Utah Utes football: Brian Blechen makes splash in debut at linebacker

SALT LAKE CITY — Brian Blechen, who led the team in interceptions last year with four when he played safety, may end up leading the team in interceptions as a linebacker this year.

Blechen picked off two passes in Thursday night's win, one early in the game to set up the Utes' first touchdown and one late in the game to stop a Montana State drive.

During the offseason, the Utes converted Blechen from safety to linebacker and had him put on a few extra pounds. He performed well during fall drills and said he's happy with the change.

"It was good," he said "I like linebacker a lot, it was fun to be out there hitting. So far it's awesome."

Coach Kyle Whittingham, who didn't have a lot of nice things to say about his team's performance Thursday, praised Blechen afterwards.

"We benefitted from a couple of big plays by Brian Blechen," Whittingham said. "Those two interceptions were huge."

Blechen picked off Denarius McGhee just two minutes into the game and returned it 39 yards to the 8-yard line. Then in the fourth quarter, he intercepted a McGhee pass at the Utah 15 and returned it 20 yards.

Besides his two interceptions, Blechen also came up with seven tackles on the night, fourth best on the defense.

email: sor@desnews.com