Utah Utes football: Scrimmage pleases coach

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham liked what he saw in the Utes' first spring scrimmage.

"I thought we had a lot of good performances out there," he said after Friday night's gathering at chilly Rice-Eccles Stadium. "... I thought it was a clean scrimmage with a lot of plays being made and great effort."

Among those earning praise were quarterbacks Corbin Louks and Terrance Cain.

Louks wound up completing 8-of-14 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown, while Cain was 6-of-11 for 73 yards and a score.

"I thought both quarterbacks performed well," said Whittingham, who noted that Louks and Cain both saw action against the No. 1 and No. 2 defenses.

Louks quarterbacked the offense to the end zone on the first series of the scrimmage. He capped things off with a 1-yard touchdown run.

"The opening drive was great. It was good to get the offense going like that and start fast," said Louks, who is currently atop the depth chart. "I thought it was great for us to get going, move the tempo and move the offense downfield right away."

He added that it carried over for the remainder of the scrimmage.

With several defensive starters being held out, including safety Robert Johnson, defensive end Koa Misi and linebackers Stevenson Sylvester, Mike Wright and Kepa Gaison, the offense capitalized — even without starting tailback Matt Asiata, who was also held out for precautionary reasons.

Running back Eddie Wide came up big. The junior turned a broken play into a 50-yard run and wound up with 94 yards on eight carries.

"I felt pretty good," he said. "There's a lot of stuff I need to work on, but it was a good day."

That was a common theme following the 100-snap scrimmage.

Louks acknowledged there's always things to improve on.

Cain agreed.

"I just tried to stay composed and tried to do what I was coached to do," he explained. "It was all right. I'm never satisfied. There's always room for improvement."

Redshirt freshman DeVonte Christopher, a special situation quarterback who is primarily being used as a wide receiver this spring, caught a team-high five passes in the scrimmage.