SALT LAKE CITY — After Utah’s secondary gave up three passing touchdowns and numerous big passing plays in the Utes’ 30-23 loss at USC, there were questions about the secondary’s performance as Washington State and its ‘Air Raid’ attack came into town the following week.
“We just didn’t make plays on the ball. They have good receivers, so I’m not taking anything away from them, but we were there for plays to be made, we just didn’t make them,” safety Terrell Burgess said of the USC game. “Now, we are just making sure that that doesn’t happen again.”
Following the loss, Utah’s pass defense recalibrated.
“We’re too good to let little things slip and we know we’re too good,” safety Julian Blackmon said.
Utah’s secondary was able to lock down the Cougars’ vaunted passing attack, allowing just 252 yards passing, significantly down from Washington State’s current 433 passing yards per game.
In the games since, Utah’s defense has been similarly solid, holding Oregon State to 169 yards passing, Arizona State to a stunning 25 and Cal to 60.
Washington presented more of a challenge for the Utes. Utah allowed 316 yards of passing offense in Seattle, but the secondary came up when it mattered, especially in the second half. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson completely changed the momentum of the game in the third quarter with a 39-yard pick-six.
“I think it was just getting down to the little things in the second half. In the first half, we just were a little rattled. We just had to make sure that we were doing the right things, we weren’t doing the right things in the first half,” Blackmon said.
“We’re doing good. Of course, there’s always room to improve, but I feel like as a secondary, we’ve gone really well this year. We have a couple guys in first-year spots, just knowing we have those guys that we can trust and even me and Terrell being in our first year (at their position), we feel like we’ve been doing really well.” — Ute cornerback Julian Blackmon
Blackmon said the secondary changed their mindsets in the second half.
Blackmon and Burgess are both in their first year starting at safety and have become more comfortable at the position as the season has gone along.
“We’re doing good. Of course, there’s always room to improve, but I feel like as a secondary, we’ve gone really well this year. We have a couple guys in first-year spots, just knowing we have those guys that we can trust and even me and Terrell being in our first year (at their position), we feel like we’ve been doing really well,” Blackmon said.
Burgess has 46 tackles, an interception and four pass breakups this year, while Blackmon has 37 tackles, three interceptions and four pass breakups.
“We’ve been playing really good defense,” Blackmon said.
Following the string of positive results on defense, combined with one of the best offenses ever at Utah, the Utes are 8-1 and have just three games remaining — all against below-.500 opponents. Utah controls its destiny to win the Pac-12 South, so if the Utes win all three, they’ll be headed to Santa Clara for the Pac-12 championship, with a trip to the Rose Bowl — or even a slim chance to play in the College Football Playoff if the Utes beat Oregon.
Right now, the Utes are trying to shut out the outside noise and focus on their next opponent.
“Practicing hard and making sure we’re staying humble. Not letting anything get outside of what we’re doing right now, because at the end of the day, nobody than who is in this program right now knows what we’re doing and nobody is going to believe in us until we go out and do what we do,” Blackmon said.
Utah takes on UCLA on Saturday at the Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Bruins have won three straight games ahead of the contest, beating Stanford, Arizona State and Colorado. Dorian Thompson-Robinson enters the game with 1,837 passing yards and 17 touchdowns.
“It comes down to the quarterback, just being able to take him out of the game because he’s a killer, especially on his feet. Just knowing that they have that extra runner in that quarterback is really what we have to stop,” Blackmon said. “The receivers are good, don’t get me wrong, but the emphasis is stop them all and the quarterback is looking like one of the most productive,” Blackmon said.
UCLA also has a cavalcade of talented receivers. Demetric Felton leads the Bruins with 471 yards and Kyle Phillips has 404 yards to lead the Bruins.
“They’re fast. (Kyle Phillips), he’s very quick, he can do it all. He’s their third-down catch guy. (Chase Cota) is a big body he can run, he can do it all. (Demetric Felton), he plays running back and receiver, he’s fast,” Burgess said. “They’ve got a good receiver corps, so I think it’s going to be a nice battle this weekend.”