We needed every rep. The key now is to grade it, show it to them, correct our mistakes, and move forward. – Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
SALT LAKE CITY — After a scrimmage featuring more than 100 plays Thursday morning at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said it was exactly what the Utes needed — a lot of work.
“We needed every rep,” he noted. “The key now is to grade it, show it to them, correct our mistakes, and move forward.”
Overall, Whittingham said the first camp scrimmage was a bit of a mixed bag. Although plays were made, particularly on defense, he explained that the offense didn’t take good enough care of the football. There were also too many administrative penalties and drops by the receivers.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Whittingham said. “We need every bit of these last three weeks.”
Junior running back Joe Williams had the biggest play of the scrimmage, scoring on a 60-yard run. The only other touchdowns came on a 13-yard pass from Chase Hansen to Bubba Poole and on an 8-yard run by Travis Wilson. Kickers Andy Phillips and Jon Halliday connected on field goals from 31 and 34 yards out, respectively.
“We did some good things. Too many turnovers, too many dropped balls were the two negatives,” said co-offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. “I thought we had a few big plays.”
Williams topped seven players with rushing attempts, finishing with 80 yards on 12 carries. His speed on the breakaway score was particularly impressive.
“No one could catch him,” Whittingham said. “We have some fast defenders and nobody could catch him. So that was encouraging.”
Co-offensive coordinator Jim Harding added that it was good to see that outburst. The junior college transfer took the primary reps at running back with starter Devontae Booker being held out for precautionary reasons.
“I think we’ll be fine in the run game,” Harding said. “We’ve got to protect better up front and that will help the throw game as well.”
Utah quarterbacks Travis Wilson, Kendal Thompson and Chase Hansen were a combined 19-of-46 passing for 163 yards with three interceptions (one by each QB) and a touchdown.
Whittingham summarized that there was good and bad about the performances. However, he felt the quarterback play dropped off as the scrimmage progressed.
Wilson, who completed just six of his 17 passes for 55 yards, acknowledged that there were some dropped balls and that things weren’t great in the two-minute situation segment.
“It’s all things we can work on,” he said. “We got to move the ball downfield a little bit, so we’ve just got to make sure we finish out drives.”
The receivers in the scrimmage were young. Projected season contributors Kenneth Scott, Tim Patrick and Raelon Singleton were all relegated to “The Pit” with undisclosed injuries.
“The downside is the execution is not as good as it should be or could be,” Whittingham said. “But the upside is these freshmen are getting invaluable reps.”
Receiver Britain Covey led 11 receivers in the scrimmage with four catches. Wilson noted that the younger guys are stepping up — so far, so good — but there’s still more work to do.
Roderick agrees.
“That’s what the scrimmages are for. These guys have got to show if they can play for us this year,” he said. “I think we’re on track but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Even so, Roderick observed positives as well.
“I thought Travis did a nice job getting the ball where it needs to go. He’s making good decisions and for the most part throwing it where it needs to be,” Roderick said. “Joe made a big run, showed some speed. It’s fun to see him break away. So there’s a lot of good things.”
Utah’s defense, though, had more. The guys on the other side of the ball combined to make eight tackles for loss, five pass breakups, three interceptions and a trio of sacks.
“The scrimmage went well,” said senior linebacker Gionni Paul, who expressed confidence that the errors here and there by the defense can be cleaned up by the end of camp. “I believe the effort and the intensity was there.”
Paul, Jared Norris, Jordan Fogal, Seni Fauonuku, Hunter Dimick, Jason Fanaika, Casey Hughes and Filipo Mokofisi all made stops behind the line of scrimmage. Fauonuku, Fanaika and Mokofisi were credited with sacks.
Whittingham said he was very pleased with the corners, particularly junior Reggie Porter. He added that the defense has a “salty” front seven — one that is difficult to run against by they’re so physical and difficult to throw on because they can get up field and rush the passer.
Paul, Porter, Andre Godfrey, Tavaris Williams and Justin Williams broke up passes in the scrimmage, while Godfrey, Fogal and Cory Butler-Byrd had interceptions.
Despite the impressive numbers, defensive coordinator John Pease was concerned about some defenders being out of position or missing tackles.
“We’ve got a long way to go to polish up,” he said. “I think we’ve just got to keep fine tuning.”
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