Fall Camp Opens for the Utes

[DrumNFeather]

Football season is inching closer and closer as fall camp starts today for the Utes...and Saturday for the Cougars I assume.

I love this time of year.

[BoylenOver]

A lot to watch for. Whit wants the QB competition down to two in a week; we need to find a center and a kicker; and it will be a battle at corner.

[DrumNFeather]

A lot to watch for. Whit wants the QB competition down to two in a week; we need to find a center and a kicker; and it will be a battle at corner.

I think that the competition is already down to two. It's nice to keep Jordan Wynn in the mix, but I bet the coaches just want to give him as much experience as they possibly can.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Is there a roster going into camp? I had heard that Afa Garrigan quit football, but a couple of google searches yielded nothing.

[BoylenOver]

Is there a roster going into camp? I had heard that Afa Garrigan quit football, but a couple of google searches yielded nothing.

Here's a link:
2009 Utah Utes

You're right, he's not on the roster. That's disappointing.

[BoylenOver]

I have no clue on the QB battle. Therefore, I'll sum up every argument in one paragraph:

At this point, I think (Louks/Cain/Wynn) will be the #1 QB because he's (more experienced/the best all-around player/performed the best during camp). As a result, Utah will (not miss a beat/win in spite of their QB/struggle all year long).

[Senioritis]

I have no clue on the QB battle. Therefore, I'll sum up every argument in one paragraph:

At this point, I think (Louks/Cain/Wynn) will be the #1 QB because he's (more experienced/the best all-around player/performed the best during camp). As a result, Utah will (not miss a beat/win in spite of their QB/struggle all year long).

This whole QB situation is a groin shriveller. I expected Louks to come out, take hold, and chuck it like a WYO fan with a bag full of bodily fluids. Not happening.

Regardless of who's at QB, the other two guys are going to be the most popular guys at RES on gameday, and a bunch of nimrods in the crowd are going to want to parade Dave Schramm's balls around campus on a pike. Good times coming.

I would like to say that, when you don't have a competent quarterback, going with the no huddle offense makes about as much sense as Gabby Johnson. I would think that with Matt Asiata, a solid line, and a bitch slapper of a defense, you'd want to shorten the game as much as possible. Throw the game in the chilly pool, as it were. I would predict that by the second quarter of the Aggie game, this strategy will take hold quickly and the no huddle will go away until Jordan Wynn is a senior.

It's going to be a good year. I feel like Utah has enough to compete, and I certainly don't think they'll be blown out. But this QB "competition" has put a serious ceiling on my expectations.

[Eddie]

On the radio they were interpreting KW's comments from after the scrimmage yesterday. Which came to basically:

Cain is a lot like Brian Johnson.

Wynn is a lot like Alex Smith.

Louks is very athletic.

Hmmm. Who will be the odd man out in this exercise?


Their speculation was that Louks would retain his role as the wildcat/change up offensive player and that KW would present it as wanting to utilize his athleticism. But that the other two are the ones who will remain in the race to be the starter.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out.

And regardless of who starts - I agree with Senioritis. Whoever is on the bench will be the most popular player with the fans.

[BoylenOver]

All I know is utefans.net is a fertile ground for needling. There's a lot of uptight ninnies regarding this.

[Coach McGuirk]

I find it weird that the USC fall camp thread is getting more play than the Ute fall camp thread.


Pick it up fellas.


Did anyone go to the scrimmage yesterday? From radio reports, Louks struggled mightily. For as touted as the skill positions are being made out to be, it will suck if there isn't a good qb in the bunch that can deliver them the ball.

[Hot Lunch]

I think Whit has found himself is a lose-lose situation here. The media has all but anointed Wynn as the future of Utah football. This is what fans will call for and want. Whit is in a pretty hard situation. When all is said and done, Wynn is a true freshman and their are always major speed bumps anytime a true freshman is handed over the keys to the driver seat. The Utah team however has some great senior leadership to be behind him though so if there is ever a good time to have a true frosh start, this may be it. Utah's d is good enough to keep them in every game regardless of who the q.b. is.

Alex Smith was great, his teammates knew he was great the minute he walked onto campus. Even Alex wasn't ready to have the keys handed to him as a freshman. Maybe Jordan Wynn is that good.

[Hot Lunch]

Did anyone go to the scrimmage yesterday? From radio reports, Louks struggled mightily. For as touted as the skill positions are being made out to be, it will suck if there isn't a good qb in the bunch that can deliver them the ball.

The thing that I find interesting about Louks and Cain struggling yesterday according to the media is that they struggled against basically Utah's 2nd string D as well.

I read that Misi, Gaison, Wright, Sly, Joe Dale and RoJo all sat out yesterday and didn't participate in the scrimmage.

[DrumNFeather]

I think Whit has found himself is a lose-lose situation here. The media has all but anointed Wynn as the future of Utah football. This is what fans will call for and want. Whit is in a pretty hard situation. When all is said and done, Wynn is a true freshman and their are always major speed bumps anytime a true freshman is handed over the keys to the driver seat. The Utah team however has some great senior leadership to be behind him though so if there is ever a good time to have a true frosh start, this may be it. Utah's d is good enough to keep them in every game regardless of who the q.b. is.

Alex Smith was great, his teammates knew he was great the minute he walked onto campus. Even Alex wasn't ready to have the keys handed to him as a freshman. Maybe Jordan Wynn is that good.

IF Wynn ends up being the guy, I think we'll see a more limited offense than Alex Smith saw when he stepped in for Brett Elliot. You'll get a heavy dose of Asiata, Shak, and Eddie Wide with Louks coming in as a change of pace QB to give opposing D's something extra to prepare for.

Wynn will be so limited in what he'll be allowed to do that the Utes will have to rely heavily on the receivers making plays...and don't be surprised to see Asiata throw several more passes out of the WildCat than he did last year.

I compare this situation to Andy Dalton at TCU. He came in highly touted and really struggled his freshman year...but they stuck with him, and the jump from that year to last year was huge and I expect him to make another leap this year. If you can get him in there and allow him to have success while not killing his confidence when he makes a mistake, then you'll have a good QB.

[Senioritis]

In addition to my blathering above, I would say Utah wins seven games this year on the loooowwww end, nine on the high end. Can Louks or Cain move that to 10? I don't believe so. Can Wynn move that below 7 with his inexperience? I don't believe so.

Therefore, for the record, I am on the side of Jordan Wynn.

At this point, what the hell.

He's got the highest ceiling. On UFN, ColoUte makes a great point. Going with the conservative pick in the past has yielded Lance Rice over Mahana the Eight Cow Quarterback, and Jonathon Crosswhite over Darnell Arceneaux. There ain't anybody out there giddy about Terrence Cain's upside.

In addition, even the best coaches don't get these kinds of decisions right on their own. For various reasons, Saint Urb went with Mahana over Alex Smith in 2003, until the fates stepped in and brought us out of our wandering in the wilderness.

There will be some pain and some cost of going with Wynn, but what the hell. Let's see what happens when we don't pick quarterbacks like Ron McBride did.

[Senioritis]

The thing that I find interesting about Louks and Cain struggling yesterday according to the media is that they struggled against basically Utah's 2nd string D as well.

I read that Misi, Gaison, Wright, Sly, Joe Dale and RoJo all sat out yesterday and didn't participate in the scrimmage.

In addition, Stanford played very little and the picks that were thrown were to Conroy Black and Tyson Clements(!).

I sure hope it's that Utah's second string D is just fantastic.