How Utah Is Rebuilding Their Secondary During An Abbreviated Fall Camp

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah lost all five starters in their secondary from 2019. Replacing those starters and the quarterback battle has been the biggest talking point of fall camp through four practices.

After losing Julian Blackmon, Terrell Burgess, Josh Nurse, Jaylon Johnson and Javelin Guidry, the Utes are tasked with rebuilding and reloading their entire secondary.

The man in charge of getting the young cornerbacks ready is Sharrieff Shah, he was asked how he is getting this young secondary prepared to play Power-5 football with an abbreviated fall camp and with so many young players.

“Force feeding through an absolute water hose,” Shah said. “I mean, it’s difficult. We have a defense that’s predicated on understanding very quickly what you have to do in a myriad of situations. So having these young guys understand what we’d like them to do in various situations is difficult because we continue to implement our defense, we won’t stop slowing down the pace with which we are introducing them to various concepts that they have to be able to decipher, then apply an execute at a very high level. So it’s tough on them.

“This is just part of the process and what we’ve had to do, this isn’t the first year we’ve had to do this,” Shah added. “When it’s so many vacancies, you’re just waiting for somebody to completely emerge as the guy that says, ‘okay, listen, I get it. I see the pace that I’m getting the information. I’m starting to understand what I’m seeing. Now, let’s make plays.’ So that’s what I’m waiting for. I see glimpses, but I don’t see the consistency that’s going to make me feel good come November 7. Not yet. Thankfully, we have a few more weeks to grind it out.”

Kyle Whittingham gave his evaluations of the cornerbacks through the first four days of fall camp.

“Got a good start on the evaluations there. Some of the corners that stood out, JT Broughton is probably our number one corner right now,” Kyle Whittingham said. “Malone Mataele has had a good first four days as has Clark Phillips. Faybian Marks is doing a nice job. Bronson Boyd hasn’t been out there full time, he’s a little bit nicked up. But when he’s out there, he’s performing at a high level as well.”

Sharrieff Shah said he is waiting for guys to emerge during camp.

"Luckily we have a couple more weeks (left in camp)."#GoUtes @kslsports

— Trevor Allen (@TrevorASports) October 14, 2020

JaTravis Broughton Expected To Lead DB’s

Through four days of fall camp, one of the cornerbacks that will be relied on to lead a young group is true sophomore JaTravis Broughton. The 5’11, 190-pound corner from Tulsa, Oklahoma is performing very well and is expected to lead the cornerback room.

“I absolutely am. Love JaTravis, love the way that he is starting to own his leadership role as a young player, just a true sophomore. You know, he’s doing things that I anticipated would happen and it’s happening at the time that we need it to happen,” Shah stated. “We’re starting to see him being able to close on the deep ball. You know, I want JT first and foremost, I did not tell him this to his face, I need him to improve his ball skills and ball tracking ability. Because he will put himself given his God given attributes and ability, he’ll put himself in the position to make plays.

Kyle Whittingham said that the last two days of camp have been "very physical" with shoulder pads.#GoUtes

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) October 14, 2020

“The thing that we have been good at is coming down with those turnovers. I want him to be able to intercept the ball and not just get a PBU. So him covering the more vertical routes, it’s really been refreshing to watch that happen,” Shah added. “Being able to get his hands and his uses length at the line of scrimmage, it’s also been good. And then just understanding where he should be and how we should fit in certain zone schemes when we’re working on various coverages. So I love JT, love how he’s working through camp right now. I just want it to be consistent, like until every single ballplayer, be consistent so that I can trust you want to put your name in front of my DC, he can trust you when he puts his name in front of my head coach. But JaTravis is doing an outstanding job for us right now. Just want him to continue to be hungry and continue working.”

Broughton played in all 14 games last season on special teams and had four appearances on defense in 2019. He hauled in his first career interception against Idaho State.

Nate Ritchie Compared To Chase Hansen

A young player that has performed well through four days of camp is former Lone Peak star Nate Ritchie. He joined the program as a 2020 recruit and is currently the No. 2 strong safety.

Playing behind Vonte Davis at strong safety, Whittingham believes that Nate Ritchie will be in the mix to get game reps.

“Nate Ritchie will absolutely be in the mix,” Whittingham said. “He’s done a great job ever since he started with which is back in the summer. He’s a smart kid, he’s tough, he’s got size. Reminds me of Chase Hansen coming out of high school, not quite as big a frame as Chase, but probably faster and more of a true safety.  Chase was a quarterback obviously, initially, but Chase went from quarterback to safety, then the backer. Nate, we don’t anticipate being anything other than the safety in our program, that could change if all of a sudden if he gains a bunch of weight but but he is a guy right now that’s getting as many reps as anybody safety spot, and performing very well.”

Kyle Whittingham said that Nate Ritchie reminds him of Chase Hansen.#GoUtes @kslsports

— Trevor Allen (@TrevorASports) October 14, 2020

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.