SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah opened up fall camp Monday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, with the coaching staff pleased with the progress and ability to start the season off well.

“It was very apparent the offense, in particular, has put in a lot of time in the offseason getting in the playbook,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “You’d never know it was the first day with the way the tempo and execution was offensively.

“It was an exceptional day one, but it’s only day one. But we can’t lose sight of that,” Whittingham added. “We’ve got to start stringing them together and putting good practices and good work together consecutively. We’ll see if we’re mentally tough enough to do that.”

Coming into camp, the expected battle between returning quarterback Travis Wilson and Oklahoma transfer Kendal Thompson was the most talked about aspect of fall camp. Considering Utah has struggled to keep a quarterback healthy every season since 2008, the position battle is one the staff is not taking lightly.

“It’s an important decision and we’ve got to make the right one and we’ve got to have enough of a body of work to evaluate, to make that right decision,” Whittingham said.

Wilson and Thompson both split reps with the first and second team today, showcasing their ability to command the offense. In the short amount of time given to media to watch practice, Wilson made better passes, including a deep ball to Kenneth Scott, while Thompson was much more effective at scrambling and getting out of the pocket to extend the play.

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“He (Thompson) made some plays and showed his ability to get out of the pocket and extend the play,” offensive coordinator Dave Christensen said. “He made some nice throws. He made some good decision on the zone read.”

“When there is no play there to be made, and everything is broken down, he makes something happen,” Whittingham said. “He can make that play when there’s imminent disaster and turn it into a positive play.”

Christensen added that he was impressed with Wilson’s abilities on the field and what he’s done in the offseason to be a leader on the team.

“I was real pleased with Travis (Wilson),” he said. “He’s in terrific shape. He’s taken an active leadership role, a more vocal operating of the offense, the tempo. I’m really pleased with the leadership at that position, really.”

Wilson and Thompson are expected to battle it out for the starting role for much of the training camp, but Christensen and Whittingham seem to be on different pages when wanting to name a starter.

“We’ve got to get an evaluation,” Christensen said. “You can’t slowly do that, we want to get a quick evaluation.”

“You can’t do it in one day, can’t do it in one week most likely,” Whittingham said. “But we’ve got to get it done eventually. … It’s obviously got to be done by a week out from the first game, but until then there is no timeline, which essentially gives us three full weeks to try to get it sorted out.”

As for the quarterback themselves, they’re looking forward to the competition and feel as though they each have what it takes to be named the starter.

“I feel great about it. I know every year there’s going to be somebody else coming to take my job, so I’m excited for the competition,” Wilson said. “Kendal is a good QB. We’re going to have a great fall camp. I’ve just got to focus on what I’ve got to do and everything else will take care of itself.

“I love having competition around me and love having guys push me,” Wilson added. “It’s great having him (Thompson) out here and the other QBs as well.”

“I’m trying to go out there and do my best every day and continue to get better each practice,” Thompson said. “Christensen has had a proven offensive system and I feel like it fits my skill set. I really feel like I can thrive in that offense.”

Thompson said being in Utah to observe spring practice allowed him to transition into the offense effectively without too many issues.

“Today I felt like I jumped right in and caught the ground running. I didn’t feel any mental errors or anything like that,” Thompson said. “Obviously you can get better with every play, but I felt like having the playbook and being settled in here at Utah early kinda gave me a head start on the playbook and things like that.”

Camp notes:

Whittingham said the issue surrounding Wilson’s citation for underage drinking has been dealt with and should not be an issue. “We handled that internally and we expect that Travis is not going to have any more issues of that nature.” … Linebacker Gionni Paul is making progress from a spring injury. Whittingham expects to have Paul back by the Washington State game at the end of September. … Linebacker Jacoby Hale will return about mid-season, according to Whittingham.

Contributing: Jeremiah Jensen

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