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SALT LAKE CITY - It was seventy degrees outside with beautiful sunny skies at Rice-Eccles Stadium for Utah's first spring football scrimmage, which went for two hours Friday night.
It may still be spring, but football was in the air as a few hundred fans watched the Utes run a situational scrimmage, and, as expected this early in spring camp, it was the defense that out-shined the offense.
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham felt pretty good about his team's effort and execution.
"I thought there were a lot of positives," said Whittingham, conducting his seventh spring camp at Utah and first for the Utes as members of the Pac-12. "We didn't put the ball on the ground, there were very few penalties, and I thought we tackled pretty well for the first scrimmage."
"I thought there were a lot of positives," said Whittingham. "We didn't put the ball on the ground, there were very few penalties, and I thought we tackled pretty well for the first scrimmage."
It was my first look at the 2011 Utes, and although starting quarterback Jordan Wynn did not participate, he shouldn't have to worry about losing his starting role any time soon.
Quarterbacks Griff Robles and Tyler Shreve were inconsistent at running the new look west-coast offense, although most of that falls on the great play by the defense. Shreve had a better outing, throwing 6-13 for 147 yards and two touchdowns, one a 37 yarder to Reggie Dunn and the other a 45 yarder to Dres Anderson. Robles threw 8-15 for 102 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception. While Shreve had the better overall outing, it was Robles who took control in the red-zone, leading two drives into the end zone in two tries.
"The quarterbacks progressed a little bit tonight. There's still a long ways to go, but for the first extensive live work of the spring I thought it was pretty good," said Whittingham."
Walk-on sophomore running back Thretton Palamo (6-2, 237) also made his presence known. The former U.S. National Team rugby player from Sacramento, Calif., had 16 carries for 73 yards, including two punishing hits he put on opposing tacklers. John White IV ran for 29 yards on 10 carries while Bingham High star Harvey Langi picked up 34 yards on 12 carries.
Thretton ran the ball hard," said Whittingham. "He got a lot of opportunities and made the most of them."
Reggie Dunn led the receivers with 70 yards on two catches that both went for touchdowns. Dunn also stole the show on kickoff returns, picking up right where he left of last season.
Whittingham was especially impressed by the defense, which accounted for eight sacks and five other tackles for loss. One of the bigger sacks was turned in by sophomore back-up right defensive end Joe Kruger and went for a 10-yard loss. Sophomore Brian Blechen, making the move from strong safety to stud linebacker, also had an eight-yard sack.
"I saw some good performances on defense. Joe Kruger, in particular, was exceptional today," Whittingham commented.
Utah will hold its second spring scrimmage on Saturday, April 9 at 10 a.m. The Red-White Spring Game takes place Saturday, April 16 at 1 p.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
