"I hope the Chargers don't see the tape of him trying to defend that return. They'll kill me," said Whittingham. "He's so competitive he couldn't help himself."

The play was easily the highlight of the game.

"He did a great job coaching. Not so much kicking," Johnson said of Weddle. "I don't know if the Chargers would like him running down trying to make a tackle in the Utah spring game, so I don't know how wise that was on his part. But it was a fun time, and I'm sure he had a good time, too."

Johnson and R.J. Rice dumped Gatorade on Weddle to celebrate his first victory as a coach. Weddle acknowledged the surprise shower was freezing, but it failed to put a damper on his return to Utah.

"It was a lot of fun to come back here and be around the guys, be around the coaches and players. I ultimately want to end up coaching so it was good to get out here, call some plays and be around the team," said Weddle. "It was awesome. I love this place. I love the town. I love the people and I love this university. So any time I get to come back, I'll be here and supporting them."

Smith's return of the blocked PAT put the Red team on the board — closing the gap to 18-2. They added a 10-yard touchdown run by Ray Stowers in the fourth quarter to cap all scoring in the game.

"I think the execution was fairly clean," said Whittingham, who said the play of Eddie Wide (65 yards rushing), Mo Neal (interception) and Chaz Walker (fumble recovery and 56-yard interception return) were among the positives. Too many turnovers, he added, were the negative.

Saturday's game was Utah's 15th and final practice of the spring. Whittingham graded the Utes as an A-minus.

"We had 14 good practices. We had one bad day (and) 14 positive days," he said. "I'm very pleased with the progression of a lot of the younger players. That was the biggest thing that was positive this spring."

EXTRA POINTS: The Utes open the season Aug. 30 at Michigan. They report for fall camp on Aug. 3. ... Linebacker Jamel King, who was injured (torn ACL) earlier in camp, will redshirt next season. ... Sophomore linebacker Toby Titus led all tacklers with seven stops. ... Junior linebacker Lisiate Leota had a stellar outing with two tackles-for-loss and and interception. ... Freshman defensive end Thor Salanoa and sophomore linebacker Nai Fotu made sacks. ... Titus, Walker, R.J. Rice and Brandon Burton had pass breakups. ... Ben Hendy forced a fumble. ... Besides Leota, Fotu and Salanoa, Reggie Topps, Kepa Gaison and Hendy also made tackles behind the line of scrimmage. ... Attendance was estimated at 4,500.

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E-mail: dirk@desnews.com