Gordon Monson: 'The Utes rank No. 1 in overall defense. They were ranked No. 1 last season. They were second the year before. They were first the previous year. They were second the year before that.'
The Utah Utes sing the fight song with after the Ute's defeated the Stanford Cardinals, 42-7, in PAC-12 football action at Rice-Eccles Stadium, on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022.In the least surprising news out of a cold, cruel Saturday night in November, maybe out of the entire year, Stanford struggled to move and score the ball against Utah’s defense in their game at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
That Utah defense messed up on exactly one play in the first half, a 50-plus-yard pass that set up a Cardinal touchdown in the initial quarter. Other than that … nothing, nada, nichts. It was as though that defense needed a few minutes to wake up and once it did, the beast stirred, smashed and stomped, leading Utah to a 42-7 victory.In the first half, those dudes gained all of two first downs and got just 91 yards against 239 for the Utes. Utah ended up with 514 total yards of its own.
Ask around the Pac-12 — around the country, really — about Ute football and the first conjured image is big, tough, physical stonewalling up front, and speed in the back. Large masses of humanity to stop the run, cruel shoes in the secondary to interrupt the pass. NFL-caliber talent all around.
Utah is hoping the same will hold true this time around, as it fights for another title, battling for position as it is with Oregon, which lost to Washington on Saturday, USC, which won on Friday night, and UCLA, which lost on Saturday night. Prior to beating Stanford, the Utes ranked as the league’s sixth-best offense, statistically at least, in 2022, trailing their three top opponents, and two others, in that regard.
Their foe on Saturday night came in averaging a mere 376 yards, third worst in the conference. And while limiting the Cardinal was important, gearing up for the Ducks is what matters most now. If the Huskies can beat Oregon on its home field, perhaps the Utes can, too.