Week one is now upon us, and the Utes are set to take on the Florida Gators on Thursday evening at Rice Eccles Stadium. When they line up against the Gators, they’ll be doing so with a deep and talented cornerbacks group that has a mix of savvy veterans and highly-recruited newcomers.

One of the leaders of that group, is a speedster and a talented cover corner from Tulsa, OK, JaTravis Broughton.

Returning for another season, Broughton is now the seasoned veteran in the room. Like any other year, Broughton commented on the competition amongst the group and shared how they’ve been shaping up ahead of their matchup with Florida

“There’s always competition in the corner room. We push each other to do better, especially these wideouts, they help us get better. With the corners, we’re always competitive. We’ve got that dawg mentality, it's just a competition every day,” Broughton said.

Stepping into his fifth season, Broughton has had plenty of time to develop his talents over the years as he appeared in 35 games with 18 starts. As the talented veteran continues to start at left corner this year, he didn’t take his starting spot for granted this offseason. Some of his areas of focus were his positioning and how to better read the eyes of the quarterback.

“[I’ve been working on] my eyes. Seeing the quarterback and where he’s throwing to so I can make plays and come out with the ball. And my off-man, just being sticky with the receiver and being great,” Broughton added.

After losing a game-changer in Clark Phillips III to the draft, Utah went to the transfer portal and added a crucial rotation piece in former Ole Miss defensive back Miles Battle. With valuable years of experience in arguably the best conference in the country, Battle has been sharing his knowledge of how they play which will be very beneficial in week one against the Gators.

“He’s brought his SEC knowledge and we have our Pac-12 knowledge,” Broughton said. “But, he’s been helping us with certain routes that they do and just his knowledge of the game. He’s a very intelligent kid and he helps us get better.”

Given the current situation of the defense and a plethora of young talent amongst the secondary, several first and second year Utes will see plenty of reps this season. Having spent time with those players, Broughton shared some additional insight on their development and what fans can expect from guys like Tao Johnson, Elijah Davis, and Smith Snowden.

“The young guys are coming together,” said Broughton. “Elijah Davis, Tao Johnson, Smith Snowden. They’re so many that have come together and will help us get to a championship this year…just getting them kids going. It's hard to be consistent every day so just telling them you’ve got to be the same person every day. That's the culture and they’re starting to become more of the culture every day.”