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http://bit.ly/2dTB1Nb";>With everything that's ailing Utah's cornerbacks, Sharrieff Shah is confident that the issues can be resolved by things he taught in fall camp.

The only problem: Fall camp feels like forever ago.

"You get through football season, and people are like, 'Fall camp was six years ago, coach,'" he said, laughing. "So we look at our stuff, we got back through notes. It's all a process."

Ahttp://bit.ly/2e5s68S";>head of a match-up with sophomore quarterback Jake Browning, one of the most efficient passers in the country, Utah's defense has been doing a lot of soul searching after getting torched by UCLA and Mike Fafaul. The past few weeks (with an exception of Oregon State) hasn't been the best for the pass defense, and Shah has been among the coaches who are looking into how the Utes can tweak their execution to limit big plays this weekend.

Browning has thrown for fewer yards than Troy Williams actually, but he's made the most of his throws for 26 touchdowns: nine to John Ross, eight to Dante Pettis. He rarely makes mistakes, throwing only two picks this year.

Utah, http://bit.ly/2evQe6J";>which is tied for the national lead with 14 interceptions, expects to be able to add to Browning's giveaway total. But they're also working on playing more fundamentally sound, Shah said, which starts with technique.

He called Utah's zone coverage this past week "exceptionally poor," and said he expected Washington will test Utah's perimeter with edge rushes after the secondary had a bad tackling week against UCLA.

The biggest area Utah's corners have worked on since getting burned at Cal is staying on top of routes. That will figure in prominently to this weekend.

"Get ready for the fade ball," Shah said. "Because Browning has thrown it, and he's better than anyone we have faced to date. Nobody throws a better deep ball than this kid."

Shah said one of the issues — corners jumping too early on deep passes — can be corrected if the defenders take two extra steps. Sometimes Utah's defensive backs have been caught over-anticipating the pass, then letting the receiver get behind them and make the catch.

"When you think should jump, take two more steps — every good corners coach will say that," Shah said. "That will put you in great position to at least deflect the ball, make it a smaller window for a receiver, or at minimum, if it's caught, man, make a tackle. If you can't get it out of the sky, make a tackle."

Both Ross and Pettis have more than 400 yards receiving this season, and they might be the best receiving duo in the Pac-12. Shah is familiar with both: Ross has legitimate 10.5 speed, he said, and can accelerate into a route very well. Pettis has strong body control when leaping for catches — a skill Shah compared to the ability of Cal's Chad Hansen.

They have skillsets the Utes have seen before. Now Utah just has to contain them.

"You want to play them a little more aggressive on the top of the route," he said. "You want to force them to get uncomfortable at the bottom of the route at the line of scrimmage. You'll pick strategic moments to challenge those guys."

Holliday warming to his 'challenge' • There were a handful of highlights receivers coach Guy Holliday could've picked as his favorite.

He liked Saiosi Wilson's game-opening catch, a 42-yard comebacker that set up Utah's first offensive touchdown. He called Demari Simpkin's motion play for a two-point conversion catch " a thing of beauty" by a freshman who "really gets the game.

He picked neither.

"I'm more proud of the blocking we did on them long runs," Holliday said. "You look and there wasn't a corner or a safety around to make plays. We want to be a physical group. That's what I'm more proud of."

Utah's group has shown grit even without its best player, Tim Patrick, for almost all of October. While Patrick made a cameo as a blocker and caught a touchdown pass that was called back (said Holliday: "I have no comment. The officiating is fantastic."), he still played only limited snaps last week.

It's probably disappointing to fans that Patrick, despite as much time as he's missed, still leads the receiving group by more than 100 yards (429 total, next to second-place Raelon Singleton with 307). But Holliday said he's been enjoying seeing players step up, as Wilson and Cory Butler-Byrd did last week to give Utah a passing threat even with Patrick mostly shelved.

"I've been places where we've lost what I call the 'alpha dog,'" he said. "It's been fun seeing other guys step up. It's been really fun seeing the maturation of Raelon Singleton and Saiosi Wilson. It's a challenge to me as a coach."

Holliday will definitely be challenged this week: The Utes face a Huskies defense whose corners and safeties have allowed only one passing touchdown in the entire season. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGPo1HFvMhQ&feature=youtu.be";>Pro Football Focus College noted that UW corner Sidney Jones has only been thrown at nine times this year in over 176 snaps.

GameDay from an academic perspective • Somewhat lost in the shuffle http://bit.ly/2dQBigw";>of reporting a College GameDay story was a unique angle from Barb Snyder, the vice president for student affairs at Utah.

The show is set up outside her office, and trucks are parked in President's Circle closing off traffic. And she couldn't be happier.

"It's a huge source of pride that the University of Utah and really an indication how far we've come athletically and academically," she said. "They do a great job of showcasing our campus. Last year they did some awesome shots of the city, mountains, what we have in the state to offer. It's a great marketing tool for us. GameDay is its own kind of cult phenomena."

Snyder said she's watched the show for years and always admired how the show puts different campus on a national platform. When Utah got GameDay this week, the fourth time in 12 years the show has been to Utah, she got a flood of messages from colleagues from other universities congratulating her.

Snyder said Pac-12 membership has greatly helped Utah's ability as a university to draw more applications from West Coast states, as well as help recruit faculty who are more drawn to a Pac-12 institution.

"It's not just anecdotal," she said. "It's given us a real boost."

http://www.sltrib.com/home/3557683-155/legislature-will-audit-university-of-utah";>Earlier in the year under the shadow of a legislative audit, Utah athletics appeared to be a controversial topic for some state legislators, who wondered openly if athletic interests were paramount to academic ones. Many were particularly sore after Utah cancelled a planned men's basketball game with BYU.

Snyder has a background at Ohio State, which she said has become skewed in athletic-academic balance. But she doesn't see Utah having that problem at all.

"Everyone knows healthcare and athletics is the first impression of a university for many people," she said. "I've been here 17 years, and I've always thought our athletic dept had a really nice balance. I feel like our athletics has only served to enhance our academic side."

PFF grades for UCLA • Pro Football Focus College provides weekly grades for Utah performances, and here's what stood out this week:

• All five Utah offensive linemen graded out very well, with run block grades of 82 or better in PFF's system, which constitutes an "above-average" performance. Senior guard Isaac Asiata led with a 91.0 grade in the run game ("elite" level in the PFF system), Garett Bolles had an 85.7 overall grade (3rd among FBS tackles), and Nick Nowakowski had an overall grade of 84.2 (7th among FBS centers). Solid week.

• Hunter Dimick had an overall grade of 87.6, which qualifies as a "high quality" day in the PFF system and was 4th among all defensive ends. He had 12 total QB pressures.

• Not doing as great: Pita Taumoepenu, whose 39.1 grade qualifies as "poor" in the PFF system. He had 2 total pressures on 62 snaps.

• If you're wondering how much Utah misses Marcus Williams, Jordan Fogal filled in quite admirably. PFF game him a production grade of 80.8, ranking 25th among FBS safeties. His two interceptions gave him a bump in a secondary that had a lot of ups and downs.

kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon