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The University of Utah Athletics
Utes Get Defensive in Scrimmage
8/16/2011 12:00 AM | Football
Aug. 16, 2011
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SALT LAKE CITY
The defensive line demonstrated why it is generally regarded as Utah's deepest, strongest position in a scrimmage held Tuesday morning in Rice-Eccles Stadium. Defensive ends David Rolf (three sacks for a loss of 22 yards) and Derrick Shelby (two sacks for 12 yards) recorded five of the 11 total sacks registered by the defense.
Whittingham, while quick to praise the defensive line, was not as complimentary about the offensive line, saying, "Our biggest deficiency is our pass protection. If you can't protect your quarterback, you are in real trouble."
Under constant pressure, Jordan Wynn completed 9-of-16 passes for with one touchdown and an interception. In the opening series, Wynn directed the offense to the 5-yard line against the No. 1 defense, aided by a 20-yard reverse by Reggie Dunn and a 20-yard pass to Jake Murphy. But after DeVonte Christopher was flagged for a penalty in the end zone, Shelby zeroed in for a sack to snuff the drive.
"We moved the ball well between the 20s, we did some good things in the red zone and we didn't turn the ball over until the end of the scrimmage," said Whittingham of the offense. "But we were not good in the four-minute and two-minute drills and we had turnovers in crunch time."
The offense scored three touchdowns--two in red zone work on rushes by Harvey Langi and Karl Williams. The other came on a 14-yard pass play from Wynn to Dres Anderson.
Senior walk-on Tauni Vakapuna, who after not participating in spring ball has catapulted into the two-deep at running back, led the rushers with eight carries for 48 yards. Vakapuna played with the first string in the absence of starter John White, who sat out with a sore hip. White is expected to return to action in day or two. Freshman tight end Jake Murphy had three receptions for 47 yards.
Reserve quarterback Jon Hays was much more effective than in his first scrimmage as a Ute, completing 9-of-10 passes for 76 yards and no interceptions.
"At this stage of camp, our defense is where we want it to be and our offense and placekicking are not," said Whittingham. "Placekicking is our Achilles heel right now and we need to get that resolved."
Coleman Petersen has taken the lead at placekicker, said Whittingham, after the junior made 3-of-4 field goal attempts. Nick Marsh, the projected starter, missed all four of his field goal tries.
In other news, Whittingham reported that sophomore defensive back Quade Chappuis has been awarded a scholarship.
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