Football is back! Utes kick off spring camp today

I simultaneously love and hate spring football. I love it because, well, it's a taste of football action - especially with the Runnin' Utes' season coming to an end. I hate it because this is pretty much the only taste we'll get until later this summer. That's a long stretch of nothingness and I liken it to walking across the Sahara Desert.

But beyond those superficial reasons, this season's spring ball is going to prove pretty important. Not only are the Utes bringing in a new offensive assistant (Dennis Erickson), they're hoping to bring along sophomore quarterback Travis Wilson. Wilson started a bulk of last season and it wasn't exactly a herculean effort. That should have been expected, with how everything developed for Utah in 2012 - but Wilson also showed there was a good amount of room for improvement. The hope is that he can show that improvement this spring, then into fall camp and finally, into the season.

I think, most of all, we're looking forward to seeing how far Wilson really has come. It's not that big of a conundrum here - Wilson succeeds and Utah will do well. Wilson struggles and, obviously, Utah will struggle.

So, all eyes are on Wilson and then the running game and then the offensive line and then the defensive line and then the defense as a whole. There are plenty of questions surrounding this year's Utes - probably a team that faces the most questions since going back the 2005 season ... if not the 2003 season.

Basically, it's the first time in a long time we don't enter spring ball with a clear feeling for what team will take the field later this summer.

It's all really foreign right now and makes these next few weeks key to the development of the program.

I hope the players are ready. I am.

This week's schedule:

All outdoor practices are open to the public, however, practices held indoors at the Spencer Eccles Field House, generally due to weather conditions, aren't. So, if it's raining outside, be advised that practice has probably moved indoors and therefore won't be accessible to the public.