Jones said the decision was not football related. He said Whieldon has withdrawn from school and does not expect him to return for the spring semester.

Whieldon returned to Ocean County, Calif., after the Warriors' 35-32 loss to Brigham Young Sept. 6.

Jones said that Shawn Withy-Allen has been elevated to the top backup behind starter Tim Chang.

Jeff Rhode, a second-year freshman from Oregon, is No. 3 and will be included in the Warriors' 60-player travel roster for Saturday's game at Texas-El Paso.

The team leaves Wednesday night.

Whieldon played the past two seasons at Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo, Calif. He earned an associate degree last December and enrolled at UH in January.

He competed in spring practice, often taking snaps with the first team while Chang recovered from wrist surgery in January.

Whieldon was the top quarterback in training camp after Chang suffered a broken right pinkie on his throwing hand Aug. 15. But Chang started UH's first two games, although Whieldon was used as the quarterback in short-yardage situations.

He threw two scoring passes against BYU.