Riding a three-game winning streak, Utah is rolling.
The Utes scored 28 straight second-half points to knock off previously ranked Arizona State at home over the weekend and they visit Oregon State Saturday (5:30 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Network).
But amid all of the good things happening right now, coach Kyle Whittingham shared some bad news Monday.
Senior long-snapper Keegan Markgraf has suffered an unspecified season-ending injury.
Whittingham called it “a big blow” to his team.
“Keegan is a captain, one of our leaders. That says something when one of our special teams guys is voted captain because that’s not really common,” he said. “He’s unfortunately done for the year. He was a big part of our special teams the last few years.”
Taking over Markgraf’s spot is J.T. Greep, a 6-foot, 214-pound freshman from Glendora High in Glendora, California.
Before arriving at Utah, Greep was ranked by Rubio Long Snapping as the top long-snapper in the state of California.
“J.T. backed (Markgraf) up and he did a great job,” Whittingham said. “We expect him to continue to do that. He’s a very talented young snapper. He’s just a freshman.”
Whittingham emphasized the importance of having a reliable long-snapper.
“It’s absolutely critical. As soon as you notice him, that’s a bad thing. As long as you’re not noticing the snapper, everything is going as it should,” he said. “We haven’t noticed Keegan hardly at all. He’s been so consistent. It’s a big factor. But we have all the confidence in the world in J.T. and we expect that he’ll get the job done.”