SALT LAKE CITY — With two weeks to go before Utah kicks off its season, the players have selected their team captains for the 2017 season.

In a first for the program, Utah has selected two players from each position group to represent the team as captains. On offense, quarterback Troy Williams and offensive lineman Salesi Uhatafe got the nod from fellow players. Williams is now a two-time captain of the team for his leadership qualities.

“That’s a sign that the players really respect him and that his work ethic is really good,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said about Williams.

Although Williams has been named a captain, it’s not indicative of him being a starter, according to Whittingham. He added that captains are not a selected based on popularity, being the best football player or starting roles. “It’s who are the best leaders right now,” he said. “That’s what it boiled down to.”

On defense, the two interior linemen, Lowell Lotulelei and Filipo Mokofisi, earned the starting role, with Mitch Wishnowsky and Christian Drews named as the two special team captains.

“The players’ (vote), it wasn’t even close,” Whittingham said. “The four captains, offensively and defensively, were pretty obviously separated from the rest of the group.”

Whittingham added that the special teams vote was “just about a dead heat,” so the coaches elected to name two captains.

“Christian has been a special teams warrior ever since he got here. He starts on every special team,” Whittingham said. “He’s a great competitor. Mitch is a great talent and really has taken charge of the specialist group which was Andy (Phillips’) group for the last several years, so now it’s Mitch’s turn to be the guy that they look to.

“Long story short, I’m very pleased with who the players selected.”

Chase Hansen and Lo Falemaka return?

A couple days into camp, the media learned that Chase Hansen had undergone surgery that would keep him out of fall camp practices. Coaches said they hoped to have him back before the season started, but it would be unknown if that was a possibility. On Thursday, Whittingham said there was a possibility to have Hansen back to practicing within a week.

“We expect him out here inside of a week,” Whittingham said.

Having Hansen back will add depth and experience to the secondary that is lacking in his absence. Despite not being on the field, Hansen has had a leadership role off the field in the film room. Sophomore Julian Blackmon said Hansen has been one of the best guys to turn to in terms of leadership on defense.

“He’s always been there for everyone,” Blackmon said. “Chase, with or without him on the field, is just always telling us what we can do to get better. He goes and watches the film and tells us what we need to do.”

Whether Hansen will be cleared to play at the beginning of the season is still unknown, but it’s encouraging that Hansen will be back with the team on the field.

On the other side of the ball, center Lo Falemaka may be back before the season starts, but offensive coordinator Troy Taylor said it was still an unknown. Falemaka has yet to participate in drills on the field, but Taylor said he’s making progress and could be back before the North Dakota game.

Kicking game continues to be inconsistent

Chayden Johnston and Matt Gay continue to battle it out for the starting job at placekicker. Both remain inconsistent but have been making progress, according to Whittingham. During media observation Thursday, both kickers struggled to hit a majority of field goals.

Whittingham said the team held an early-morning practice and that the kickers were “outstanding” there, but the “wheels came off” in the afternoon session.

“We feel we’ve got two weeks to get it set,” Whittingham said. “It’s not like a quarterback where you’ve got to get it set at least X amount of days in advance. A kicker, you kick, that’s what you do. We can take that competition as far as we need to.”

Ongoing quarterback competition

There’s little more to say about the quarterback competition at this point. It honestly comes down to which quarterback the coaching staff thinks will be the most consistent. While each has improved over the duration of fall camp, Williams remains a strong force to be the starting quarterback. Taylor remains intent on waiting for as long as it takes, saying Thursday that he was content waiting till game time Thursday to name a starter.

Whittingham, however, is ready to name a quarterback as soon as possible but said he didn’t want to be held to that.

“I’m not going to hold myself to that, but I think that we’re just about ready to make that decision here very quickly,” Whittingham said.

Notes: The offense is coming along, according to Whittingham, but there have been too many offensive penalties in practice —illegal procedures and illegal formation — and things need to be cleaned up before Utah’s game in two weeks. … Although starters haven’t been officially named, Whittingham pointed to Julian Blackmon, Jaylon Johnson, Casey Hughes, Kenric Young, Corrion Ballard, Marquise Blair, Boobie Hobbs, Javelin Guidry and Terrell Burgess as standouts in the secondary. … The tight end position group has been hampered by injury, leaving Siale Fakailoatonga and Harrison Handley out of the mix for the foreseeable future. In their absence, Bapa Falemaka will likely get the nod as starting tight end. However, it’s possible that either or both could be back before Utah’s first game.

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