Utah wide receiver Raelon Singleton will try to treat next week’s game like every other time he’s strapped on pads as a college player, but it won’t be like the other games.
When the Utes play West Virginia in the Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl in the Dallas’ Cotton Bowl, Singleton, a resident of Crosby, Texas, will play a football game in hishome state for the first time since his senior year of high school in2013.
“This is big time, the first time my grandparents will ever get to see me play college football,” Singleton said. “Everybody from where I’m from is coming out to Dallas. It’s a four-hour drive from Houston. I’m ready for this game big time.”
Heart of Dallas Bowl<br>Utah vs. West Virginia<br>When • Tuesday, 11:30 a.m.<br>TV • ESPN
A first-team all-area and all-district player as a senior at Crosby High, Singleton was admittedly more raw athlete than polished receiver when he came to Salt Lake City. He’s eager to show his growth.
“It was confusing,” said of his freshman season. “I went to fall camp for 30 minutes my first year and my shoulder came out and the doctor said I had to get surgery. But when I was in practice, they gave me one of the easiest routes and I didn’t know what to do. I was like ‘Man. What did I put myself into?’”
Now, with a grasp of how route combinations as well as defensive coverages, the 6-foot-3, 212-pound redshirt junior has taken on an increased role each season with the Utes.
Singleton goes into the bowl game with the second-most catches (34), receiving yards (479) and receiving touchdowns for the Utes. He racked up 222 of his yards and 13 receptions (three touchdowns) in the last three games.
Early start to the early period
The NCAA’s early signing period begins on Wednesday, and it will allow high school seniors to sign National Letters of Intent in December for the first time. The junior college mid-year transfer signing period also begins on Wednesday, and the Utes have received a flurry of commitments in the days leading up to the start of both signing periods.
Braeden Daniels, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound three-star offensive lineman out of Hebron High School in Texas, and Jeremiah Jordan, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound defensive end from Mt. San Jacinto College in California both announced via social media on Sunday that they had committed to Utah.
Late Monday, 6-foot-3, 240-pound linebacker Bryant Pirtle’s coach at Pima Community College announced via Twitter that Pirtle had committed to the Utes, but Pirtle has not confirmed the announcement. The website 247Sports ranks Pirtle as the 51st-best junior college prospect in the country.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said he expected the Utes will sign 7-10 players during the early period.
Odds and ends
Sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley said that the break at the end of the regular season has allowed him to get healthy after missing the last game against Colorado. “I’m 100 percent. I’m ready to go,” Huntley said following Tuesday’s practice. … Whittingham said freshman cornerback Jaylon Johnson will miss the bowl game after undergoing surgery last week. Johnson did not play in the final regular season game of the season with an undisclosed injury. He played in 11 games and started two as a true freshman. … The Associated Press published a report that stated that teams from the Pac-12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference had been called for the most targeting penalties among all conferences in the country. “[Coaches] just like some consistency and uniformity in the call,” Whittingham said of targeting penalties.
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