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The University of Utah Athletics
Utes Look Sharp In First Football Scrimmage
8/17/2004 12:00 AM | Football
Aug. 17, 2004
SALT LAKE CITY -
The Ute football team turned in a mostly impressive performance in its first preseason scrimmage, Saturday morning in Rice-Eccles Stadium. Although the second and third string offense stalled at times, the number "ones" on both offense and defense looked sharp, especially considering it was just their fifth contact practice.
Junior quarterback Alex Smith displayed poise and confidence in directing the first-string offense against a mixture of defenses. The preseason all-conference pick completed 8 of 12 passes for 125 yards.
"It's amazing the difference a year makes," Smith said after the scrimmage. "I feel so much more confident around the guys and in this system than I did last August."
Smith was not the only quarterback to shine. Backups Fano Tagovailoa and Brian Johnson took most of the snaps that didn't go to Smith and both had success. Tagovailoa, who could play several positions for the Utes in his first year out of junior college ball, ran the defense ragged. The mid-year JC transfer who came to Utah in the spring as a safety but was moved to quarterback, led all rushers with 107 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown sprint. Johnson, a highly-touted freshman, completed 2 of 7 passes for 24 yards and rushed twice for 15 yards. Adam Madsen, a junior who walked onto the team last spring, completed 5 of 10 passes for 31 yards.
"We didn't give Madsen very many reps today because we saw him a lot in the spring," said Utah offensive coordinator Mike Sanford. "We needed to see what Fano and Brian could do. I saw some really good things out there today, as well as some things we need to improve on, like cutting down on turnovers."
Not including red zone or situational drills, the offense mustered three touchdowns, all rushing. Junior college transfer Quinton Ganther was particularly impressive, rushing 18 times for 79 yards. He shook off several would-be tacklers in a nice 60-yard touchdown dash. Another JC transfer, speedy receiver Justin Walker, took a hand-off from Smith and scored the first touchdown of the day on a 14-yard run.
Sophomore Mike Liti, the current favorite to start in a stacked running back position, sat out with a sprained shoulder. Joining Ganther on the field were senior Marty Johnson (9 rushes, 29 yards) and Darryl Poston (3 rushes, 10 yards). Sanford doesn't want to finalize a depth chart at running back until Liti returns to action, which should be soon.
Ten different Utes caught passes, including three apiece by all-conference receiver Paris Warren (60 yards) and sophomore returning starter Steve Savoy caught (34 yards).
The defense also had a satisfying scrimmage, totaling five tackles for loss, a sack and two pass breakups. Sophomore defensive back Shaun Harper contributed a pass breakup and a tackle for loss.
Freshman walk-on kicker David Carroll attempted all six field goals of the day, making three.
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