Sack Lake City is back and rolling. Not that the Utes were ever lacking on defense; they ended the 2015 season with a total of 22 interceptions, but this season the defensive linemen are stepping up even more so than they did in ’15.
Last season, the Utes recorded a total of 37 sacks, a different look from the squad in 2014 that recorded 55 sacks compared to only 12 interceptions.
Through the first three games of the season, the Utes have registered 15 sacks, and 10 of them came in the most recent outing against San Jose State. Senior defensive back Reggie Porter thinks he might be having his best year yet, but of course the team still has nine more games to go to really prove itself, but they’re doing a decent job so far without their captain.
Dominique Hatfield has yet to step out on the field for the Utes, because he is battling an injury, but as the team has mentioned time and time again, it’s a “Next man up” mentality. Utah is anxiously awaiting his return to give the defense even more of an edge that it already has. What it all comes down to is the play of the defense line.
“You gotta have a great d-line especially in our conference, and having a great d-line creates more opportunities for us to get picks,” Porter said.
In all honesty, though, head coach Kyle Whittingham would rather the team have more interceptions than sacks — the team currently has six interceptions— but nonetheless, sacks are impact plays. The team even sets out a percentage goal of impact plays they want to make every game and it helps them key in on their opponents.
Whittingham wants all of his players to make a dramatic impact to the game whenever they step out onto the field.
“Obviously picks, takeaways carry more weight than a sack if you had to pick between the two, but we stress impact plays on defense, which is tackle for loss, fumble recovery, interceptions and sacks,” Whittingham said. “[Interceptions and sacks] are both valuable, but interceptions get us the ball back.”
The defense had a somewhat lackadaisical showing in the opening minutes of the game against San Jose State. The Spartans got into the red zone right off the bat, but they quickly tightened up and held them to a field goal, and they only allowed the Spartans 17 points throughout the entire game.
Porter has two interceptions on the season, and he is eager to go up against a receiver like JuJu Smith-Schuster. USC’s star wide receiver hasn’t been as productive as he has been in the past. He has just 11 catches for 99 yards through three games this season. But Whittingham acknowledges the fact the Smith-Schuster can steal the show at any moment, and Porter is on the same page as Whittingham.
Porter is expecting Smith-Schuster to have a breakout game soon enough, and he wants to make sure it doesn’t happen at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“It’s going to be a big week for us as a secondary,” Porter said. “We know those guys are talented and [Smith Schuster] is one of the best in the country, they always have a lot of talent, and we got to be ready as a secondary and as a whole defense.”
Porter isn’t going to let any opportunities get past him on Friday night.
@kbrenneisen