Defense does job, sits down
It couldn’t have gone much better Saturday night for the Utah defense, which set the tone early in the Utes’ 48-6 cakewalk over Utah State. It marked the second straight week the Utes allowed just six points and the victory margin was the largest in the series with the Aggies since a 46-0 victory in 1950.
“Whenever you play defense like we played defense . . . that just demoralizes a team,” said Ute coach Urban Meyer. “A lot of guys got to play and they did a nice job.”
“The ones (first team) were very impressive and they only played a half because the game was essentially over,” said Utah defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham. “We had a chance to give a lot of guys some reps.”
Against both Texas A&M and Arizona, the Utes made goal-line stands and they did it again against the Aggies. Although the Utes were already up 20, it virtually put the game away, especially when the Utes went down and scored.
“These guys have got a great red-zone mentality kind of like we did in 2001,” said Whittingham. “We have an exceptional red-zone efficiency. We are real stingy when people get inside the red zone.”
Early in the second quarter, with the Utes up 20-0, the Aggies put together a sustained drive of 90 yards, from their own 9 down to the Utah 1. On third down, Travis Cox rolled out to the left side and was stopped just short of the goal by Spencer Toone. Then, despite a 5- yard penalty, the Aggies decided to shun the easy field goal and go for it.
This time Cox rolled to his right and fired for the end zone, only to have linebacker Corey Dodds step in front for the interception. Dodds looked to have daylight, before slowing down and getting hit at the Ute 27-yard line.
“I should have scored,” said Dodds, who used to play tight end in high school. “I thought too much. Instead of trying to be fancy, I should have just run straight ahead.”
A defensive lineman did score later in the quarter on an interception when defensive end Jonathan Fanene picked off a batted pass by teammate Sione Pouha and took off for the end zone.
“Sione came up with the slap and the ball came straight to me,” said Fanene. “I just wanted to take it to the house.”
“He just took off,” said Dodds. “I’ve never seen the big boy run like that.”
“He was flying,” added Toone. “I was really impressed with him.”
That score made it 41-0 right before the half and the Ute starters stayed on the bench in the second half as the Utes went with second and third stringers and some players who weren’t even listed on the roster, including defensive lineman Jess Tessainer, who joined the team after classes started in late August.
Other second-half starters included Malakai Mokofisi, Reza Williams, Tony Castaldi, Kite Afeaki, Kyle Brady, Joe Jiannoni, Martail Burnett and Tim Harris as most of the Ute front-liners sat out the entire second half.
“We had a chance to get a lot of reps for the twos and threes and some of the fours,” said Whittingham. “The mind-set is we want the shutout, but we would have kicked ourselves if we would have lost one of the front-line guys with Air Force coming up. It was good to give these guys reps because they practice all week long and deserve a chance to play.”