This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's a demoralizing feeling to know that those countless hours of conditioning, practice and studying schemes can evaporate in an instant.
No player knows that more than Cody Ippolito.
That jinxed sensation reappeared last October on the turf at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Ippolito felt it. He walked off the field, got to the sideline and told the Arizona training staff, "Hey, listen, I think I tore my ACL again."
Unfortunately for him, he was right. Once again. Ten months later, Ippolito walked off the practice field at the Eccles Football Center drenched in sweat, his left knee in a brace, happily discussing what his first real day of football felt like.
"I've been waiting a long time just to be able to practice again," he said Friday. "It feels good being with them, learning the scheme and getting through everything. It's a good day. A good first day. I've got to get better though."
Utah is taking a chance on the former Wildcat starting inside linebacker who had 80 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss in his career in Tucson, but also suffered three torn ACLs in four years.
Ippolito arrived in the spring as a graduate transfer after being granted one last year of eligibility through the five-year clock extension waiver by the NCAA, but he wasn't able to do more than individual workouts while strengthening his left knee.
He couldn't help but think last October that his career was destined to be snake-bitten by injury.
"My main thought was, if it keeps happening, it keeps happening," he said, "I'm going to keep playing as long as they give me eligibility. … I could tear it eight times, nine times, 10 times, I will stay on this field."
Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley said Ippolito is on the depth chart at the moment and has some work to do considering this fall camp is his first real test in front of the Utes staff.
"We didn't see him during the spring," Scalley said, "so this is kind of a opening up for him and see what he can do. I'll have to watch film."
Ippolito committed to Utah at one time during his senior year of high school. So it's taken him a few years to get to the spot he once envisioned his college career playing out.
The knee, he said, is 100 percent, and it will take time to get in football shape during the dog days of summer in Salt Lake City.
"It ain't Tucson hot," he said.
Can I kick it?
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is as eager as anyone to sort out the positions of need. That includes replacing a former All-American kicker. As former Utah kicker Andy Phillips pursues a career in the NFL, Utah is left with a kicking battle in fall camp between sophomore Hayes Hicken and freshman Chayden Johnston.
"As soon as they separate themselves, if and when that happens, then we'll make that decision," Whittingham said, "but right now it's very close, and we need about five or six practices of charting their kicks and getting them in pressure situations."
The other new WR
While the attention of Day 1 of fall camp might've been around Oregon transfer Darren Carrington, the Utes had another late transfer addition to the receiving pool partake in his first practice at Utah. Juco transfer Josh Nurse, a 6-foot-4 transfer from Blinn College in Texas, suited up.
"He's competitive," quarterback Troy Williams said about Nurse. "He likes to get out there and get live and go after the defense, and that's what we need here. ... I feel like [Nurse] can bring a lot to the table and he's a high-energy guy."
Twitter: @chriskamrani