At the beginning of last season, no one really knew who Caleb Repp was. He played wide receiver in high school, but when he came to Salt Lake City he had to change positions to tight end for his freshman year. Although he fit neither position perfectly — head coach Kyle Whittingham often called him a “tweener” last season — he played his role exactly how the team had envisioned.
As a true freshman, he first entered the field against Oregon and his first two catches at the collegiate level resulted in two touchdowns. He seemingly came out of nowhere, being overshadowed by the play of Britain Covey and Kenneth Scott, but after this spring, it looks as if he could be the one to step into their shoes. He’s made the position change back to wide receiver yet again, and he’s showing what he’s capable of.
His height is certainly an advantage. Repp stands at 6-foot-5-inches, and thinks that because of this, any 50-50 balls that are thrown his way will be in his favor.
“I’m bigger than most the guys out there so that really helps me out,” Repp said.
While he may not have been as impressive as the coaches expected opening up spring practices, Repp has played well when it has mattered the most. He put up decent numbers in the team’s two scrimmages and came out full-throttle in the Red-White game this last Saturday. He finished with 96 yards, the most of any receiver, on five catches and also had a 36-yard touchdown.
He played for the White team, which went on to win the game 14-7, but as for his score, he attributes that partly to his quarterback, Tyler Huntley.
Huntley, like Repp, had a nice showing during the Red-White game after throwing for 233 yards and was 17-of-26. These two have bonded over this last month and it’s because of this that they found a way to win.
“Caleb had a great spring,” Huntley said. “He’s making plays, in and out, every day. Consistency, and he’s very good to our offense.”
Both Repp and Huntley mentioned that one of the big reasons they were able to find success on the field Saturday afternoon was that they weren’t putting too much stock into the game. Granted, Huntley is playing for that starting quarterback position, but both felt if they did not take the game too seriously and savored the moment more than anything else, they would pull out a win — and they did.
The end goal of spring is to improve individually and as a team, but winning has its upsides when the losing team is forced to clean the football facility.
“These are my boys, my friends, so we’re just trying to have fun,” Repp said. “Even when we’re out here, we’re just trying to make each other better.”
Whittingham thinks that aside from one mishandle, Repp performed well and how the day went for the entire receiving unit was more or less how it went for the entire spring. At the beginning of spring and at the beginning of the Red-White game, the receivers didn’t start off so hot. What should have been easy catches were dropped and it took a few minutes for the receivers to really sync up with the quarterbacks.
As the receivers steadily got their footing down and routes memorized, things began to fall into place. By the end of spring and the end of the Red-White game, there was clear progress.
“Repp’s doing a nice job,” Whittingham said. “He made some plays today, I think he had one drop, but he’s coming and he’s making some good things happen. Overall the receivers have to step up for us this year. They were sloppy early on, but finished pretty good today.”
For now, Repp is looking forward to having some time off before practices pick up again in the fall, but when they do, he’ll be ready for the grind once again.
“Feels good to go home for the summer and relax and hang out,” Repp said. “[This performance] feels good, but it just has to carry over into the fall now, that’s what it’s all about. Spring doesn’t really matter, just get it in the fall and play well in the season.”
@kbrenneisen