Just a heads up, the program is really cracking down on reporting for regular season practices: no reporting schemes and obviously injuries, and we can pretty much only talk about what's told to us from interviews.
With that said, I was able to hear from coach Whitt and he was saying that the Oline has performed a lot better and raised their intensity immensely. He feels like they are a group that can handle adversity and will gel together. He attributes the running back play to some mistakes by the Oline, but both groups worked hard in practice and in the film room to smooth over any mistakes.
He also said that he's excited about the BYU game and the rivalry, and he has nothing but respect to the BYU staff and coach Sitake. If you were worried that Sitake might know some of Utah's defensive schemes, don't fear: Whittingham said that the defense has evolved greatly in the 2 years of Kalani's absence and that he isn't worried about his knowledge on the defense. However, he did say that he picked up a lot of BYU's defensive tendencies when he watched the Arizona-BYU game, almost to the point where he knew what the coverage would be before the play was called. Hopefully that plays into Utah's hand this Saturday.
I also spoke with Raelon Singleton and Pita Taumoepenu. Singleton had about 50 yards on Thursday and could've added 30 more, if not for a SUU player's arm that got in his visual path that threw him off enough for a drop. Coming from Texas, he wasn't fully aware of the BYU-Utah rivalry, but every game he's played has been intense and loves the atmosphere.
Taumoepenu is a very humble guy, he says he plays this game for his mom and family, not for himself. His mom was here to visit this weekend for the funeral of one of his uncles, something that he's been going through this week. He thinks of the rivalry as any other game--one he wants to win. He also said that our line is interchangeable at every position and every second string player is capable of starting, so he plays like every down is his last.
More on both in a later article.
With that said, I was able to hear from coach Whitt and he was saying that the Oline has performed a lot better and raised their intensity immensely. He feels like they are a group that can handle adversity and will gel together. He attributes the running back play to some mistakes by the Oline, but both groups worked hard in practice and in the film room to smooth over any mistakes.
He also said that he's excited about the BYU game and the rivalry, and he has nothing but respect to the BYU staff and coach Sitake. If you were worried that Sitake might know some of Utah's defensive schemes, don't fear: Whittingham said that the defense has evolved greatly in the 2 years of Kalani's absence and that he isn't worried about his knowledge on the defense. However, he did say that he picked up a lot of BYU's defensive tendencies when he watched the Arizona-BYU game, almost to the point where he knew what the coverage would be before the play was called. Hopefully that plays into Utah's hand this Saturday.
I also spoke with Raelon Singleton and Pita Taumoepenu. Singleton had about 50 yards on Thursday and could've added 30 more, if not for a SUU player's arm that got in his visual path that threw him off enough for a drop. Coming from Texas, he wasn't fully aware of the BYU-Utah rivalry, but every game he's played has been intense and loves the atmosphere.
Taumoepenu is a very humble guy, he says he plays this game for his mom and family, not for himself. His mom was here to visit this weekend for the funeral of one of his uncles, something that he's been going through this week. He thinks of the rivalry as any other game--one he wants to win. He also said that our line is interchangeable at every position and every second string player is capable of starting, so he plays like every down is his last.
More on both in a later article.
