Alright guys, I was flying solo up at practice today so bear with me. The dog days of camp are upon the team, and the nicks and dings are starting to accumulate. Whittingham didn't mention any injuries in his presser, so take that for what it's worth. Here are your five points on everything today.
1. The kickers continue to look inconsistent. They went a combined 5/9 from various distances. Gay and Johnston looked the best of the three, they both hit 2/3, but Hicken struggled and only connected on a 22 yard attempt. Johnston and Gay seem pretty solid from 40 yards or less, but anything longer than that gets a little dicey.
1a. All three kickers plus Mitch Wishnowsky worked kickoff today as well, and I really like Wishnowsky as the KOS. He was putting it out of the end zone yesterday but showed today he can drop it inside the 10 as well if that's what the situation calls for.
2. Kenric Young's transition to corner continues to go well. Troy Williams threw a somewhat ill-advised ball in a tight window to Demari Simpkins on a curl route, and Young did a great job of identifying the play. He broke up the pass, but then also came down with an INT on a tip-drill catch. Whittingham said that he is now a permanent cornerback.
2a. Speaking of defensive backs, Josh Nurse is still back playing free safety. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts, especially since Utah loves to use single high coverage with their free safeties. Nurse certainly appears to have to size, speed, and rangy ability that has made past Utah free safeties so successful.
3. The running backs had more success today than they have in the past few practices. I won't read too much into it since the team wasn't live today, but they were consistently gaining 4,5,6 yards on their carries.
3a. We also saw McCormick used in the running game today on a fly sweep. He looked good as well, gaining 10+ yards on his carry. I hope he and Fulks get the opportunity to do that often this year, their speed could make them very dangerous attacking the edges.
4. We saw Williams, Huntley, and Bateman today. All had their moments, but both Troy Taylor and Coach Whittingham said that the race between Williams and Huntley continues to be close. Huntley had a nice laser screen completion to Fulks, Bateman had a couple of good completions to Carrington and Nacua, and Williams found Alec Dana on a comeback route for about 7-8 yards.
4a. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of the QBs today, but if I had to rank them based solely on what we saw, I'd go Huntley, Williams, Bateman. This is also taking into account who they were playing against.
5. On defense, we saw Maxs Tupai taking some reps with the first team. It sounds like he's been having a good camp and should see the field plenty this season.
5a. The defensive line didn't go full speed today, so there was less pressure and run-stopping than we've seen in the past, but as several coaches have said, this line is very deep. It's likely that Utah will be able rotate 5-6 players at DT and another 5 at DE. Personally, I'm really excited to see what John Penisini can do. He's been earning praise from the coaches and has the build and skills to be a very, very good addition to the DCOCK.
Bonus point: Whitt said that Tareke Lewis and Derrick Vickers are 50/50 at best right now. He said if Lewis doesn't make it, they can use his redshirt year and bring him aboard in January, so that's a silver lining if he happens not to make it in time for this season.
1. The kickers continue to look inconsistent. They went a combined 5/9 from various distances. Gay and Johnston looked the best of the three, they both hit 2/3, but Hicken struggled and only connected on a 22 yard attempt. Johnston and Gay seem pretty solid from 40 yards or less, but anything longer than that gets a little dicey.
1a. All three kickers plus Mitch Wishnowsky worked kickoff today as well, and I really like Wishnowsky as the KOS. He was putting it out of the end zone yesterday but showed today he can drop it inside the 10 as well if that's what the situation calls for.
2. Kenric Young's transition to corner continues to go well. Troy Williams threw a somewhat ill-advised ball in a tight window to Demari Simpkins on a curl route, and Young did a great job of identifying the play. He broke up the pass, but then also came down with an INT on a tip-drill catch. Whittingham said that he is now a permanent cornerback.
2a. Speaking of defensive backs, Josh Nurse is still back playing free safety. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts, especially since Utah loves to use single high coverage with their free safeties. Nurse certainly appears to have to size, speed, and rangy ability that has made past Utah free safeties so successful.
3. The running backs had more success today than they have in the past few practices. I won't read too much into it since the team wasn't live today, but they were consistently gaining 4,5,6 yards on their carries.
3a. We also saw McCormick used in the running game today on a fly sweep. He looked good as well, gaining 10+ yards on his carry. I hope he and Fulks get the opportunity to do that often this year, their speed could make them very dangerous attacking the edges.
4. We saw Williams, Huntley, and Bateman today. All had their moments, but both Troy Taylor and Coach Whittingham said that the race between Williams and Huntley continues to be close. Huntley had a nice laser screen completion to Fulks, Bateman had a couple of good completions to Carrington and Nacua, and Williams found Alec Dana on a comeback route for about 7-8 yards.
4a. Unfortunately we didn't get to see much of the QBs today, but if I had to rank them based solely on what we saw, I'd go Huntley, Williams, Bateman. This is also taking into account who they were playing against.
5. On defense, we saw Maxs Tupai taking some reps with the first team. It sounds like he's been having a good camp and should see the field plenty this season.
5a. The defensive line didn't go full speed today, so there was less pressure and run-stopping than we've seen in the past, but as several coaches have said, this line is very deep. It's likely that Utah will be able rotate 5-6 players at DT and another 5 at DE. Personally, I'm really excited to see what John Penisini can do. He's been earning praise from the coaches and has the build and skills to be a very, very good addition to the DCOCK.
Bonus point: Whitt said that Tareke Lewis and Derrick Vickers are 50/50 at best right now. He said if Lewis doesn't make it, they can use his redshirt year and bring him aboard in January, so that's a silver lining if he happens not to make it in time for this season.
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