As fall camp is coming to an end for the Utes, head coach Kyle Whittingham continues to be impressed by the effort his group is putting forth to finish strong.

“It was a good day,” Whittingham said. “It was another one of those Monday’s where we worry about a little bit of a weekend lull, but it wasn’t there. They practiced well, came out with the right attitude. No live work. It was good stuff. Intense practice and we got a lot of work done.”

The final week of camp is all about tying up loose ends for Whittingham and crew in preparation for the season. High on the list of things to get checked off before game prep kicks in is making sure mistakes are eliminated and technique is on point.

“This week is polishing up the offensive install,” Whittingham said. “It’s done. The install is pretty much over with- at least for the opening game. Got to continue to eliminate mental mistakes, all the details of everything we are doing. The exact splits, footwork, all of that stuff offensively.”

Something else the Utes are looking to square away is who will be taking that fifth spot on the offensive line with close observations of new addition Bamidele Olaseni among others taking place in the next three to four days.

“We have four o-linemen that we feel really good about- Braeden Daniels being the fourth,” Whittingham said. “So Ford, Paulo, Umana and Daniels. We’re just looking for one more. It was great to have Bam out there. Bam looks really talented, out of shape, but really talented. Just exceptional size and strength. That’s a big positive for us.”

Kicker is also a little up in the air for Utah, and not so much because no one is doing well, but because no one is really separating themselves and claiming the position.

“Still trying to resolve the kicker,” Whittingham said. “The kickers are still jockeying for position. If they don’t separate themselves in three or four days I’m just going to have to cut one out of the herd just on gut feel. We’ve got to get it down to two, but right now statistically there is no one who has eliminated themselves.”

The only position of true concern for Whittingham right now is linebacker where the depth behind the starters is a little murky.

“Linebacker depth is still a concern and will be until one or two guys step up,” Whittingham said. “Moroni Anae is starting to do some good things. That’s a positive and we’ve got Trennan Carleson back. He missed a few days. He was beat up a little bit but now he’s back. We have five but we need six so that’s where we are at.”

Depth however, is not much of a concern at receiver, but Whittingham would like to see someone step up to be “the guy” at the position.

“I don’t want to compare it to the kickers, but nobody has really become the guy,” Whittingham said. “We’ve got six or seven guys between Demari Simpkins, Solo Enis, Devaughn Vele, Covey, Jaylen Dixon, Samson Nacua, and Terrell Perriman has had a really good fall camp. Donte Baton has been doing a nice job. He has a redshirt year so we will see what we decide to do there.”

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