Camp Kyle ’16: Day 11

8/16/2016 1:55 PM | Football

Utes hold second scrimmage of preseason camp.

Big plays on both sides of the ball were featured in the University of Utah football team's second scrimmage of #CampKyle16 during Day 11 of preseason camp Tuesday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Utah was in full pads for the scrimmage with its traditional red helmets with the accompanying circle and feather logo on both sides (for players who have earned them).

"Another good day, another step forward." #goutes #CampKyle16 https://t.co/4Z82Cirnca
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) August 16, 2016

Ya Boy got his feathers!!??????@Utah_Football pic.twitter.com/ALveJmAvKV
— ??P. Tonga VII?? (@PitaTonga99) August 16, 2016

The Countdown is On ...
The countdown to kickoff from Rice-Eccles Stadium against Southern Utah stands at 16 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.

Scrimmage 2: ??
Next stop: Utah vs SUU pic.twitter.com/jWcmEgYV1n
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 16, 2016

UtahUtes.com is 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 11 Overview ...
• The Utah football team was in shorts, shoulder pads and helmets with a complete official crew to simulate game-like conditions.
• This was the second scrimmage of Utah's preseason camp.

Media Observation Highlights ...
• The media viewing period began with Troy McCormick on the receiving end of a screen pass around midfield.
• Leki Fotu timed his jump for a pass break up at the line of scrimmage.

?? Okay @alexfotu1!

More on snapchat: utah_football pic.twitter.com/1xrzSs3bvS
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 16, 2016

• Siaosi Wilson caught a nice pass down field.
• An end-around play was snuffed out in quick fashion by the defense.
• Demari Simpkins picked up big chunk of yardage on a go route down the middle of the field to move the Ute offense to the 9-yard line.
• Wallace Gonzalez then drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone that put the ball at the 2-yard line.
• Joe Williams completed the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
• On the ensuing drive, Marcel Manalo started things with a rush for a nominal pickup before Tyler Huntley scrambled to a near first down. Manalo picked up the first down on the next snap.
• An attempted pass down field drew a defensive holding call, but the defense was able to halt the final drive of the scrimmage.

From Coach Whittingham ...
Opening statement: "It was solid. It was what we needed to see. The offense in general did a great job of taking care of the football. Conversely, we have to do a better job of taking the ball away with our defense. When you look at the scrimmage as a whole, there are corrections still to be made and things we need to clean up, but 16 days out [from the first game], we feel like we're in pretty good shape right now. This will be the last extensive live work we'll get before the first game. There will be segments here and there, but nothing like there was today."

On the quarterback depth chart: "The biggest issue we have to work out is who is No. 2 and who is No. 3 because right now [Troy] Williams is a solid No. 1. It's not that the No. 2 and 3 guy aren't playing well. They're both playing well. It's just a matter of which one are we going to choose."

On snapper Chase Dominguez: "He does a great job. He's in one of those positions where you only notice him if he screws up and he just doesn't screw up. He does his job over and over. He's reliable. He handles all of the snapping, short and long. Not only that, he's an excellent cover guy. After he snaps, he gets down field and is very disruptive to the return teams with his coverage ability."

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

Defensive Coordinator Morgan Scalley
On today's scrimmage: "There was good and bad [in today's scrimmage]. It seems like that's always going to be the case when you're going up against your own guys. The 1s did a nice job today for the most part, but the unfortunate part about today was that we had no turnovers. We have to be able to create turnovers, that's what we did a great job of last year. The 1s had a situation where let the offense out of trouble and gave up a touchdown, which can't happen. I thought the red zone work was good. The 'drive it' portions of practice were solid. What we're trying to get is the same consistency out of our 2s. We have to continue to work with them and get their assignments down.

"It's never as good as it seems and it's never as bad as it seems. Dominique Hatfield had a really good day. Coverage overall was really good. We were able to win a lot of situations being in base defense by being good fundamentally.

"It's a lot more competitive with this year's offense, in terms of our offensive line is special. I really like our quarterback situation. The great thing about they're seeing is that we also have a very good defensive line and what we think is a good defense. That competition only makes us and the offense better. We had a lot of young wide receivers get reps last year and some guys who didn't get any reps last year, but I think we're more mature at the wide receiver spot with some of those young guys who were playing for us last year and still going through some growing pains. Add to that mix, guys who we believed in, but maybe didn't have a complete grasp of the offense. Kyle Fulks is a perfect example of a guy who has been really standing out in fall camp, who we didn't see a lot of last year. He's a big-time threat so I think they're ahead of where they were last year and I'm excited about it."

On the defense's mentality: "It's Kyle Whittingham's defense. And Kyle Whittingham's defense has always been mean, aggressive and nasty. It's been opportunistic in terms of getting turnovers so the important thing that we talk about with our defense is how we want to play. We want to be relentless, smart and nasty ball hawks. [We want to be] relentless in pursuit. Smart football players who understand situational football, nasty in terms of our demeanor and with no excuses, no whining and no complaining and of course the ball hawk thing is the ability to turn the ball over. That's how we want to play and that's what we talk about every day."

On the linebacker depth chart: "They're still competing. We have four or five guys who we're looking at right now, in terms of who we're looking to give the majority of our reps to. It's still a work in progress, but we'll be ready to go by game 1."

On approach to duration of camp leading up to season opener: "We'll watch the scrimmage today. A big part of this scrimmage is to find out who we can trust, showing that they can be alignment-sound and that they can make plays. After we watch today's scrimmage, we have to hone in on the 1s and 2s who will get those reps. They'll get those extra reps and then we'll cut down on those extra guys who we've been trying to see what they can do. They'll break into scout teams starting with the next practice. Then instead of going up against our offense and our offensive schemes, it's really focusing on what Southern Utah does and what personnel we're going to see out of them. What their top options are in the run and throw game and then we'll go from there."

Defensive End Kylie Fitts
On the defense improving during camp: "We're gaining more confidence and working on our craft every day.

On what he's working on specifically on an individual basis: "My No. 1 is being more physical in the run. Last year, I felt I was more unbalanced, better on pass rush and not that good on the run so this year I'm trying to gain more weight and be more physical in the run game."

Defensive End Hunter Dimick
On approach to this season after recovering from injuries in 2015: "It's added fuel to the fire. I had a lot of frustration last year and I've been using that to sharpen my craft.

On having effective pass rushers on the opposite side: "It helps a ton. If we only have one good player then [the offense] knows who to key on, but I feel like we have four guys to worry about with our entire defensive line."

Quarterback Troy Williams
On today's scrimmage: "It was good. Of course, there are a couple of things to clean up for myself and the team, but I'll just go back and check out the film and see what I need to improve.

On being the last to leave the practice field: "It's been part of my work [routine] ever since I went back to JUCO. I had an entirely new mindset of getting extra work in and just brought it here with me. It keeps me motivated and determined. My dad tells me all of the time that hard work pays off so I've been trying to keep up with that and get better."

Wide Receiver Tim Patrick
On his role in the offense this season: "[My role is to] make plays. That's it. We didn't have many last year and to win in this league, you have to have a lot of big plays and that's what I'm trying to bring to this team.

"There is a lot of balance in the receiving corps. We have a lot of size, a lot speed and a lot of everything. There's nothing you can say we don't have."

#CampKyle16 BTS ...
• A Cleveland Browns scout observed this morning's scrimmage.