If there’s one thing we learned from the Utes’ 26-10 victory over Michigan on Saturday, it’s that great defense can outclass tradition and home field advantage.

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said he didn’t believe his defense was of the “bend but don’t break” variety, but that’s exactly what they did to the Wolverines Saturday afternoon. It seemed that nearly every time the Wolverine offense crossed midfield, there was a Ute defender who would step up and make a big play to shoo the offense back from whence it came. Whether it was Jared Norris, Gionni Paul, Brian Blechen or Tevin Carter, the Utah defense stepped up and proved they should not be taken lightly.
The Utes’ defense held Michigan to 308 total yards of offense, including 118 yards on the ground and 190 yards through the air.
Michigan’s leading rusher Derrick Green was held to just 59 yards rushing on 14 carries (4.2 yard average), while the Wolverines’ leading receiver Devin Funchess only hauled in four balls (although for a 20.5 yard average per completion), and dual threat quarterback Devin Gardner completed just 14 of his 26 passes while throwing two interceptions before being yanked in favor of Shane Morris, who finished 4-for-13 with another interception.
The three interceptions matched Utah’s entire 2013 total.
Whittingham, who was Utah’s defensive coordinator back in the Urban Meyer days, seemed ecstatic that his defense was able to finally show how good they can be. He also seemed relieved to finally see the forced turnovers start to flow.
“Defense played their tails off. I’m very proud of the defensive effort,” Whittingham said. “Like I say, week after week, if you win the turnover margin, your chances of winning are astronomical. That was probably the biggest difference in the game.”
The three interceptions came via senior safety Tevin Carter, senior safety and defensive captain Brian Blechen and junior linebacker Gionni Paul, who also recovered a fumble in the contest. Paul’s performance earned him the Athlon National Defensive Player of the Week honors in his debut as a Ute.
After the game Paul was emotional and spoke on the brotherhood this year’s Utes share.
“It was fun, energetic, loving, caring. I feel like [we’re] a family … It was a great win, and I’m happy, man — I’m blessed to be here,” Paul said.
Paul also praised the coaching staff and the hard work they and the players put into the offseason on forcing more turnovers.
“We focused mainly in the offseason on making big turnovers of defense and just playing fast and physical,” he said. “We’ve worked all this season on ball drills, interception drills, making forced fumbles and things like that, and it all paid off in the game.”
Whittingham was quick to praise his now-highly touted linebacker and had been saying throughout the week that Paul’s return to the lineup was much-needed and in perfect timing.
“[Paul] was outstanding. He comes at a time where he picks up the slack for us,” Whittingham said. “He’s a playmaker, and that’s what he does in practice. He has a knack for turning the ball over, and that’s exactly what this defense needs.”
Perhaps the greatest test the defense faced Saturday was having to leave the field with 7:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, endure a two hour and 24-minute weather delay, then return to the field and once again try to deny a Michigan offense that had time to create a new plan of attack to try and mount a valiant comeback.
The defense, once again, held strong.
The Utes forced another turnover in the final half of the delayed fourth quarter and never gave the Wolverines a chance to make a game out of it. After the contest, defensive captain Brian Blechen described the feel of the locker room during the delay.
“It was restless,” Blechen said. “We just tried to stay loose, we were relaxed, but as soon as we got back out there we knew we had seven minutes to finish the game.”
Whittingham believes they did just that.
“It was good to see us finish a game the way we did today,” Whittingham said. “Kudos to the coaches and the players. I’m very proud of them all.”
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