The Utes are 10 days away from facing their longtime rival BYU in the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl. Preparation now begins for the 9-3 Utes as they hope to come away with their second straight Vegas Bowl win and bragging rights for the 2016 season.
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham and the rest of his staff will be using the rest of the week to study the Cougars. Even though these two teams know each other very well, Whittingham feels it’s more of a challenge with the short amount of time the Utes have to dissect “the team down south,” but he says the team is on track with practice.
“We’ve had some really good practices over the weekend,” Whittingham said. “We’re right on schedule.”
Even though many Utah fans and players are disappointed with their selection into the Vegas Bowl, Whittingham is more surprised and downplayed the intensity of the Holy War.
“There was less frustration but more surprise [with the selection],” said Whittingham. “Just give us a location and an opponent. We’re just getting ready, going through our paces, just like we always do.”
Watching the Cougars’ offense
One of the main challenges the Utes will have against BYU is stopping their offense, which has had some impressive moments during their 2015 regular season. Utah defensive coordinator John Pease knows his job will be tough, and he will be working overtime with his defense to make sure the players are prepped to stop Cougar quarterback Tanner Mangum and company.
“We’re studying them a lot,” Pease said. “They’re a good football team. When you lose to UCLA by one point, and lost less than we did against the Bruins, they’re no fluke. Their wide receivers are very dangerous, they do a great job going after the ball, they are probably one of the best I’ve seen going at 50-50 balls, they got great body control and Mangum just seems to find them well.”
Pease also has respect for Cougar freshman Mangum, who has overachieved this season after taking the reigns from injured starter Taysom Hill.
“For a young quarterback he seems to be a polished guy,” Pease said. “He’s very athletic. He gets squared up and throws really well on the runs. He’s got the ability to run around the pocket and find some open areas to throw the ball. Hopefully we will try to control those pockets and keep him where he can’t move.”
Utah’s defense will also have to be wary of the big physical presence the Cougars have on their roster. But Pease believes his unit is ready to match them.
“We hope that our big, strong, physical guys can match up with them,” said Pease. “They have the ability to run some ‘power football.’ They have some big strong backs that can force the ball up the field. We’ve got to recognize the situation. It will be a lot of film work for our young guys.”
Phillips’ thoughts on entering Draft
Will he or won’t he go pro? That’s the question Andy Phillips must contemplate after potentially his final collegiate game as a Ute. With Phillips being one of the better kickers in the Pac-12 the past couple of years, there’s a chance that a number of NFL teams would be looking forward to acquiring his services if he enters the 2016 NFL Draft.
“[Entering the draft] is obviously something that I will explore,” Phillips said. “It would be a bad business decision if I didn’t look into it and see what kind of future I have with it. For right now, to be honest, I’m just focused on the bowl game.”
Though Phillips has other plans in mind — to enter graduate school and further his education at the U — he will take the necessary amount of time to discuss the possibility of going pro, coming back for another year or going elsewhere with his coaches and, of course, his family.
“I’ll leave that assessment up to my parents and coaches. I’ll obviously seek coach Whittingham’s advice, but for now, I’m planning on going into the information systems program next year and focusing on beating BYU,” he said.
@chad_marquez