it feel to step into that situation last Saturday?
Schulz: It’s what I’ve been working for the past couple years. It was a cool opportunity to help the team out and kinda help show what I’ve been trying to do and what I wanna do.
CM: What’s the most fun you’ve had away from the football field in the last month?
Schulz: I think the most fun thing that we’ve done was I had a bunch of friends come up for the Stanford game. I haven’t seen them in a long time, and this was their first game out and they came to an upset, which was pretty cool. So we just had a good time that weekend.
CM: What’s your favorite kind of music?
Schulz: It depends. You know, you got pregame music. Some pump-up, some rap. But after a long day of practice you just put on some country and get your mind back working. Because a lot of football can kind of mess with your mind. I don’t mind the old rock too.
CM: What’s your favorite song off the top of your head?
Schulz: “Take it Easy” by the Eagles, or some Tom Petty. It doesn’t matter.
CM: Anthony Denham loves fast food. What’s your favorite?
Schulz: I got a great answer for this one: I don’t care what anybody on the West Coast says, Culver’s is better than In-N-Out. Back home I have to take everybody to Culver’s. I made my roommates go with me.
CM: Thirty-three of your teammates are from Southern California. Have you ever been?
Schulz: No. My roommate Jarred Norris is from Southern Cal.
CM: What are you looking forward to seeing in L.A. this weekend?
Schulz: I wanna see what it’s like. I went to San Fransisco when we played Cal, and that was different, just the amount of people. Just that little area. I wanna see what it’s like, just ‘cause Jarred’s always talkin’ about how nice it is even though he’s from the armpit of California. I just wanna see what the big city’s like.
CM: Is there anything else we need to know about you?
Schulz: Big Packers fan. You gotta have that though. Love the Packers. 49ers suck too. You’re not a Niners fan, are you? (I’m not, I’m an Arizona Cardinals fan.)