By Scott Funk
SALT LAKE CITY—After an offseason of coaching changes, graduations, and early exits – Utah fans were eager to see what coach Whittingham had put together at the annual Spring Game. A new offense exposing an interesting quarterback situation was the story of the day.
With the dismissal of Andy Roderick at the end of last season coach Whittingham brought in Troy Taylor from Eastern Washington to give Utah a type of offense that Utah fans aren’t use to seeing. An up-tempo and pass-oriented offense was what was on display Saturday afternoon.
With the up-tempo offense it seemed as if fans would finally be able to see everything Troy Williams has to offer as a quarterback. But at the end of the spring game, they instead were left asking ourselves who the number one quarterback would be this fall.
Statistically, the top quarterback of the day was senior Alabama transfer quarterback Cooper Bateman, who was 5-5 for 53 yards and one touchdown. Williams finished 9-15 for 73 yards, and Tyler Huntley was 8-12 for 65 yards – neither quarterback had a touchdown on the day.
The running backs also saw quite a bit of action on the field today – both running the ball and the receiving. The star of the day was sophomore Devonta’e Henry Cole, who ran for 50 yards on 11 carries, had 4 receptions for 23 yards and racked up two touchdowns.
Standout freshman running back from last year, Zach Moss, only carried the ball 5 times as he left with an apparent right arm injury in the second quarter. Coach Whittingham expects him to have a fast recovery and be ready for summer conditioning which begins in six weeks.
On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore defensive back Julian Blackmon led the defense for the Red team with 5 tackles while sophomore defensive end Caleb Repp led the white team also with 5 tackles.
At the end of the day it was the Tyler Huntley and Cooper Bateman led Red team that came out on top 20-10. Together the teams combined for 351 total yards and 2 turnovers. The Utes will begin fall camp at the beginning of August as they prepare for their season opener against North Dakota on August 31st.
Kyle Whittingham:
Offensive Coordinator Troy Taylor:
Defensive Coordinator Morgan Scalley:
QB Troy Williams:
QB Tyler Huntley:
QB Cooper Bateman:
WR Tyquez Hampton:
OL Coach Jim Harding:
