Camp Kyle ’16: Day 6

8/10/2016 2:15 PM | Football

Pecking order among different positions becoming more clear.

The emphasis on execution in situational football continued for the Utah program on a mostly overcast Wednesday morning during its sixth official workout of the season, the first held at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Highlights the Utes' sixth day of on-field activity, competitions among the position groups began to sort themselves out. This was the morning session during the first of five two-a-day sessions in fall camp.

The Countdown is On ...
The countdown to kickoff from Rice-Eccles Stadium against Southern Utah stands at 22 days. UtahUtes.com has each day of @Utah_Football fall camp covered. Use #CampKyle16 on all social media posts to keep track of the Utes and chime in with your thoughts throughout preseason camp.

22 DAYS pic.twitter.com/7zXAkFYEtS
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UtahUtes.com will be your go-to source for videos, GIFs, Facebook Live sessions, photos, quotes, social media reaction and behind-the-scenes tidbits all the way up to when the Utes face the Thunderbirds on Sept. 1 at 6 p.m. MT.

Day 6 Overview ...
• Sixth training session of the season held Wednesday morning at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
• The focus of the training centered around two-minute situations as the Utes continued to work on fine-tuning their skills for the upcoming campaign.
• Red helmets with either black jerseys and red pants (for the defense) or red jerseys with black pants (for the offense and special teams) were the uniform combinations of the day.

Media Observation Period Highlights ...
• Full-team live work during the media's 20-minute viewing period kicked off with a two-minute drill segment for the first and second units.
• Marcus Williams picked off a pass to halt the first drive.
• Julian Blackmon also came up with an interception.
• Sunia Tauteoli tagged up on a quarterback for a sack.

LIVE on #Periscope: Circle drill!!! https://t.co/GCmlUDE4wt
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 10, 2016

From Coach Whittingham ...
On today's workout: "It was a very good practice, much better than yesterday. Rather than the deer in the headlight look when a little adversity hit, we kept our poise and composure and that's how we have to be. You have to handle it. There's going to adversity all season long and part of being a good football is being able to handle that the right way and respond. Instead of wilting, you bow your neck and fight your way out of bad situations. That's what we did today.

"The offensive line played much better today with fewer mistakes. It's not going to ever be perfect, but it was much improved. We have been going with the same five for three or four days now with Garrett [Bolles] [at left tackle], Isaac [Asiata] [at left guard], J.J. [Dielman] [at center], [Salesi Uhatafe] [at right guard] and Sam Tevi at right tackle. That's been what we've had over the last few days and I don't see that changing any time soon. We should know by the end of this week and have that solidified."

"There were a few different turnovers by the offense [during the 20-minute media observation]. One was on a fourth down with the clock expiring and there was no choice but to throw it up and see if someone could make a play. You have to credit the defense with getting the ball out of the air. We have a defense that was in the top three in the nation last year in interceptions and it looks like we have a bunch of ball hawks back there again this year.

"We are expecting Marcus Williams to lead that pack again this year. He's an all-conference performer. It's his third year in the program. He knows exactly what is expected. He knows the scheme inside and out. He's a tremendous athlete. He should be a leader for us."

"[The health of the team] is good. You're always going to get bumps and bruises throughout camp, but we're just working through it."

"[The plan for the scrimmage] is to typically have about 70 to 80 plays. It's our first scrimmage of fall camp so we'll try to get a look at every single person on the football who is healthy, at least give them a shot to show what they can do. There will be a lot of special teams work in addition. We'll have all four phases of special teams getting some live work as well."

Coach Whittingham did note that the top three quarterbacks will receive an equal amount of reps during tomorrow's scrimmage, the first of fall camp.

.@UteReef33 is ??????#CampKyle16 pic.twitter.com/Qg1W56lknf
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 10, 2016

Post-Practice Impressions from the Utah Assistant Coaches and Players ...

Running Back Troy McCormick
"I felt like [my knee] was good to go during spring practice, but I had to get adjusted to being contacted again and this summer I had to get adjusted to playing without the brace. I feel good now.

"I feel way stronger [than before the injury]. People say that because you see your teammates working hard so you work hard yourself.

"I'm just trying to do whatever it takes to help the team. [Joe Williams] and myself will do whatever [Assistant Head Coach, Running Backs Coach] Dennis Erickson wants us to do. We're both pretty good athletes so we can make a play at any time.

"I'm excited to be used in a lot of different positions. I don't even want to be called a running back, I just want to be called a PM --- a playmaker. I just want to make plays with the ball in my hand."

"I love running back. I like to hide behind the linemen and burst through when I see a hole."

Defensive Coordinator Morgan Scalley
• My job is to make sure our players understand the terminology and know where to line up.
• From there, they're all great athletes so they can make plays.

Offensive lineman J.J. Dielman
• It's a huge responsibility for me to have, playing center.
• All of the quarterbacks are busting their tails. Whoever happens to start will give us a great chance to win games.

Defensive Back/Quarterback Chase Hansen
• The collisions you're in while playing safety can be painful, but if anything, it helps you learn and actually helps you along the way.
• He responds well to Defensive Coordinator Morgan Scalley's intense coaching style. He played safety here so he knows the game and what it's like to go through it.
• Once he gets the schemes down mentally, he'll be able to fly around and be aggressive on the field.

Offensive Lineman Isaac Asiata
• Going against Utah's defensive line every day in practice will only make the offensive line better.
• In my opinion, we have the best defensive line in the Pac-12. They give us great looks every day and can only make us better.
• Lowell Lotulelei is the most difficult matchup for him, but Filipo Mokofisi's quickness and power also presents a big challenge.
• The offensive line always has to work. If they get beat, they learn from it and compete even more on the next snap.

Linebackers Coach Justin Ena
• The linebackers are coming along. He likes what he sees from Sunia Tauteoli, who is playing hard and carrying out his assignments.
• Cody Barton, with his size and experience, has been impressive over the last couple of days. He's excited to see what he keeps doing. He will get his shot with the 1's so we'll see if he can keep producing.

#UtesCamp BTS ...
• More practices will be held in the stadium compared to past seasons in order to help the team get acclimated to the new video board in the south end zone.

Home sweet home. #CampKyle16 pic.twitter.com/61D536G8rm
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 10, 2016

• A total of 22 Utah football players and coaches were requested by the media for post-practice interviews.

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August 20th@Rice_Eccles
6-8PM pic.twitter.com/wNvEHvPFXM
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 10, 2016