Running backs continue strong fall camp


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SALT LAKE CITY — A week into fall training camp, the University of Utah football team got its first opportunity to participate in full contact drills Friday.

The U. is looking to still solidify several key positions, including the offensive line, running back and quarterback. Head coach Kyle Whittingham said now that his team is able to practice with pads, the separation should become more apparent before the end of the next week.

“We’ll start to see separation here more in live work and the more separation we’ll start to see,” he said.

Running backs had another good day Friday, with redshirt freshman Troy McCormick having the best day, breaking away for a 50-yard touchdown.

“He’s (McCormick) not as big (as others), but he’s faster than all of them,” running backs coach Dennis Erickson said. “And when he gets into the secondary he can take it to the house and people are going to have to run him down to when he gets the opportunity out there.”

Both Bubba Poole and Devontae Booker had a good day as well, but Booker had a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by freshman Travonne Hobbs.

“Booker was having a nice day until he put the ball on the ground — you can’t do that,” Whittingham said.

“(Booker) put the ball on the crowd a couple times in spring as well,” Whittingham added. “So if that becomes a pattern that’s going to be very discouraging and you don’t play. If you don’t protect the football, you don’t play. That’s something that he’s aware of and he’s got to be more conscious about protecting the football.”

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Whittingham and Erickson both said Poole has been the most consistent back of training camp.

“Bubba is solid,” Whittingham said. “He’s probably the most steady of the backs. But the other two can be spectacular at times.”

“Bubba is the most solid person,” Erickson said. “He doesn’t make very many mistakes. He gets into that secondary and he can take it to the house. He catches the football really well.”

Defense

The defense continues to hold strong in its dominance in practice. Every position group on defense made it extremely difficult for the offense to move the chains. The corners, in particular, locked up the receivers and allowed for little separation.

Although Dres Anderson and Kenneth Scott have been held out of live work, Whittingham said he’s been impressed with how well the secondary has performed against the receiving core.

“They’ve taken a step forward, there’s no doubt about that,” Whittingham said. “They’re doing a nice job. I’m really impressed with the freshmen. (Travonne) Hobbs and Casey Hughes are doing a real nice job and appear to be what we’d hope they would be when we recruited them.”


We've got to have a high completion percentage, we've got to make the high percentage throws. You've still got to stretch the defense, you've still got to take your shots over the top to keep people honest. But we have to throw the ball at a much higher efficiency rate than we did last year.

–Kyle Whittingham


Offensive game planWhittingham said the offensive scheme will involve a lot of higher percentage passes — passes under 10 yards — or what the team calls “pitch and catch.”

“We’ve got to have a high completion percentage, we’ve got to make the high percentage throws,” he said. “You’ve still got to stretch the defense, you’ve still got to take your shots over the top to keep people honest. But we have to throw the ball at a much higher efficiency rate than we did last year.

“Our completion percentage rate was nowhere near good enough last year and we’ve got to get that up,” he added. “And the way to do that is to throw those routes that are high completion routes. Those short and intermediate routes you get the ball out of your hand quicker, which takes some of the stress off the pass protection. It all ties together.”

Following Thursday’s practice, quarterbacks coach Aaron Roderick said Travis Wilson has been the most successful with the quick, short passes, completing around 80 percent of all passes in the week.

Notes

Travis Wilson continues to lead the pack in the quarterback battle, but Whittingham said Kendal Thompson ia a close second. Behind Wilson and Thompson is Conner Manning and then Adam Schulz and Brandon Cox, who will likely battle for the fourth spot. … Whittingham looks forward to the autonomy of the Power Five conferences, saying it’s the “tip of the iceberg” with the changes that will be made. However, Whittingham was non-committal on whether he likes the scheduling idea of only Power Five schools. “If it does go to playing all Power Five it’s going to be more like the NFL, everything more balanced and more parity.”

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