Derrek Richards hauls in two receiving touchdowns, Brian Johnson passes a pair

April 14, 2007

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah's offense was much improved from its first showing of the spring a week ago, driving four times for touchdowns in today's scrimmage at Rice-Eccles Stadium. It was the final tune-up for the Utes and third-year head coach Kyle Whittingham before the annual Red-White Spring Game next Saturday.

Junior quarterback Brian Johnson led the Ute offense, throwing for a pair of touchdowns and 133 yards in a 9-for-16 performance. He also had two passes that were dropped.

Johnson connected with Derrek Richards and Brian Hernandez for scoring strikes. Johnson went 26 yards to Richards on the second touchdown drive, then hooked-up with Hernandez on a 56-yards bomb for the fourth and final touchdown. During the Red Zone drills, Johnson looked to Richards again for an 18-yard touchdown pass.

Richards also caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from back-up quarterback Tommy Grady. Richards had three catches for 62 yards in the scrimmage. Hernandez led the receiving corps with six catches for 124 yards.

Grady looked sharp for the second consecutive Saturday, completing 7 of 9 pass attempts for 124 yards and two touchdowns. He threw to an 11-yard touchdown to Bradon Godfrey to open the scoring. Godfrey had three catches for 33 yards.

Later on, Grady connected with Richards for a 31-yard scoring play. Third-string quarterback Chad Manis completed 3 of 8 passes for 46 yards, and ran five times for 32 yards.

Junior Darrell Mack had his number called the most in the running game, toting the ball 10 times for 32 yards. Junior Ray Stowers had the longest run of the day, going 34 yards. He totaled eight carries for 37 yards.

Junior kicker Louie Sakoda made all five of his PAT attempts during the regular scrimmage and Red Zone drills.

Sophomore kicker Ben Vroman went 4-for-8 on his field goal tries, all from 35 yards or longer. Two of his misses were from 53 yards, the other two from 45 and 47 yards, respectively. He demonstrated his impressive leg strength in making a 57-yarder.

David Carroll, just returning from his LDS mission, made a 47-yard attempt and missed for 45 yards.

The defense tallied a pair of sacks, including one for nine yards by redshirt freshman Paul Kruger, who is playing on both sides of the ball this spring. Utah's defensive unit also had six tackles for a loss and three pass breakups.

Utah closes out spring drills with the annual Red-White Game next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Rice-Eccles Stadium.