With fall camp for the University of Utah football team getting underway with its first practice on Friday, July 28, it’s official – football is back and it’s here to stay. With some offseason changes that included welcoming a new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Troy Taylor, saying goodbye to eight Utes in the NFL draft and most recently adding former Oregon wide receiver Darren Carrington II to the roster, there is work to be done and the Utes are getting right to it.
According to Utah football head coach Kyle Whittingham, his team had a solid first day of fall camp.
“They’ve got off to a good start,” Whittingham said. “[It’s] very apparent that they put in a lot of work on their own with the player-run practices, which I think is going to be a very big benefit in the long run. We were able to start with much more advanced type of practice than we would have had they not done that.”
Utes add Carrington to roster
Carrington, the former Oregon receiver who seemingly ruined Utah’s hopes of making it to the Pac-12 title game last season when he caught a touchdown pass with two seconds left to play to give the Ducks an upset win in Salt Lake City last season, 30-28, has switched allegiances.
The graduate transfer was dismissed from the Oregon football program in July and he has been involved with incidents involving the law. What happened in the past didn’t drive Utah away from the former Oregon star, however.
“Like the rest of the guys, he’s just got to start working and learning,” Whittingham said. “That’s the main thing right now, the mental part of it, because he’s at square one as far as learning the offense, but he’s willing. He’s got a great work ethic out here, that was evident today and he’s very, very talented.”
Carrington tallied 43 receptions for 606 yards and five touchdowns during his 2016 season to make him the Ducks’ leading receiver. With his experience, he could become a positive force and play an important role this upcoming season in his final year of eligibility.
“I told him ‘Hey thanks for breaking my heart last year,’” said Utah football defensive coordinator and safeties coach Morgan Scalley. “I said, ’Yeah, I’m the DC [defensive coordinator]’ and I think he thought he was the DC [Darren Carrington]. I think he got confused there. He’s a good kid.”
Quarterback battle in full throttle
The three-way starting quarterback battle between last season’s starter Troy Williams, sophomore Tyler Huntley and former Alabama player Cooper Bateman has begun.
“We’re going to take a look at all three guys, similar to what we did in the spring,” Taylor said. “Tyler and Troy will get probably a little bit more of the reps, and then Cooper will get some as well.”
Williams hopes to secure the position by staying consistent and making plays, but he notes that all three Utes are benefiting from Taylor’s talents.
“It’s a healthy competition,” Williams said. “We’re all great quarterbacks. Coach Taylor is doing a great job of coaching us up.”
With the Utes bringing on Taylor to the coaching staff, Utah is looking to change the results it has gotten in the past when it comes to that side of the ball – and it starts with the quarterbacks.
“We’ve been running the heck out of the ball for a lot of years,” Whittingham said. “The last three years in particular we haven’t gotten over the hump. We’re coming up short and we’ve got to be better in throwing the football. That’s his forte, that’s his area of expertise. That and quarterback development.”
Fall camp wraps up on Aug. 19.
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