Utes' defense steps up in a big way

ALBUQUERQUE — Usually 13 points isn't enough to win a college football game these days, but it was enough for the Utah football team to keep its perfect season alive.

Thanks to a gritty defense, the Utes held New Mexico to just 10 points and well below its season averages in both rushing and total defense.

"We needed to stop them in the run game and the kids did a nice job," said Utah defensive coordinator Gary Andersen. "This was a huge earned victory because this is a good football team every year."

The Utes came into the game ranked sixth in the nation in total defense and their goal was to shut down the Lobo running game, which was averaging 222.6 yards per game, led by Rodney Ferguson, who was the leading rusher in the Mountain West Conference at 108 yards a game.

Ferguson ended up with just 34 yards rushing on 13 carries, his lowest total of the season. The Utes weren't happy about allowing quarterback Brad Gruner to rush for 57 yards, but the Lobos only rushed for 114 yards, their second-lowest total of the season.

The only time the Ute defense had trouble stopping the Lobos came in a three-minute stretch late in the third quarter when the Lobos marched 68 yards in eight plays to cut the lead to 13-10. After that, the Utes made some on-the-fly changes to keep the Lobos from nearing scoring territory in the fourth quarter.

"We had to tweak it there in the fourth quarter and create a couple of new things," said Andersen, who didn't say exactly what the Utes did differently.

"We knew it was going to be like that," said defensive tackle Paul Kruger, who had six tackles, including a 9-yard sack. "They're a good football team and we knew they were going to come out and play hard. Unfortunately, everything didn't go our way, but we found a way to win."

Ute cornerback Sean Smith suffered a cramp early in the second half and was replaced by R.J. Stanford, who came in and made four tackles.

"I've been doing this for a while, so it wasn't too big of a deal," said Stanford, who usually plays nickelback. "We just wanted to knock out the run and play good 'D' in the secondary, and I believe we did that."

Senior defensive tackle Greg Newman wasn't entirely happy with the way the Utes defended the run, but was happy to get the victory.

"That was a nail-biter for sure and we're glad to come out with a victory," he said. "We had to stop the run and we didn't do a good job of it today. They went to that quarterback run game and, for the most part, we did a good job of it. But a win's a win. Any time you hold a team to 10 points, that's a good day."

Ute linebacker Stevenson Sylvester was happy with the way the defense hung in throughout the game.

"We just had to keep our heads in it," he said. "You always have your ups and downs, but it's how you react, and we reacted pretty well to the circumstances we were in."

Defensive end Koa Misi led the Utes with eight tackles, while safety Robert Johnson had seven tackles.

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