Utah Utes football: Defense passes first test with flying colors

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's defense appears to have reloaded.

Seven new starters took the field in Thursday's 27-24 overtime win over Pittsburgh, and they meshed well.

The 24th-ranked Utes held the 15th-ranked Panthers to just 266 yards of total offense and five third-down conversions. They forced two turnovers and held Heisman Trophy candidate Dion Lewis to only 75 yards rushing. Lewis entered the game with a streak of eight consecutive outings with 110 or more yards.

"I'm proud of how our defense played in some bad situations," said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. "They gave up a few things, but we were able to recover and get the win."

Strong safety Brian Blechen, the only true freshman in the starting lineup, came up big in the first play of overtime when he intercepted a pass by Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri. The Utes then went on to produce the game-winning score on a 21-yard field goal by Joe Phillips.

"I was just so happy to get out of here with a win," said cornerback Brandon Burton. "At the end of regulation, I was just hoping that we would be able to make the plays to get the victory."

Blechen didn't use a lot of words when asked about his first college football game.

"I'm not disappointed," he said.

Before the pivotal pick in overtime, Utah's defense did a nice job containing Pitt's top weapon. Lewis had 55 yards on 13 carries in the first half and just 20 yards on 12 attempts in the second.

"We focused on trying to shut him down," said linebacker Chaz Walker, who finished with a game-high 11 tackles. "He's a shifty guy."

Whittingham noted that any time a defense can hold a player like Lewis under 100 yards rushing, "you have a great shot at winning the ballgame."

And though it wasn't easy, it came to fruition for the Utes.

The seven new starters on defense included Blechen (five tackles), Walker (one pass breakup), defensive end Junior Tui'one (five tackles, one sack), defensive tackle Dave Kruger (six tackles), linebacker Matt Martinez (six tackles) and linebacker Chad Manis (four tackles). Free safety Justin Taplin-Ross (five tackles) started for just the second time in his career.

Cornerback Lamar Chapman topped the returning starters with seven tackles. Defensive end Christian Cox had six, while Burton added five and defensive tackle Sealver Siliga made one stop.

Quarterback Jordan Wynn praised the defense for bailing out the offense against Pitt.

"Hopefully, we can help them out next time," he said.

The Utes return to action Sept. 11 at home against UNLV.

e-mail: dirk@desnews.com