Sophomore Devonta’e Henry-Cole sat most of last season as a redshirt before playing in one game when the Utes were extremely thin at running back. He only carried the ball once last fall as a true freshman.
Last weekend against San Jose State, Henry-Cole had probably his most memorable carry as he scored on a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“It was a great feeling, my first college touchdown,” said Henry-Cole, who had five carries for 42 yards. “That was really exciting, seeing my teammates, my family back home proud of me.”
The 5-foot-8, 190-pound Florida native did not play in the season opener due to some nagging injuries, and he played but didn’t record a carry in the BYU game.
“We’re going to try to get him more involved, and part of that’s up to him, being assignment sound and making sure he’s got all his pass protections and blitz pickups down pat,” Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said. “That’s been holding him back a little bit, but he’s been working hard to get up to speed on that. You saw when the ball is in his hands, he’s a very talented runner.”
Not being a particularly big running back, Henry-Cole hopes to make up for his lack of size by being aggressive and paying attention to detail in pass protection.
“[I have to] just have the mindset of being a dog on the field,” Henry-Cole said. “No matter how small I am or how big they are, I just have to go attack full-force.”
Hansen playing it close to vest
Utes junior strong safety Chase Hansen did not play last weekend against SJSU due to an undisclosed injury. Junior college transfer Marquise Blair started in his place and tied for the team lead with seven tackles against SJSU.
As for Hansen’s availability this week?
“We’ll see,” Hansen said. “I always plan to play.”
Asked whether the decision for him not to play is his versus someone else’s, Hansen responded, “I would choose to play every game I could. It’s just whether or not I’m able to.”
The Utes will have a bye week following this weekend’s game at Arizona.
Line them up
The Utes offensive line of Jackson Barton, Salesi Uhatafe, Lo Falemaka, Jordan Agasiva and Darrin Paulo has started each game so far this season. Both Whittingham and offensive line coach/assistant coach Jim Harding said since the end of preseason camp that they’d like to develop three backups they felt comfortable plugging into the game if needed.
They each felt coming out of camp they had two. While neither identified which two, Paul Toala and Johnny Capra were the top options to fill in at center when Falemaka went down with an injury during the preseason. Whittingham was impressed with what he called “really quality reps” from Alani Havili-Katoa against SJSU. Orlando Umana, Havili-Katoa, Capra and Toala have gotten playing time on the line in two of the three games.
Look at them now
Utes tight ends coach Fred Whittingham and first-year offensive coordinator Troy Taylor’s relationship goes back several years to when Whittingham’s children attended Folsom High School in Folso, Calif., where Taylor was a teacher and football coach. Taylor coached Fred’s son Sam.
“I actually went and did a guest presentation for my daughter in his class for extra credit,” Fred Whittingham said. “That’s the first time that I met him. Now, we’re here coaching and entering our first Pac-12 game together.”