Utes Make Progress in Tuesday's Scrimmage

4/11/2017 6:14 PM | Football

Here comes a touchdown! ?? #goutes #UtahSB17 pic.twitter.com/dq68M2sX4F
— Utah Athletics (@utahathletics) April 11, 2017

SALT LAKE CITY – With the weather cooperating, Devonta'e Henry-Cole scored three touchdowns, all three quarterbacks found the end zone and the defense made a number of plays during today's Utah football scrimmage.

The quarterbacks for the No. 1 and 2 offense were live for what will likely be the final time this spring. Troy Williams opened the scrimmage by directing an eight-play drive, culminating with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Fulks.

Tyler Huntley's first drive leading the No. 2 offense against the No. 2 defense wasn't as successful, ending on downs with a sack by sophomore defense end Chris Hart.

Later, with Williams leading the "two's", freshman defensive end Nick Heninger picked up a sack for a loss of three yards.

The first-team offense, with Williams under center, got the first crack at the red zone. After a pair of incompletions, he connected with sophomore wide receiver Siaosi Wilson for a gain of 13. Sophomore running back Zack Moss ran the ball in on an 8-yard touchdown run to cap the drive. Huntley took the field with the second-team offense, but was unable to come up with a touchdown. Cristian Antezana fired wide on a 43-yard field goal attempt

In the next series, a 7-yard run from Demari Simpkins set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Huntley on the read option. Williams entered and in found senior wide receiver Jameson Field for 13 yards before sophomore running back Devonta'e Henry-Cole ran the ball in from six yards out.

The teams continued to run situational sets including short-yardage and timed drills.

Henry-Cole ran in his second touchdown, a 7-yarder, during the first two-minute drill. Huntley was able to find freshman wide receiver Samson Nacua for a first down and then once more on an 18-yard gain. The young QB also found senior Tyler Bell for a 58-yard gain.

Cooper Bateman entered late and played with the third-string offense, connecting with Austin Turley on a 70-yard touchdown and Tyquez Hampton to end the scrimmage.

Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
On overview of scrimmage
"I thought it was good. We got a lot of work done. We ran close to 100 snaps when you count the 3s we ran at the end. We came out very healthy, a couple guys got a little dinged up, but nothing major. We had trouble with our center-quarterback exchange. That's something has to be ironed out. We found out about an hour before the scrimmage that Lo Falemaka was not going to be able to go that created a shuffle in centers and it didn't turn out so well. We have to smooth that out. Cooper Bateman came in at the end with the 3s and threw extremely well. It was good to see. He functioned very well in there and played with a lot of pose. Through 12 practices, where we are right now, we're on track. We still have a lot of work to do, but I feel good about where we are."

On Cooper Bateman playing quarterback
"We'll grade this film. What you saw out here, he looked really good. It's an open competition. There's nobody that has a lock on anything. We'll grade it relative to competition level and make judgments as coach as to what should happen going forward."

On offensive line
"We weren't bad at the ones. Leki Fotu only played a series or two, then he was out for precautionary reasons. Like I said, Falemaka was out, so two of your starters were out. We think we're going to come away with a good starting five and if we can find three solid backups, that's usually where you are every year with eight backups, I'd feel comfortable."

On running backs
"I'm really impressed with Devonta'e Henry-Cole and Zack Moss. Those two guys have separated themselves from the back. Jordan Howard is working hard and so are the other guys, but those two guys are doing a good job. When you add Armand Shyne and TJ Green to the mix – Armand is here, just not healthy and TJ will be here in the summer. There's four really good backs that we feel good about going into fall camp."

The Red-White Spring game is set for Saturday, April 15 at 11 a.m. at the stadium. All seating will be general admission at Saturday's Red-White game. Leading up to kickoff will be a MUSS flag football game at 9 a.m. and an alumni game at 10 a.m. The Red-White game will be televised live on Pac-12 Network and will also be aired on ESPN700 radio.