Utah Utes football: Defense almost flawless against UNM

ALBUQUERQUE — Except for a long touchdown drive late in the third quarter when some backups were already in the game, the Ute defense kept their opponent out of the end zone for the second straight game.

The Ute defense had gone six quarters without giving up a touchdown (last week UNLV scored on a punt block and New Mexico's first TD came on a fumble return) before the Lobos put together an 80-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown.

But on the whole, coach Kyle Whittingham had no complaints about the guys on the defensive side of the ball.

"The defense set the tone early," he said. "That was big. The defensive line was physical, the linebackers were active and the secondary covered. Everyone did what they were supposed to do."

Whittingham praised his D for keeping the Lobos in check when the Ute offense got off to a slow start. For the night the defense only allowed 230 yards with many yards coming later in the game when the Utes were playing their backups.

In the first half, Utah allowed just 68 total yards and just 10 in the second quarter.

"The run game was tough again only two yards a carry again, the throw game right around 50 percent completion percentage, which is good, and were pretty good on third downs on at 33 percent," said Whittingham.

One of the big plays was Matt Martinez's 36-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the third quarter to give the Utes a 35-7 lead.

"I got a read on the quarterback," he said. "The ball was thrown to me and I started running."

Despite shutting the Lobos down for most of the night, the Utes were still disappointed that they allowed the touchdown with 3:16 left in the third quarter.

"Our goal is not to let them have any points on the board," said Martinez. "It didn't happen the way we wanted, but it was a good win for our defense."

After leading the team in tackles each of the first two games, linebacker Chaz Walker tied for the lead with cornerback Lamar Chapman and linebacker Chad Manis with eight tackles apiece.

"We tried to come out with some passion and energy and keep it going throughout the whole game," he said. "Unfortunately we gave up a late touchdown. But the defense came out strong and held their end of the bargain for a long time."

"We have a long ways to go," said Martinez. "We didn't play perfect by any means. But we're going to practice to play perfect every game we play."

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