The Utes held their second scrimmage of fall camp last Thursday, and while Kyle Whittingham has been giving abundant praise to the Utes deep and talented defense throughout fall camp, it was the other side of the ball’s turn for compliments as Utah’s head coach discussed the scrimmage and the status of the team during Monday’s media session.

“It was a big step forward, it was much more balanced, whereas the week before the defense had definitely got the better of the offense in that scrimmage,” Whittingham said. “Better execution, better pass protection, ran the ball more effectively, caught the ball more effectively, QB’s made better decisions…just across the board (on offense) there wasn’t any one glaring error, less penalties on offense, just a much cleaner scrimmage overall.”

A significant part of the improvement has come at the quarterback position, and while Whittingham is still not prepared to name the starter for the season opener, he did give insights on how Bryson Barnes and Nate Johnson are progressing.

“For the two spot, Bryson Barnes and Nate (Johnson) are on equal footing right now,” Whittingham said. “Nate’s closed the gap and they’re exactly in a dead heat at this point.”

As for Cam Rising?

“He’s progressing,” Whittingham said. “He’s progressing through practice.”

Although Rising hasn’t been able to compete without restrictions, the hope is still there to have him start against the Gators. Whittingham half-jokingly said that will be the plan until “probably 10 minutes before kickoff, (and) if he’s not ready to go then (the Utes) will go with Plan B.” Despite his limitations in practice, Rising is still making a huge impact on the team in other ways.

“He’s our leader of the football team, the leader of the leaders,” Whittingham said. “He is a guy that effects everybody around him, everyone looks to him, and he sets the bar, then demands everyone lives up to that expectation.”

The offensive line is now settled, and one name to keep an eye on when the depth chart gets released this Thursday is true freshman Spencer Fano. There’s a real chance that he’s named a starter.

“He’s such an athlete,” Whittingham said of Fano. “Light on his feet. 300 pounds. 6-foot-5 inches plus. Athletic, a competitor, great football IQ, and way mature beyond his years. Being able to go through spring ball was huge for him. He would not have had a chance to do the things he’s doing now had he not been here in spring. So that was a big plus for him and us.”

After an aggressive few weeks of practices, the team is starting to get a little banged up. They’ve had to slow down on the live work for the starters, but they are still running through “thud work” as they continue to prepare for the considerable task of facing an SEC program to start the year.

“The SEC personnel that they’ve got, you look at the NFL, the SEC has more players in the NFL than anybody hands down, it’s not even close, and that’s what you see with Florida,” Whittingham said. “You see a bunch of guys that are physical, they’ve got great size, speed, strength, quickness, I mean, just what you’d expect out of a big time SEC team. I know they were down a little bit last year, but they’re the Florida Gators, they got guys.”