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Football: Defense getting the better of offense early in spring camp

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Tuesday’s spring practice was the first where the team was allowed to strap on the pads and physically tackle, as the Utes are getting more into live-action plays rather than just walking through the motions.

Head coach Kyle Whittingham said the race for starting quarterback is basically over as he continued to say Travis Wilson is the clear leader and will not be participating in the majority of the live plays.

“Travis is a proven commodity and there’s enough separation between Travis and the rest of the pack where there’s no reason to put him in harms way right now,” Whittingham said.

Back-up quarterback is still in the air, however, with Chase Hansen and Brandon Cox showing they have a very similar style of play. Whittingham likes how versatile either one can be.

“[Chase is] an exceptional learner,” Whittingham said. “Couple nice runs out there, doing a nice job taking care of the football. Brandon Cox, another dual-threat, he’s doing a good job as well protecting the ball, which is job one for a quarterback.”

It’s becoming more clear that there aren’t enough snaps to go around for quarterbacks Donovan Islom and Conner Manning, but Whittingham said they will still look over film to see what exactly happened out on the field to make sure the coaching staff makes the right decisions.

During practice, the defense got to the offense quite a few times, causing fumbles, tipping passes and forcing interceptions. While the defense has been sticking from all areas, this is partly due to the fact Devontae Booker is not seeing much live action on the offensive side of the ball.

“Very apparently defense is ahead of the offense right now, but that’s an offense without Booker,“ Whittingham said. “Booker makes a huge difference so we can’t get a really accurate gage with Booker on the side. The defense is a seasoned group, a lot of experience and they had their way the offense.”

As they looked in the 2014 season, the receiving corps couldn’t keep up to speed in Tuesday’s practice. While the group has seen its struggles, Whittingham isn’t too worried about it. He went on to mention that one of Utah’s more prolific receivers in Kenneth Scott will not see many live plays until he is back to 100 percent.

“It’s more precautionary,” Whittingham said. “If we had a game he could probably go, but we don’t want to have a chronic situation. He’s also a proven commodity. He will get very little live work, even when he is healthy.”

While Whittingham sees improvement needed for the offense, the offensive line is feeling good about the competition and where the athletes are at this point in the spring season. Sam Tevi, a defensive player last season, is making the switch to offense, and is adjusting to protecting the quarterback rather than rushing him.

“I need to develop more footwork,” Tevi said. “We have a fun time on and off the field, but when it comes down to it we know the quarterback is our first priority.”

Redshirt freshman Jackson Barton also feels as though all the pieces are coming together and thinks the team has a great bond.

“This development has been great,” Barton said. “I see it every day because we’re always helping each other out, we’re never down on each other. We’re all really picking up each other every day.”

The offense is very confident in co-offensive coordiantor Jim Harding and what he continues to bring to the team.

“I, 100 percent, believe in everything [Harding] tells me to do,” Barton said. “He’s a good guy. First year here, he was always in our butt. Now, he’s chill and relaxed. He sees how we are personality-wise and tries to develop to that.”

The Utes will resume spring practice on Thursday.

[email protected]


@kbrenneisen


 

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