We have officially entered the "dark period"- at least as far as football or most college sports are concerned. From here on out it's a countdown to fall camp and the start of another year of Utah Athletics.
This may have been the most disappointing outing for the offense all spring, but on the other hand was anyone expecting much different? The goal at this point is to keep guys safe and ready to put their noses to the grind come fall. Still, a few things stood out today.
1) Utah will have to work overtime to figure out their center situation. What was going on this afternoon just will not cut it. The exchanges took too long at times and often were bobbled- this was particularly bad for Brandon Cox early on, but he got the hang of it. It's not sounding good at all for Lutui and that means the Utes need to start working on plan b.
2) I felt the receivers had more drops than they have all camp today. Balls they had been coming up with they weren't. It happens, but they had better be hungry to continue their growth because what happened today will not cut it in the PAC-12 and they know it. A couple of guys did stand out however, Caleb Repp had five catches for the White squad that resulted in 96 yards and 1 touchdown. For the Red squad it was all about Chad Hekking (who I get so confused with Handley because of the number switching that I just can't get used to) with seven catches for 63 yards. Also worth mentioning is Tyler Cooperwood and Siaosi Wilson for the White squad. Coop hauled in four passes for 58 yards and while Wilson only had two catches for 44 yards he made it count with one of the most impressive catches of the day- a 41 yard bomb from quarterback Tyler Huntley.
3) That Tyler Huntley kid just might have a future in football. This was the best he's shown in a scrimmage during spring. He had poise, he had leadership. He moved the chains well and never showed any nerves. On the day he was 17-26 for 233 yards and a touchdown pass. I still wouldn't personally opt to have him be the starter unless he can utterly destroy Cox and Williams in the fall and leave no question, but you have to love the potential there. Exciting times. This wasn't Cox's best showing this spring but his numbers still aren't anything to sneeze at- especially compared to the dog and pony shows Utah has put on in the past. He was 17-31 passing today for 146 yards. Considering he had some ground to make up he did well and it's nice to know Utah has at least two options at quarterback and it will be fun to see how Williams plays into it come fall.
4) Not the most electrifying day for the running backs. Joe Williams (White) quickly got shut down after he had his feet taken out from under him on a real good play from Boobie Hobbs that drew a loud crowd reaction. From there on out it was Tani Leha'uli for the White squad who had six carries for 39 yards- the most productive of any of the backs on the day. On the Red team they struggled to get much going. Troy McCormick carried the ball four times for nine yards and Marcel Manalo carried the ball two times for 19 yards and the lone touchdown for Team Red.
5) Just some interesting side numbers. Time of possession for the White Squad was 22:22 and the Red Squad was 17:38. Third down conversions for both teams weren't that great- White: 3 of 10, Red: 2 of 8. Fourth down was interesting- White Squad: 3 of 3, Red: 1 of 3. Red Zone Scoring could use some work-White: 1-3, Red: 1-1.
This may have been the most disappointing outing for the offense all spring, but on the other hand was anyone expecting much different? The goal at this point is to keep guys safe and ready to put their noses to the grind come fall. Still, a few things stood out today.
1) Utah will have to work overtime to figure out their center situation. What was going on this afternoon just will not cut it. The exchanges took too long at times and often were bobbled- this was particularly bad for Brandon Cox early on, but he got the hang of it. It's not sounding good at all for Lutui and that means the Utes need to start working on plan b.
2) I felt the receivers had more drops than they have all camp today. Balls they had been coming up with they weren't. It happens, but they had better be hungry to continue their growth because what happened today will not cut it in the PAC-12 and they know it. A couple of guys did stand out however, Caleb Repp had five catches for the White squad that resulted in 96 yards and 1 touchdown. For the Red squad it was all about Chad Hekking (who I get so confused with Handley because of the number switching that I just can't get used to) with seven catches for 63 yards. Also worth mentioning is Tyler Cooperwood and Siaosi Wilson for the White squad. Coop hauled in four passes for 58 yards and while Wilson only had two catches for 44 yards he made it count with one of the most impressive catches of the day- a 41 yard bomb from quarterback Tyler Huntley.
3) That Tyler Huntley kid just might have a future in football. This was the best he's shown in a scrimmage during spring. He had poise, he had leadership. He moved the chains well and never showed any nerves. On the day he was 17-26 for 233 yards and a touchdown pass. I still wouldn't personally opt to have him be the starter unless he can utterly destroy Cox and Williams in the fall and leave no question, but you have to love the potential there. Exciting times. This wasn't Cox's best showing this spring but his numbers still aren't anything to sneeze at- especially compared to the dog and pony shows Utah has put on in the past. He was 17-31 passing today for 146 yards. Considering he had some ground to make up he did well and it's nice to know Utah has at least two options at quarterback and it will be fun to see how Williams plays into it come fall.
4) Not the most electrifying day for the running backs. Joe Williams (White) quickly got shut down after he had his feet taken out from under him on a real good play from Boobie Hobbs that drew a loud crowd reaction. From there on out it was Tani Leha'uli for the White squad who had six carries for 39 yards- the most productive of any of the backs on the day. On the Red team they struggled to get much going. Troy McCormick carried the ball four times for nine yards and Marcel Manalo carried the ball two times for 19 yards and the lone touchdown for Team Red.
5) Just some interesting side numbers. Time of possession for the White Squad was 22:22 and the Red Squad was 17:38. Third down conversions for both teams weren't that great- White: 3 of 10, Red: 2 of 8. Fourth down was interesting- White Squad: 3 of 3, Red: 1 of 3. Red Zone Scoring could use some work-White: 1-3, Red: 1-1.
