SALT LAKE CITY — When it comes to mid-game adjustments, 15th-ranked Utah’s defense is getting things done. Through five games, the Utes have allowed just 20 second-half points. In a 38-13 win over Washington State, they held the high-powered Cougars scoreless over the final two quarters.
“Halftime adjustments have been very good for us so far this year. Credit to the coaches at halftime for making tweaks and changes to what’s going on,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. “Players are physically in great shape. Our strength coach does a great job and I don’t know what else to say other than their level of training is very high and they don’t seem to get too tired.”
Whittingham also noted the involvement of the offense.
“We haven’t played a ton of snaps on defense. A big part of the defense is we’ve played the fewest snaps in the Pac-12 I would imagine,” he continued. “Credit the offense for doing a great job of controlling the ball in the second half. That’s another big part of it, is possessing the football and not turning it over.”
The Utes have dominated time of possession, holding the ball for an average of 35:04 per game. They’ve run 332 plays while limiting the opposition to just 276.
Defensively, Utah (4-1, 1-1) enters this week’s game at Oregon State (2-3, 1-1) with several high rankings. The Utes lead the Pac-12 and are fourth in the nation defending the run (53.8 yards per game). They’re third in defensive touchdowns (2), 10th in interceptions (seven), eighth in first downs allowed (71), and 14th in total defense (282.4 yards per game).
Utah’s defense has yet to give up 100 yards on the ground in a game this season.
“We’ve got some pretty good run-stoppers up front between Leki Fotu, John Penisini, Bradlee Anae, Mika Tafua and Maxs Tupai and those guys do a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage,” Whittingham said. “If you control the line of scrimmage it frees your backers to flow and fit where they need to. We expected when the season started we’d be pretty good at run defense and I think that’s proven to be the case.”
Besides the guys up front, the Utes are getting big contributions from others on defense. Linebackers Devin Lloyd and Francis Bernard lead the team with 38 and 37 tackles, respectively. Bernard is a two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week.
The secondary, meanwhile, bounced back from a subpar showing in a loss at USC to shut down Washington State’s “air raid” attack the following week. Utah’s defense broke up 12 passes and recorded two interceptions. The Cougars came into the game averaging 52.8 points and nearly 500 yards passing. They finished with just 252.
“We should be able to stop offenses no matter how many points they score every week,” safety Terrell Burgess said during the Utes’ bye week. So I think that’s what we did (against Washington State) and we’re going to plan to keep doing it every week from here on out.”
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No. 15 Utah (4-1, 1-1) at Oregon State (2-3, 1-1)
Reser Stadium — Corvallis, Ore.
Saturday, 6 p.m. (MT)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: ESPN 700AM