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SALT LAKE CITY - It was an absolutely picture-perfect day for football Saturday afternoon at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The regular season may still be over four months away, but 13,503 were able to tailgate and watch the Red team come away with a 22-21 victory over the White team in the Utah spring game.
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Utes: Four running backs make case for playing time
With John White IV sitting out, already having proven himself as the clear cut starter for the Utes after breaking numerous school rushing records last year, four running backs made their case for playing time Saturday at the Red-White game.Trailing 21-14 late in the fourth quarter, redshirt freshman quarterback Adam Schultz led the Red team nearly the length of the field, completing 4 of 5 passes for 95 yards during a six-play drive that started at his own two-yard line.
Schultz, a 6-foot-1 194 pound quarterback from Muskego, Wis., capped the drive with a 50-yard bomb to Reggie Dunn down the left sideline. Schultz set the play up perfectly with a shoulder fake, and Dunn was able to sprint by the defense.
The Red team elected to go for two, and it wasn't afraid to go to deep into the bag of tricks. Harvey Langi caught a pitch from Schultz, ran to the right before throwing a pass to Quinton Pedoza in the end zone to give the Red team a 22-21 lead with 3:02 left in the game.
Roy Cutshaw Jr., one of Schultz's high school coaches at Muskego High School, told me that Adam could throw the ball out of Rice-Eccles and into the parking lot. I no longer doubt that. Schultz's bullet to Dunn was the best ball of the day.
But the overall theme from the spring game lies in the glaring fact that Schultz is fifth on the depth chart as it now stands, meaning one thing - the Utes have an extremely talented group of quarterbacks.
"[We had] a lot of guys making plays," said eighth-year Ute head coach Kyle Whittingham. "We have quarterbacks that are very good."
Jordan Wynn, a junior who is back for his fourth year as the starter, was the rustiest of the bunch. Back from yet another shoulder surgery, this time on his left (non-throwing) arm, Wynn connected on 8-of-11 passes for 124 yards, but also threw two interceptions and fumbled a snap. He was accountable for all three Utah turnovers on the day.
Wynn did bounce back after his fumble, throwing a 48-yard strike to Dres Anderson for a touchdown. Wynn would have had two touchdown passes, but the second was called back due to holding. On the next play, Wynn threw his second pick - an athletic grab by Tyler Cahoon in the end zone for a touchback.
Jon Hays, who took over for Wynn last season, threw for a touchdown - a 28-yard pass to Sean Fitzgerald down the right sideline that gave the White team a 21-7 lead in the second half. Hays finished 5-of-7 for 114 yards.
Enter Chase Hansen and Travis Wilson. Both are only true freshmen, but both had impressive outings.
Hansen, a local product out of Lone Peak High School, didn't throw the ball much - only twice on the day - but what he did on the ground can't go unnoticed. Hansen finished with a team high 36 rushing yards on five attempts, including a five yard touchdown run late in the third quarter that brought the Red team back to within seven, 21-14.
Wilson, a native of San Clemente, Calif., completed 8-of-12 passes for 72 yards and added 21 yards on the ground on five attempts, including a 16 yard keeper down the left sideline that set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Jarrell Oliver.
"Travis Wilson and Chase Hansen did some really good things," Whittingham said.
The air attack looks to be an integral part of the 2012 Utes. Under the direction of first-year offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, both teams combined for 413 passing yards.
So now comes the million dollar question - out of the other four quarterbacks, who will back up Jordan Wynn?
"It is a good problem to have, but we have to start to sort that out early in fall camp to determine who the guys are going to be that we invest the reps in," Whittingham said.
Utah opens its season at home on Thursday, Aug. 30 against Northern Colorado.
