Observations from Utah’s Saturday practice (+ video, photos)

Utah completed its second of four weeks of fall camp on Saturday, moving into Rice-Eccles Stadium for the week-ending practice.

Read more Letter to the editor: Civics lessons should be taught at home

The first 20 minutes of practice were open to the media, and we were able to watch field goal practice, punt drills, positional work and a small glimpse of some red zone work.

Dillon Curtis kicked off the viewing portion of practice (literally) by attempting field goals from various distances, making all of them, including one from over 50 yards away. The punt team was also at work as Orion Phillips booted the ball away to the punt returners.

During the positional work period, my focus was on Jordan Gross and the offensive line. Gross, an 11-year NFL veteran that was named to three Pro Bowls, was coaching the group on their initial contact with the defensive line, with other offensive linemen playing the part of the defensive linemen.

Gross was very hands-on, showing the group what he wanted out of each drill. The former All-Pro was vocal throughout the period, shouting, “that’s better” when he liked a rep or pointing out exactly what he wanted to see, often imploring the linemen to bring their elbows in tighter on their initial push.

Read more Utah endurance cyclist sets ‘bonkers’ speed record

Watching the offensive line up close, it’s clear that they put in a tremendous amount of work with strength and conditioning coach Steve Saunders this summer.

Across the board, each offensive lineman gained muscle, and they’ve gotten used to playing with the extra weight as fall camp has progressed.

“We want everybody as big as humanly possible to still be able to move and play your position,” Gross said. “So what was nice about witnessing the summer program was that those big guys were moving constantly, dynamically and doing cardio stuff, pushing things.”

The Utes wrapped up the media viewing portion with red-zone run game work. Quarterback Byrd Ficklin got the majority of the snaps, reading the defense well and making good decisions in the option game. Wayshawn Parker, LaMarcus Bell and Steve Chavez-Soto all scored touchdowns.

Read more ‘Harry Potter’ fans stopped a power cable from crossing Dobby’s grave

Coaches shouted out defensive tackle Lucas Samsula, who helped stymie a run.