From the Press Box: Utah Football Prepares for Oregon State - Day One

The Utah football team held their last practice open to the media today before Thursday's game against Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore. The media is not allowed to report who was playing with the first or second team from the scrimmage today, so that information will not be included in this write up.

Quarterbacks:

Each quarterback had two series in the scrimmage. Kendal Thompson and Travis Wilson both made some nice plays in the air and on the ground. Wilson had the best throw on the day. Thompson missed on a few more throws than Wilson. Neither quarterback threw any deep passes since they were playing with a short field. Both quarterbacks had some nice runs, but the big difference is Thompson can get yards when they should not be there where Wilson is a decent runner when he has an open lane to run. Thompson is also a much better scrambler due to his ability to create given that he is quicker and more elusive. Given the small amount of time, neither quarterback stood out to me today.

Running Backs:

Devontae Booker continued to show why he is the best running back on the team. He runs hard on every play and refuses to go down. Bubba Poole had several nice runs as well where he got to the outside and picked up some yards. Poole does certain things well, and I would like to see the coaches try to utilize his skills more to complement what Booker does. Troy McCormick got a few carries as well but did not do much with them.

Wide Receivers:

Kenric Young had the best catch on the day. He leaped up and caught the ball on what was not the greatest throw. Dres Anderson went up to try to make a catch on a pass that was a little high but very catchable, but he dropped it. Kenneth Scott, Kaelin Clay, Tim Patrick, and Delshawn McClellon all had at least one catch.

Defense:

It is always hard to judge the defense when they cannot tackle. There was one sack on Thompson during the scrimmage, and the defense did a decent job in coverage and bottling up running lanes.

NFL scouts from the Minnesota Vikings and Houston Texans were at practice today.

Scouts from the @Vikings & the @HoustonTexans watching the #UtahFootball practice with @FWhittinghamJr #utesinthenfl pic.twitter.com/KPY3kJHweL

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) October 13, 2014

Just visited with NFL scouts from the Vikings and Texans. Both made unsolicited observations that our D "gets after it hard" @kalanifsitake

— Fred Whittingham Jr. (@FWhittinghamJr) October 13, 2014

Neither quarterback seemed outwardly concerned about being the starter and while Wilson was frustrated to be pulled against UCLA, he will continue to play hard and didn't change what he does on the sidelines.