Ludwig 'very confident in the trajectory' of Utah's offense as camp shifts to game prep

SALT LAKE CITY — The situation is completely different now.

As Utah prepared to open up its last season in the Pac-12, the players and coaching staff were optimistic about Cam Rising's chances of returning to the field. The reality was that everyone knew it would be the backup quarterback to at least start the season.

Great, but Rising would be back, right? Sure, there'd be a step back, but Rising would be back in time for a run at a third consecutive conference title, no?

Everyone knows how that story ended.

Utah was a shell of itself on offense and struggled to piece together any sense of consistency. If not for another stellar season of defense, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham may have suffered a rare losing season.

Coming into the 2024 season — a season that kicks off in just over a week against Southern Utah — the Utes are in a much different position. Sure, Rising is healthy and expected to lead the offense again, but there's complete faith in the assets and arsenal at offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig's disposal.

"I am very confident in the trajectory of the offense right now," Ludwig said. "In no way, shape or form are we comfortable with where we are, but I've seen major improvements all across the board from each position group. ... We've got a lot of work to do, but again, confident in what I'm seeing on the practice field right now."

That should be a breath of fresh air for anyone that cares about Utah football.

Utah has its starting QB, as well as a much-improved QB2 that Utah feels confident turning the offense over to should they need to, in addition to improved talent and depth all around the offense. And no major injuries going into the season.

There's still some fine tuning left to do, but it's a much better problem to have than what Utah faced going into last season.

"We're getting better every day," Ludwig said. "Individually, collectively, each guy shows improvement in an area. And in football and in life, you identify one problem and get it corrected, and then another problem shows up. And so you just keep — we're just working through that process right now.

"There's some situation work that we want to tighten up," he added. "There's some details and alignments and assignments that have to be cleaned up. The bulk of the offensive installation is completed ... it was very expedited early on, so some things to circle back to now and really address and clean up."

But what about Rising? Is he ready to be back on the field after a season away from the sport? Ludwig said there's no issues.

"If there's rust — sometimes we talk about, 'Hey, Cam, if you make a mistake, there's probably three people in the world that know it: me, you and your dad.' He's gonna make it right, so if there was a little rust earlier, I see that getting polished up very much so," Ludwig said. "It's all gonna be a matter about taking that first hit, which we'd all like to avoid, but it's a contact sport — collision sport — and see how he reacts to that and move on. But I'm not seeing the rust; there's no rust."

It's an offense that's ready to hit the ground running in its attempt to return to numbers similar — if not exceed — to the 2021 and 2022 seasons with Rising under center. For now, it's just wait and see — to see if all the success on the practice field translates to the game in a new conference.

Offensive line

Whittingham said early in camp that Utah had its starting five identified early, and any battles remaining were for the two-deep guys. It's a position of strength for Utah, and one that Ludwig called "a dang good group."

"I think the offensive line is athletic, is smart, and we have excellent depth," Ludwig said. "They've got good length, so very pleased with where they are, with their growth under the leadership of Jim Harding. I think it has a chance to be an elite group."

Utah is expected to start redshirt freshman Caleb Lomu at left tackle, where he has battled one of Utah's best pass rushers, Connor O'Toole, all camp and held his own. Spencer Fano moves to right tackle after started on the opposite side a year ago.

Tanoa Togiai and Michael Mokofisi will occupy the left and right guard spots, respectively, with veteran lineman Jaren Kump leading the group at center.

Kump, Harding said, has taken a bigger leadership role within the position group and has done well "owning the intellect of the position." But so has his backup Johnny Maea.

"Probably the biggest improvement has been his accuracy in terms of his gun snaps," Harding said while knocking on wood. "Still has got to be more consistent with his technique and fundamentals, but in terms of identifying the front, sliding protections, things like that, he's been lights out."

Beyond the starting five, Harding said Maea, Keith Olson, Zereoue William and freshman Ike Garcia have been standouts for the second group, as well as Solatoa Moea'i who continues to make strides and has done well working with the starting unit when inserted.

Running back

As previously reported, there's been no separation among the running backs, though Micah Bernard, Jaylon Glover and Mike Mitchell have separated themselves from the rest as the most consistent running backs in practice.

But for as talented as they are, running backs coach Quinton Ganther said the room is still wide open.

"Those three are the main guys until they're not, because I'm gonna tell you, we have a guy that's electric in that room, and when he touches the ball, he moves on a different playing field than everyone else, and that's Dijon Stanley," Ganther said. "He is making strides where he's gonna have to force our hand to play him and use his skill set."

Stanley's frame is thinner than many in the room — he's continuing to work to add size — but his speed has been a difference maker for the position group with an every down back.

Regardless of who plays, Ganther said he wants consistency and little to no dropoff from each player that sees the field — or could see the field.

"There's not a single team across the country that only use one guy. ... I don't want to drop off," Ganther said. "If somebody goes down, I don't want to be like, 'Oh my goodness, what are we going to do now?' No, the next man up, he might be more productive than a guy that was playing ahead of him."

For Ludwig, he's more pleased with how well each player has done of taking care of the ball in practice.

"The thing I would really credit the running back group overall is they're doing a great job in the way they're carrying the ball and protecting the ball — big ball security emphasis for us, obviously — but they're doing an outstanding job with that. ... I feel confident in that group," he said. "Will we have tailback by committee? Will it be one guy? I just want the best players on the field to do what they do really well, and protect the football and run hard."

Tight end

Utah has a good problem on their hands, and that's how to get all six of their starting-caliber tight ends on the field. Coaches have talked about using them each in different packages to highlight their skill sets, while also adding more tight ends to the field in 12-, 13- and sometimes 14-personnel looks.

"We do have a variety to get guys doing what they do best with different personnel groups, while always keeping in mind that we've got to self scout and make sure that we don't start developing tendencies based on personnel formations and things like that," tight end coach Freddie Whittingham said.

"Their skill set and ability has to warrant them, so that will kind of take care of itself. ... Brant Kuithe is going to be a hard guy to take off the field, but maybe there's something that we would rather have Brant at the Y and Caleb Lohner at the second tight end or vice versa, it's just mixing and matching those skill sets," added Ludwig.

It's a good problem, but one that Ludwig said is going to be a situation where "not everybody's gonna be happy."

"There's only one ball. Last time I checked, there's one ball, so just keep working."

Whittingham said each player understands the situation, though.

"Everybody understands that in this program you earn playing time by doing two things: You need to know where to line up and need to show you can execute your assignment level that'll help us have that play be successful. ... Those that show that earn the right to be on the field, whether you've been here for 15 days or for five years," he said. "It's an even playing field when it comes to who's going to compete."

Wide receiver

The receiving corps at Utah is arguably the best it's ever been — from top to bottom — and there's optimism the offense will pass the ball more to highlight these players (as well as the tight ends).

Receivers coach Alvis Whitted feels his team is in a good spot going into the season, while recognizing that there's still more work that needs to be done to get newcomers acclimated to the system.

For Damien Alford, for example, he's "swimming a little bit right now," Whitted said, as he transitions to a new offensive scheme without a spring period to give him a jumpstart. But his physical traits and proven talent on the field has Whitted encouraged with his progress.

"He's getting better, though, and you see the flashes," Whitted said. "You see his athleticism, his speed, his play strength, and you're like, wow. So he'll get there; I'm confident."

Fellow newcomer Dorian Singer has been a major boon to the receiver room, according to coaches. His leadership has helped the room development, and his talent on the field is helping everyone get better.

"Players love him, quarterbacks love him, defensive backs love him, because it's making us all better," Ludwig said. "He's playing a couple different spots for us right now, so his football IQ is high. He gives us great flexibility, and he can go get it."

"You call his number, he'll answer it," Whitted added. "He's that type of player that I think he's got elite ball skills. And I don't think there's a moment that's too big for him in regards to just the game and playing it."

But outside of the newcomers, Whitted said Money Parks has made big strides and "had his best scrimmage that I've seen since he's been here," while Luca Caldarella has been "steady" and consistent for the team, and someone that has merited more time on the field.

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