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The University of Utah Athletics
Ute Football Team Improves Across The Board In Second Scrimmage
8/18/2001 12:00 AM | Football
Aug. 18, 2001
The Utah football team ran through a 60-play scrimmage Saturday in Rice-Eccles Stadium and Head Coach Ron McBride was pleased with more than the defense this time. The offense, which struggled to move the ball in a scrimmage Wednesday, was especially effective in post-scrimmage red zone drills. On special teams, kickers Ryan Kaneshiro and Brian Lewis were 100 percent, with each player drilling a 32 and 23 yard field goal. And the defense stalled two big offensive drives by forcing turnovers.
"The offense made a couple of huge turnovers in the open field," said McBride, "But I thought the guys bounced back, especially in their red zone work. We put them in some difficult situations and they responded well. Defensively, I was very pleased with the secondary. The safeties look great and we're still looking at five or so corners."
McBride felt once again that Lance Rice held a slight edge at quarterback. Rice led a three-way race going into summer camp and, while the job is still up for grabs, he did nothing to hurt himself Saturday. He completed 7 of 13 passes for 41 yards. Ryan Breska stayed in the running by completing 4 of 6 passes for 33 yards. One of his passes was dropped. Freshman Brett Elliott, the other contender, is still out with a sprained thumb.
The new offense, spearheaded by first-year offensive coordinator Craig Ver Steeg, showed some ingenuity. Nine of the 19 passes thrown were caught by running backs, including one from Rice to freshman fullback Rob Sirstins that went for 40 yards.
It took awhile for the ground game to get going. For the second straight scrimmage, walk-on juco transfer Marty Johnson led all rushers, this time with 28 yards on seven carries. J.R. Peroulis rushed seven times for 27 yards.
Defensively, Brooks Bahr and Marcus Jones contributed sacks of nine and three yards, respectively, and D'Shaun Crockett negated a long pass play by forcing a fumble.
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