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SALT LAKE CITY — While twenty-nine days remain on the calendar until the University of Utah officially kicks the season off at home against Montana State, fall camp is right around the corner as players report Wednesday night for a team meeting and practice begins Thursday morning.
For Utah fans, excitement level has never been so high as the Utes prepare for their inaugural season in the Pac-12, playing for the first time as a member of one of the automatic qualifying conferences in the Bowl Championship Series.
Can Utah compete week in and week out with BCS teams? We will soon find out. But until then, here are three things that I will be looking for during fall camp:
1. How is Jordan Wynn's shoulder, and can he be the leader this team needs?
Utah coaches have already said that they are going to limit Jordan's throws early on in camp. And while it has been over seven months since his shoulder surgery, Ute coaches certainly want to keep the junior quarterback healthy, as he is the only quarterback on the roster with FBS experience (the exception is Griff Robles, but he switched positions from quarterback to linebacker).
Wynn be limited to 100 passes each day, and none in the second session of two-a-days.
Junior college transfer Jon Hays and true freshman Tyler Shreve are the other quarterbacks on the roster.
I am also anxious to see how Wynn adjusts to once again playing under center with Norm Chow's pro-style offense, which Jordan orchestrated throughout high school.
"Jordan spent most of his time under center in high school, so this will be a positive move for him," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said.
2. What running back will separate himself as the leader in Norm Chow's pro-style offense?
The Utes will be replacing most of the spread offense brought in by Urban Meyer with a pro-style, downhill run game headed by new offensive coordinator Norm Chow.
While the Utes will still incorporate parts of the spread, the running attack will need to be an integral component of the Utes' offensive attack if they want to compete in the Pac-12 South.
Utah enters the 2011 season without a single returning running back. As of right now, there are three "co"-starters heading into fall camp: coveted recruits Harvey Langi, a true freshman, and John White IV, a junior college transfer, along with walk-on sophomore Thretton Palamo, an internationally-acclaimed rugby star.
"With our quarterback under center now, we will be able to establish more of a downhill running game, which in turn should give us better success with the play-action pass element of the offense," Whittingham said.
"You will see us line up in more two-back sets and will also see more utilization of the tight end and fullback positions than in the recent past."
3. How will the Utes' revamped secondary compete in a conference nicknamed "the conference of quarterbacks"?
With Brandon Burton leaving early to go into the NFL and last year's defensive standout Brian Blechen moving to linebacker, Utah won't have any returning starters in the secondary.
"We had some veterans step up at cornerback during spring ball, so we feel good about where we are there," Whittingham said.
Two of Utah's fastest runners lead the race for the starting corner positions: junior Ryan Lacy, whose 4.32-second 40 speed is tied for the team's best, and senior Conroy Black (4.35 40-speed).
At the safety position, the Utes are going to be relying on some incoming recruits, who may have a bigger impact in the defensive backfield than at any other position.
The Utes will look to first-team JUCO All-American Keith McGill and Texas prep stars Joseph Bryant and Eric Rowe to raise the level of competition, who will join sophomore Michael Walker and Greg Bird, who sat out of spring ball with an injury.
"Michael had a good spring, but even with him and Greg, we will be a very inexperienced group," Whittingham admitted.
*Email: rojackson@ksl.com*Twitter: @rojackKSL
