Big Plays by Newcomers Highlight First Utah Football Scrimmage

8/13/2015 12:00 AM | Football

Aug. 13, 2015

Video from today's first fall camp scrimmage, featuring a 60-yard TD dash from RB Joe Williams! #goutes https://t.co/4dHSMpBfgB

-- Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) August 13, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY -- A pair of newcomers made big plays in Utah's first scrimmage of fall camp Thursday at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Running back Joe Williams broke a 60-yard touchdown run and cornerback Cory Butler-Byrd returned an interception 55 yards.

Williams, a junior transfer from ASA College, totaled 80 yards on 12 rushes, including his 60-yard touchdown gallop on the fifth drive of the scrimmage. Williams got the bulk of the first-team snaps with Heisman Trophy candidate Devontae Booker held out as a precaution.

Butler-Byrd, a junior from Los Angeles Harbor College, returned an interception 55 yards during the final series of the two-minute drill. It was one of three picks by the Ute defense, with the others coming from Andre Godfrey (with a return of 35 yards) and Jordan Fogal.

Utah's linebacking corps and defensive backfield combined for five pass breakups, one each by Gionni Paul, Reginald Porter, Godfrey, Tavaris Williams and Justin Thomas.

"It was a mixed bag today," Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham said. "We made some plays, particularly on defense, but we didn't make enough plays on offense. We didn't take good enough care of the football. We have our work cut out for us. We need every bit of these last three weeks [remaining in camp]. Today was practice No. 8 so we need every one of these next 21 practices."

Travis Wilson was 6-of-17 passing for 55 yards and an interception against Utah's first defensive unit. He also rushed four times for 18 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown scamper during red zone work.

Kendal Thompson completed 8-of-20 passes for 85 yards (1 interception) and rushed six times for 55 yards, including a 30-yard scramble.

Chase Hansen also played with the second unit and was 5-of-9 for 23 yards passing, including a 13-yard touchdown pass to Bubba Poole. Hansen broke loose for a 23-yard gain on his only rush.

Ute tight ends combined for six receptions and 71 yards. Harrison Handley had 39 receiving yards on two grabs, Caleb Repp made three catches for 27 yards and Evan Moeai registered a five-yard catch.

Slot receiver Poole had three catches for 18 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Britain Covey caught a scrimmage-high four passes for 24 yards, while Siaosi Wilson had two receptions for 26 yards.

Placekicker Andy Phillips went 1-of-2 on field goal attempts with a make from 31 yards and a 52-yard miss. Jon Halliday also was 1-of-2 with a 34-yard make and a 53-yard miss.

Three different Ute defensive linemen had sacks: defensive tackle Viliseni Fauonuku (13-yard loss), defensive end Jason Fanaika (6-yard loss) and defensive tackle Filipo Mokofisi (5-yard loss).

Jared Norris, Paul, Fogal, Hunter Dimick and Casey Hughes all contributed tackles for loss.

The scrimmage began with `drive it' segments from the offense's own 25-yard line, with Wilson finding Repp and Williams rushing twice to pick up the initial first down. But on the next third down, Dimick's pressure on Wilson stopped the drive.

Wilson found Repp on two successive plays on the next drive on passes of 16 and 12 yards. Moeai almost came up with a catch down the seam on third down, but Paul broke up the pass at the last second to halt the drive.

The second unit started fast, aided by a 17-yard scramble by Thompson, but the drive ultimately stalled. On the first snap of the second drive, Thompson sprinted 30 yards after a deceptive option fake. He then rolled to his right and found Handley for 19 yards along the right sideline. Covey gained nine yards on a slip screen on the next play, but Fauonuku came up with a 13-yard sack to get the defense off of the field.

After four reps for the punt team, the first offense went against the first defense from the 40-yard line and Williams promptly broke a 60-yard touchdown run on the series' first play from scrimmage.

Hansen took the reins of the second unit for the next drive, taking off on a 23-yard run before Fogal sniffed out a screen for a loss of five yards. Fanaika's 6-yard sack forced fourth down and stopped the offense's momentum.

The punt team got four more reps in before the offense took possession from its own 45-yard line. Dimick came up with a 5-yard tackle for loss on the first snap, before Thompson found Tyrone Smith along the left sideline for a 15-yard pickup. A turnover on an errant option pitch ended the drive.

On the ensuing drive for the No. 2's, Hansen marched the offense down the field and stuck a 13-yard touchdown throw to Poole in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.

TD @BUBBA702 pic.twitter.com/RraRvUblAA

-- Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 13, 2015

The Utes went through four kickoff returns before the first and second units were put in a red-zone situation, starting from the 12-yard line. Thomas broke up a pass on the first snap for the first unit before Travis Wilson employed the option and kept it for an 8-yard touchdown run.

For the second unit, Thompson found Covey on a bubble screen for three yards on the first play. After two incompletions, the offense settled for a field goal attempt, with Halliday knocking home a 34-yarder.

Next on the schedule, the kickoff unit came on the field for coverage reps followed by three drives of two-minute drill from the offense's own 32-yard line. To start off, Hansen found Poole for two yards on the first snap of the opening series, but Godfrey intercepted a pass that was initially deflected by Butler-Byrd and returned it 35 yards.

In the second drive, Thompson scrambled 11 yards for a first down and located Handley down the right hash mark for 20 yards, but Fogal came up with a leaping interception to put an end to the sequence.

Travis Wilson connected with Siaosi Wilson down the middle for 14 yards before Mokofisi's QB sack of five yards forced a fourth down. Wilson threw the ball into the waiting arms of Butler-Byrd, who returned the interception 55 yards.

Punt return work then took center stage before the third units scrimmaged to conclude the workout.

Running back Booker and starting wide receivers Kenneth Scott and Tim Patrick were among those held out of the scrimmage.

#CampKyle continues tomorrow with the second two-a-day of fall camp followed by a single practice on Saturday.