Through spring practice, much of the attention has been focused on the quarterback battle and how well the offensive line is playing compared to the defensive line. This past Saturday morning, however, all units were in sync as the receiving core finally made its way into the conversation after a strong showing from several players.
Sophomore tight end Wallace Gonzalez made some noise after catching three touchdowns, two from Brandon Cox and one from Tyler Huntley. As a whole, the receiving core has been showing some necessary improvements. This is a group that will be without the likes of Britain Covey and Kenneth Scott next season, so head coach Kyle Whittingham hopes to see more and more players reach their full potential.
Caleb Repp caught a 50 yard touchdown, and although he has not done much to separate himself from the rest of the pack, he is finally getting into a groove. When the day was done, Repp finished with a total of 109 yards on five catches and is starting to live up to his coach’s expectations.
“He’s been quiet and hasn’t done the things we hoped he would do, at least to this point, but today he did them,” Whittingham said. “That’s what we expect out of Caleb.”
Tyrone Smith finished the day with 57 yards on five catches. The day didn’t start out so hot for the offense, however. Opening up the scrimmage, the offense was having a hard time getting anything going against the defense. Whittingham was disappointed in the sluggish start and so was co-offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick.
Roderick knows there are plenty of things that the offense can work on and although it may not always play like it did on Saturday, it does need to come out with a similar mindset from now on.
“We got to match our defense’s intensity every day,” Roderick said. “We’re always going to be known as a tough team and we’re going to compete every day. We won’t play great every day, but we’ll always compete.”
Roderick was pleased with the performance he got out of his quarterbacks, with the exception of Troy Williams, who did not participate. Williams will not compete in the rest of spring practice because of an injury.
Although the injury is nothing to worry about, the coaching staff would rather not risk any further damage. As for the starting title, the team will not make a decision by the end of spring and once fall comes around, Williams, in addition to Cox and Huntley, will receive a fair shot. During these two weeks Huntley and Cox could gain some ground, however.
After recording three touchdowns and 223 yards, Cox seems like he is in the driver’s seat after his Saturday performance, but Whittingham notes that he and Huntley still have a lot to prove. Huntley is making a few “freshman mistakes,” but Whittingham is noticing fewer of them every practice.
“I think Brandon may have had his best day as a Ute,” Whittingham said. “He was poised, making some nice throws. Tyler’s still got a lot to learn, but he’s got so much upside. His ceiling is extremely high.”
The quarterbacks took a few sacks in the scrimmage, but the offensive line is playing much better than it did to start spring practices. It needs to work on making more room for the run game, but aside from that it’s making plenty of progress.
Although there is still a lot to be done, Whittingham likes where the offense is heading and hopes it continues to improve for the last couple of weeks.
@kbrenneisen