Takeaways: Brewer Perfect as Red Wins Utes Spring Game

A crowd of 6,000, which Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said easily could have reached 20,000 with the ticket demand, gave the University of Utah football team a renewed fire on Saturday. In turn, the Utes gave the fans a glimpse of normalcy and also a glimpse of what’s to come in the fall. Charlie Brewer was masterful in the offense as he led the Red team to a dominating 21-0 victory.

Here are the takeaways from the spring game:

Brewer perfect, battle with Rising awaits

The Baylor transfer lived up to the hype he created in his time at Baylor, as well as all of the praise heaped on him this spring. He went 15 -15 for 151 yards and two touchdown passes. He threw his receivers open and hit a wide variety of passing angles. His longest pass went to Devaughn Vele on a perfectly placed 40 yard bomb that the defense interfered on, but Vele still hauled in. The offense was efficient with him under center and he also executed the two-minute offense to perfection, ending his day with a five yard touchdown pass to Vele in the back of the end zone.

Most would think that’s more than enough to lock up the starting quarterback spot, but Kyle Whittingham and the rest of the program also know the talent that they have in Cam Rising as he completes his comeback from his injured shoulder. As Whittingham admitted, it’s a two man race to lead the offense this fall.

The running game will be enough

Micah Bernard had a nice run to start things off, breaking tackles up the middle for a sizable gain, but it was all for naught due to a holding penalty. From there, it was about seeing what the new transfers could do and overall TJ Pledger and Chris Curry didn’t disappoint. Curry led the way with 44 yards on six carries and a 7.3 average, while Pledger netted 31 yards on the same amount of carries, and also had one reception for three yards.

Pledger brings the shiftiness, Curry brings the hammer and a surprising ability to run it out wide, while Bernard can provide a mix of both. Today it was obvious that the coaching staff had made the best of an unenviable situation, unexpectedly having to replace a guy who was bound to compete for All-American honors.

Spring camp stars also starred in the game

Both Vele and Karene Reid have been breakout stars this spring, with Vele being hoped for and anticipated, while Reid was a complete surprise. Both walkons, don’t expect that status to last for long.

At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Vele is a complete receiver—according to Brewer—and it showed during the game with him being a solid target to move the sticks, an imposing red zone target, and a big-play deep threat. His diving 40 yard reception was the play of the spring game.

As for Reid, he’s the son of BYU-great, Spencer Reid who also played for the Carolina Panthers. After signing with Utah Stat in high school as a 6-foot and 185 pound linebacker, he returned from his LDS mission at 6-foot and 226 pounds. With the growth spurt, he decided to take his chances as a walkon at Utah and he’s made his presence known all spring. His strong camp performance culminated in arguably the best defensive performance of the game with six tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack.

The defensive ends are loaded

With the proven defensive ends either sitting out the game or taking minimal reps, that position group still had the most success led by Xavier Carlton who was a thorn in the side of Peter Costelli. He constantly had him scrambling from the pocket or bracing for impact. The freshman had five total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, and one sack. I feel sorry for the Pac-12 when the see the depth at this position, because it didn’t stop there. Fresh off his LDS mission, Jonny Fanaika had three tackles and one tackle for loss. However, like Carlton, he was constantly making life uncomfortable for the quarterbacks.

This team can compete for the Pac-12 title

That’s it, that’s the takeaway. They’re really good with the chance to be dominant… And now, we wait until the fall...