Utah Utes football: Injuries depleting the Utes' defensive line

Through two games, there have been two constants with Utah's defensive tackles — Greg Newman and injuries.

Whoever has started alongside the senior has wound up getting hurt. Kenape Eliapo broke his foot in the Michigan game and will be out six to eight weeks. Lei Talamaivao suffered a broken fibula in Saturday's 42-21 victory over UNLV and is sidelined for the rest of the season.

"It's tough. Especially now with Lei gone," Newman said. "Some guys are going to have to step up."

Senior Aaron Tonga tops the depth chart at nose tackle this week with true freshman Sealver Siliga and Dave Kruger listed as the backups at tackle, a position where the Utes generally like to rotate four players into the mix.

"I think they're going to be able to get the job done," said Newman, who acknowledged defensive tackle can be a really hard position for a freshman to play. "You've got to have a lot of intangibles like size, strength and knowledge to figure out the scheme."

The Utes were already thin at the position before the injuries to Eliapo and Talamaivao. As such, Newman has been seeing a lot of action this season — something he appreciates.

"I don't get any breaks. I'm in there every snap. It's fine. I'm in shape and I feel great," Newman said. "Coach has put his trust in me to get the job done and I feel confident in my abilities to be able to do that."

Newman enters this weekend's game at Utah State as the team's fifth-leading tackler. He had a career-high eight stops against UNLV, including two tackles-for-loss and a pass breakup.

"He played at as high of a level at defensive tackle as anyone I've had play here for 10 years," said defensive coordinator Gary Andersen, who noted that Newman readily made the switch from end to tackle this season. "He played very consistent through spring ball and did a great job in fall camp. He's definitely a leader inside."

Newman's leadership has come in handy, especially with players like Tonga and Siliga lacking a lot of game experience.

"I expect them to play very well," Andersen said. "But at the end

of the day we can't replace Kenape and Lei. That's the bottom line. We need to continue to work with the kids we have. It's very unfortunate for both those (injured) kids."

It remains to be seen exactly who'll play alongside Newman this week. Whittingham hopes to have the depth chart in order by Wednesday.

"I can't give you a definitive answer on how it's going to stack up today," he said. "But certainly as the week progresses we've got to get that thing solidified and ironed out who our two-deep is going to be."