Sizing up the Utes’ offense ahead of first year in the Big 12

Last week, Utah wrapped up its annual fall camp and transitioned into game prep for the Utes’ opener against Southern Utah.
With “Camp Kyle” in the rearview mirror, here’s what offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig, wide receivers coach Alvis Whitted, running backs coach Quinton Ganther and tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham said about their players as the Utes prepare to start the 2024 season.
With quarterback Cam Rising back, possibly one of the best wide receiver rooms Utah has had in quite some time and a loaded tight end room, Utah offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig is feeling good.
“I am very confident in the trajectory of the offense right now, in no way, shape or form are we comfortable with where we are, but I’ve seen major improvements all across the board from each position group,” Ludwig said. “… We got a lot of work to do, but again, confident in what I’m seeing on the practice field right now.”
With Rising back, Utah’s offense should be much improved from the doldrums of 2023, and if there was any rust early on, that’s been knocked off.
“If there was a little rust earlier, I see that getting polished up very, very much. So it’s all going to be a matter about taking that first hit, which we’d all like to avoid, but it’s a contact sport, collision sport,” Ludwig said. “See how he reacts to that and move on. But I’m not seeing the rust. There’s no rust.”
One area where Ludwig feels there will be improvement with Rising back under center is in the red zone, where Utah found the end zone 25 times in 48 opportunities last year.
“This team has a chance to be very dynamic in the red zone and we have historically been good in the red zone,” Ludwig said.
With no starting quarterback competition, the main position battle — aside from starting running back and starting center — centered on the backup QB spot, which was won by true freshman Isaac Wilson, with the Corner Canyon High product beating out Brandon Rose, who had been in the program for three years, and Washington and Cal Poly transfer Sam Huard.
Wilson has the arm and physical skills to be a successful quarterback at the college level, and after he got Utah’s offense down, he separated himself from the pack.
“Isaac is a competitive player and early on he was having, he kind of reverted, kind of forgot some things over the summer but has really locked himself down, became a student of the game,” Ludwig said.
“He’s so much better in the meeting room right now in practice going into 15 than he was in practice one, and it’s translating on the field,” he continued. “When you know it, you can look at a play and recite it and recite the read progression of what is good against what it’s not good against, it shows up on the practice field.
“Early on he was kind of hemming and hawing a little bit, but the hemming and hawing has gone away. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. We know he’s got arm talent. He’s shown some real escapability, which really excites us and yeah, I’m fired up for him.”
Ludwig also said that there will be no packages for Wilson or any other quarterback to spell Cam Rising this season — think the change-of-pace packages Nate Johnson was brought in for.
The other change in Utah’s offense? There will be pretty much no designed quarterback runs as the Utes try to protect Rising more this year. That’s a big change, as Rising has rushed for over 800 yards in his career.
“I think the only schematic change that you would see is less reliance on a quarterback run. Let’s not dial those up,” Ludwig said. “That puts a little more pressure on the tailback, hey, because the quarterback run is a great equalizer when you add that 11th hat into the scheme, but that’s just not going to be a big part of the plan at this date.”
Speaking of the running backs, that’s the main question mark heading into the season, as Micah Bernard, Jaylon Glover and Mike Mitchell have all separated themselves into the “first tier,” but no one has stepped forward to be the lead back. It’ll be by committee to start the year.
“I’m really, really confident in the way Micah Bernard’s playing right now. The thing I would really credit the running back group overall is they’re doing a great job in the way they’re carrying the ball and protecting the ball,” Ludwig said. “Big ball security emphasis for us obviously, but they’re doing an outstanding job with that. Mike Mitchell has really made some noise. We’ve talked about that bigger back and looking for some more physicality in the run game.”
While the offensive line needs to replace three starters — center Kolinu’u Faaiu, who transferred to Texas A&M, left guard Keaton Bills, who is now with the Buffalo Bills, and right tackle Sataoa Laumea, who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks — Ludwig feels like they have a chance to take a step forward.
While young at the tackles, everyone on Utah’s starting offensive line — right tackle Spencer Fano, right guard Michael Mokofisi, center Jaren Kump, left guard Tanoa Togiai and left tackle Caleb Lomu — has experience playing for Utah, and the starting group has been locked in for a while, allowing them to build chemistry.
Now, they need to prove it on the field.
“I think the offensive line is athletic, is smart and we have excellent depth,” Ludwig said. “They got good length, so very pleased with where they are with the growth and their growth. And under the leadership of Jim Harding, I think it has a chance to be an elite group.”
While a lot of attention has been paid to newcomers Dorian Singer and Damien Alford, don’t forget about the returning receivers like Money Parks, who had 26 catches for 414 yards in Rising’s last season.
“I thought Money Parks had his best scrimmage that I’ve seen since he’s been here, just from a consistency standpoint and ability to make plays and sky’s the limit for him, in my opinion. He’s grown up quite a bit,” receivers coach Alvis Whitted said, also mentioning Daidren Zipperer and Luca Caldarella.
Alford, who had 33 receptions for 610 yards and three touchdowns last season for Syracuse, is one of the tallest pass-catching options at 6-foot-6 and has great size at 220 pounds, making him unique among Utah’s wide receivers.
“It gives him a great advantage. I mean, he’s got length, he’s a big kid. He’s 220 something pounds, he can run,” Whitted said. “He’s a contested catch guy that, he can enforce his will and create separation by virtue of his strength. So he’s got to continue to gain confidence knowing that, hey, I know what I’m doing now. I can just use my God-given ability, go make a play.’”
Dorian Singer, by all accounts, has impressed his coaches and teammates since arriving in Salt Lake City, and has earned the WR1 role.
“I think that he’s earning it every day, by his approach, his habits and his football acumen and how he goes about his business every day,” Whitted said. “And he’s a guy I think no moment is too big and I know that he’ll go out and compete and he’ll make plays when his number’s called and that’s what you hope that will happen for him, a guy like him. So I’m excited to see what he does moving forward.”
Singer had 66 receptions for 1,105 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 2022 for Arizona, but his production fell after transferring to USC last season, where he was on the field for 405 fewer snaps last year and had 289 yards and three touchdowns on 24 receptions. This year, Utah is looking for Singer to potentially become their first 1,000-yard receiver since Dres Anderson did so in 2013.
“All I can say is just opportunity that the coaching staff gives me,” Singer said when asked about the circumstances that led to his 2023 numbers.
Utah fans know what Micah Bernard and Jaylon Glover can do on the field, but one name that’s been carrying buzz since spring is redshirt freshman Mike Mitchell.
At 6-foot and 220 pounds, Mitchell is the physical back that Utah has been looking for, and depending on his play, could emerge as the lead back during the season.
His game has actually improved. Mike Mitchell is one of the bigger backs in the room. I think he was like 220 last week,” running backs coach Quinton Ganther said. “And his mentality, his mentality is he runs hard, he’s violent. So that’s that element that we’ve been wanting to go to run some of those inside plays that we do have. So he brings a level of toughness and care factor to want to make his mark on a game or on his opponent.”
Though a lead back has not emerged, Ganther isn’t looking as it as a negative, though he said if someone proves they deserve it, they’d put the majority of carries into that player.
“It’s going to be running back by committee for sure. … I mean, any guy in that room can be a lead back, and right now what they’re doing is they’re showing that they’re versatile. Every guy in that room right now can run the ball and can catch the ball, and that’s good, and being able to pass, protect and run routes has been a big deal for the whole group,” Ganther said.
One point of emphasis this season is pass blocking from the running backs, especially with Rising under center.
“It’s been surprisingly well, man, I mean, guys are not missing blitzes. We just got to keep working on the fundamental part of it and the techniques of it as sustaining your blocks over a period of time. But it’s been really good,” Ganther said.
Caleb Lohner has garnered a lot of buzz after joining the Utah football team after playing basketball for BYU and Baylor.
The 6-foot-8, 250-pound Lohner might not be the featured tight end this season, but he should get on the field for the Utes. He’s impressed in fall camp, especially for someone that hasn’t played football since eighth grade and is essentially relearning the sport.
“I think he’s done a great job embracing the physicality. A guy that doesn’t have the background in football has a learning curve to develop football intellect,” tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham said. “There’s a lot of different places to line up in formation. There’s a lot of different pre-snap shifts and motions, and then there’s the actual assignment he’s got to execute.”
“And so all those three things are all new to him. And then he’s got to be able to do it at a speed and with the technique and fundamentals to be able to execute it correctly,” he continued. “And I would say for a guy with that type of background that didn’t play high school football has not played college football to this point. His growth curve is much, much above where I would expect it to be at this point.”
With Brant Kuithe, Utah’s star tight end that returns after missing the 2023 season, Landen King, who emerged as an option last year after transferring to Auburn, and Dallen Bentley, who was injured for much of last year but had a fantastic camp and is pushing for a starting spot, Whitingham has one of the most talented tight end rooms in the country to work with.
Add in UCLA transfer Carsen Ryan, Lohner and Miki Suguturaga, and the question emerges — how do you divvy up your reps?
“Every play requires a different skillset. And so whether it’s one, two or three tight ends in there, or sometimes four with goal line where we put one of them at fullback, my job as a coach is to decide, OK, who gives us the best chance to execute the particular assignment on that play for success?” Whittingham said.
“And that is the person or people that get to take that rep right there. With six tight ends, it’s a great position to be in because I trust every single one of them to go in there and execute their assignment, but only as many tight ends are in the personnel group can be on the field at a time. So it’s my job, coach Ludwig’s job to figure out which ones are on the field to give us the most chance of success.”
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