The University of Utah is now done with scrimmage two, and as expected—after being dominated in the first scrimmage—the offense made some noise. “I thought the scrimmage went very well, certainly better than last week, which we needed to see,” said Ute head coach Kyle Whittingham. “The offense execution level was better. Overall, there were fewer penalties and no turnovers, which is a good thing, but bad for the defense.” Despite the offense’s good showing, there was not an emphasis on taking deep shots down the field, as they instead focused on the run game. If there was a downside, the first team offense moved the ball well against the first team defense, but struggled to punch the ball in in the red zone.

Theme of the Day: Pound the Rock

The offense played with more swagger and the running game looked much better than the first time out. Reason being? The ground game was the big emphasis for the scrimmage. By focusing on this, fans in attendance got a small glimpse of the variety being added to the offense, with receivers like Derrick Vickers and Demari Simpkins running sweeps—sometime getting the ball and other times being decoys for Devonta’e Henry-Cole, Devin Brumfield, or TJ Green to pound the ball straight ahead. Now just add Zack Moss as to the mix as the primary back in the fall, and ask the opposing defensive coordinator how big his headache is, come game day.

Key Moment

Running back TJ Green had arguably his best performance of the spring, as he scored the first touchdown of the day, a beautiful 45-yard run that went up the middle of the defense, before an explosive cut to the outside. From there, he threw on another gear and blew past the defense for the touchdown. If he can maintain a physical level of play, his potential is tantalizing.

Standouts

Quarterback Tyler Huntley continued to look comfortable in the new offense. He made wise decisions on when to dump the ball off and when to finally tuck and run. He also had a nice 13-yard touchdown run during red zone drills late in the scrimmage.

Cam Rising had his first scrimmage action of the season, opening with a 20-yard run and ending the drive with a 17-yard scamper.

Jaylen Dixon, who received words of praise from offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig after the scrimmage, teamed up with quarterback Drew Lisk for a touchdown reception, where his speed was on full display.

Other than that, all the running backs had their moments, but Green easily won the battle in that position group, for the day.

Quote of the Day

Tyler Huntley on the install of the new offense:

“We definitely added a couple of new plays this week and will have a couple next week. Coming back in the summer, we will add shifts and motions.”

Devin Brumfield on looking up to Zack Moss (Brumfield has been know to take on plenty of Moss’ practice and workout habits):

“He’s just a great example on and off the field. He’s a guy who works hard and it shows on the field during game day and practice. So, I know that if I can hold myself to those expectations and standards, I can be great as well. He’s just told me to be consistent. Come to work every day and know who I am and just be confident in what I can do.”