It’s fair to say that Utah’s defense has been solid in the first four games of 2013. The Utes have, however, shown one perceptible weakness that could haunt them, as their remaining schedule is made up entirely of Pac-12 opponents. That weakness is pass defense.
Thus far, Utah has allowed an average of 24 points per game, which ranks eighth in the Pac-12. The Utes have held opponents to just 118 rushing yards on average, but are giving up a whopping 288 passing yards per game.
In the Utes’ first and only Pac-12 matchup so far, Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion put on a passing clinic, finishing with 443 yards and five touchdowns. The fact that Utah took the game to overtime and only lost by three points demonstrated both resiliency and effectiveness on the part the Utes’ offense.
Looking forward, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham knows his secondary’s performance needs to get better if the Utes want to win conference matchups.
“The pass coverage has got to continue to improve,” Whittingham said last week. “The Pac-12 is loaded with talent not only at quarterback, but also on the perimeter at wide receiver … We have to be ready defensively and bring our A-game every week to have a chance to compete.”
Although Utah has already seen the Pac-12’s leading receiver in Oregon State’s Brandin Cooks, it still must face USC’s Marqise Lee, Arizona State’s Jaelen Strong and Oregon’s Josh Huff, all of whom have shown explosive quickness and have racked up over 300 receiving yards respectively on the season.
“As a team, we know there’s nothing but Pac-12 play left so we know how critical each game is and each mistake is,” said Utah senior defensive back Michael Walker. “Getting the Pac-12 Championship is our goal. This being my last year, I take it upon myself personally to go out and give it all I have every single game.”
In the victory against BYU two weeks ago, the Utes’ secondary made some big plays and Whittingham called the improved play of the defensive backfield one of the biggest positives of the win. Walker came away from the game with Utah’s first interception of the year.
After the win in Provo, several Ute players said the week of practice leading up to the game was one of the team’s best all year. Walker and the rest of the secondary feel that trend must continue.
“We can’t afford to take any steps back,” Walker said. “They can say [the week before BYU] was our best week of practice, but now we have to focus on making this week our best week of practice, and we want it to be like that before every game.”
Walker explained that in practice, a special focus is given to creating turnovers. To do this, defensive backs concentrate on catching every possible interception during scrimmages. When a defender wraps up a ball carrier, a second defender comes in looking to strip the ball out. The entire defense works on different strip drills and the secondary often stays after practice to catch balls to improve their hands.
With the high-scoring UCLA offense coming to town this Thursday, Walker and the Ute defense feel confident in their game plan.
“We know [UCLA] throws the ball a lot, so we look to lock down their receivers when we’re matched up, keep the quarterback confused and come out victorious,” Walker said.