Spring Football: One Practice Remaining Before Red-White Game

Spring Football: One Practice Remaining Before Red-White Game

4/9/2019 6:28 PM | Football

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah football program took on another rainy day of football today for its second-to-last practice before the spring game on Saturday. The annual Red-White game will kick off at 11 a.m. MT in Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, April 13.

Saturday will be full of events for Ute fans, starting with the MUSS Game at 9 a.m., the Alumni Game at 10 a.m. and then the Red-White Game starting at 11 a.m. The West lot will open for tailgate parking at 6 a.m. with parking and admission to the game being free.

ICYMI: the Utes are Going Gold this Saturday at our annual Red & White game to promote awareness for pediatric cancer. Be sure to incorporate gold into your attire!

More information: https://t.co/gLgfH075wt pic.twitter.com/KzixtWKnmk
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) April 9, 2019

Fans will need to be prepared for regular game day activities such as the Clear Bag Policy, but also with the Salt Lake City Marathon taking place on Saturday, there will be roads closed. For more information, read below:

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The Salt Lake City Marathon will be on Saturday, April 13th - the same day as our spring game.

Here's a link to the course map to help you plan your travel to the game accordingly: https://t.co/qfSME39wXg pic.twitter.com/lhnYfgb0h1
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) April 8, 2019

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SATURDAY ??

A post shared by Utah Football (@utahfootball) on Apr 9, 2019 at 3:20pm PDT

HYPE https://t.co/aQFtsjY2wo
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) April 9, 2019

Highlights from Offense vs. Defense Today:

Tyler Huntley scrambled to the outside and threw a pass to Jaylen Dixon across his body for a first down.
Devin Brumfield and Devonta'e Henry-Cole both were hitting the holes well with multiple big gains.
Terrell Burgess had a strong tackle for loss and Josh Nurse had a pass breakup.
Julian Blackmon had an interception on a deep ball to the end zone.
Drew Lisk found Derrick Vickers over the middle for 15-plus yards.
Bradlee Anae had a monstourous tackle for no gain.
Leki Fotu and Hauati Pututau had a combined tackle at the line of scrimmage.
Jason Shelley threw a cross-body bomb for 30-plus yards to Samson Nacua.

Voices from Practice: Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
On how the leadership on the team is key when they get dismissed from spring ball and don't have organized workouts anymore…
"We hope that is the case. We saw that through winter conditioning and through spring football. These seniors are very similar to last year's and last years was a great group. These guys seem to be picking up the slack and doing the same thing. I think they learned a great deal from last year's seniors. You are right though, there is going to be some discretionary time in the next six weeks and they've got to be held accountable on their own. Great teams do a very good job of that, so I'm hoping they can follow suit."

On what kind of mindset he hopes they leave spring ball with…
"The same M.O. that we have had for a number of years, to be a physical football team and make sure that our priorities are right. When you play physically on both sides of the football, it will be important in June for the players to get together and do work without the coaches."

On opening next season against BYU…
"That's the opener and everyone at this time of the year, that is who you are looking toward. It just happens to be our rivalry game this year."

On with it being the last week of spring camp, what is one thing he wants to sure-up on offense, defense and special teams before spring is over…
"Well on offense, it is the offensive line. We need to continue to get that position to the point where we have eight or nine guys that we have confidence in. And then linebacker on defense. Devin Lloyd and Manny Bowen have had outstanding springs, Sione Lund and Andrew Mata'afa have made progress, so we are feeling pretty good about that position. Specialists it is just about replacing the best tandem of specialists in the country which are big shoes to fill. We have Chayden Johnston who is a sophomore and Ben Lennon who is a freshman, so there are some big expectations coming for those guys and they have progressed this spring, but there is still a lot of work to be done before fall."