Utah Football 2013 Spring Wrap Up

Spring summary

It’s no secret that Utah has struggled offensively in its first two seasons in the Pac-12.  After just a few weeks of spring practice with Dennis Erickson at the helm (ok, listed as co-offensive coordinator… I’ll use air quotes), the Utes offense was running on all cylinders.

We didn’t see entire scheme changes or an overhaul of the playbook, but what we saw was an increased tempo and an investment in the power run game. Short passes to the running backs out of the backfield, perfecting the zone read option and getting the ball to their playmakers in space drastically improved Utah’s offensive output.

In the Red and White Spring Game, the Utes two teams combined for 797 yards in a scrimmage about half as long as a normal game. Utah fans shouldn’t be expecting this kind of output once the season begins, but at least it’s comforting to know that they are at least heading in the right direction, hopefully minimizing the dreadful but seen all too often “three and out”.

Potential breakout players

Jake Murphy, TE: Everything you look for in a tight end. Good size, runs great routes and catches everything thrown his way. Look for him to have more passes thrown his way this season, up from his 33 receptions and a team-high four touchdown catches in 2012.

Justin Thomas, CB: The four-star recruit from West Orange-Stark High School in Texas redshirted last season and has some big shoes to fill, as 2012 starting corners Ryan Lacy, Moe Lee and Reggie Topps all signed free agent contracts to workout with NFL teams. Thomas is one of the fastest Utes on the roster and will be called upon to lockdown some of the elite receivers in the Pac-12.

Jeremiah Poutasi, LT:  Jeremiah (CJ) Poutasi is perhaps the best player on the 2013 roster. CJ started 10 games as a freshman, leading the team in knockdowns (21) on his way to being honorable mention All-Pac-12.

Tenny Palepoi, DT: How do you replace Star Lotulelei? Short answer, you don’t. Palepoi emerged at the top of the post spring depth chart at defensive tackle. He played in all 12 games last season with 21 total tackles and two sacks.

Position group grades

QB – B-

Utah has a healthy, non-injury prone returning starter at quarterback?! So why the average grade? I expected Travis Wilson to have taken the next step in developing to be a Pac-12 quarterback. While he definitely took strides in becoming a leader of this offense, he continued to occasionally make poor reads or throw it off his back foot. Nothing non-correctable, but certainly something to keep an eye on come fall camp.

RB – A-

Utah has a stable of running backs to utilize in 2013. While they won’t want to rotate the carries between four backs, it is good to have some depth and competition at that position group. Kelvin York is listed as the starter coming out of the spring based on his experience from last season, but James Poole, Karl Williams and Lucky Radley all had exceptional spring practices.

WR – C+

It was an up and down spring session for the receivers, and some of the blame needs to be spread down to the play of the quarterbacks. Some days the WRs looked like NFL All-Stars, and other days they looked like they’d never caught a football before. On the bright side, things did get progressively better. WRs Dres Anderson and Kenneth Scott could have monstrous seasons.

TE – A

Two words … Jake Murphy. Don’t sleep on Westlee Tonga either.

OL – A+

Contrasted to just 1 season ago, no position group improved more than that of the offensive line. It went from being the biggest question mark on the team to its best position group. Utah has eight guys battling for playing time, and that number could be up to 10 in fall camp. Jeremiah (CJ) Poutasi is arguably the best player on the Utes roster.

DT – B-

I’m throwing the spring game out of my rating for the defensive tackles with the best player in Tenny Palepoi sitting out, not needing to prove himself. The tackles were solid for the majority of spring, just not extraordinary to receive a higher grade.

DE – Incomplete

Utah’s projected starters, Trevor Reilly, Nate Orchard and Jason Whittingham all sat out spring practices due to injury recovery. Hard to grade the position group when we didn’t see them play. Utah desperately needs these guys to get healthy though, the depth behind them is rather alarming.

ILB – B-

Improved depth with VJ Fehoko and LT Filiaga. Great against the run, would like to see better coverage against the pass.

OLB – B+

Position group gets an upgrade with Brian Blechen switching from safety to linebacker. Could be used for lockdown coverage on tight ends .

CB – B-

All three of Utah’s corners from last season signed free agent contracts with NFL teams. Justin Thomas showcased why he was a four-star recruit out of high school and Keith McGill has tremendous size (6-3, 205 pounds). Inexperience keeps them from receiving higher grade.

S – B+

Eric Rowe is only two seasons removed from being named to the freshman All-American team. Didn’t get any help last season.

Special Teams – B

The Utes have to replace their starting punter and kicker. I’ve never seen a punter perform the coffin corner punt better than Tom Hackett, consistently pinning the ball inside the 5 yard line. Andy Phillips has emerged as the leader in the battle for the starting field goal kicker position.

Utah’s 2013 expectations

An improved offensive identity under Dennis Erickson should put more points on the board, but there are a lot of question marks on the defensive side of the ball.

Inexperience always causes some concern, and mixed with a brutal schedule with Oregon and USC on the road and Stanford and UCLA at home, each and every week will be a battle. That said, the bar should be set at returning to a bowl game, something the Utes did for 9 straight seasons before seeing the streak snapped in 2012.

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Robert Jackson, the online sports director for ksl.com provided the information for our Utah Football 2013 Spring Wrap Up. For more Utah  football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Robert on Twitter @rojackKSL.

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