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Chase Hansen said he's always liked dressing up on Halloween, going as a superhero or his favorite — a football player.

But this year, Hansen didn't worry about disguising himself as much as disguising his coverages.

The biggest compliment he got on http://bit.ly/2fiqNZi";>Utah's secondary performance on Saturday came from Washington quarterback Jake Browning, a Heisman candidate. It was the sophomore's lowest-performing game (186 yards, 2 touchdowns, one interception) since facing Arizona at the start of conference play.

"He came up to me after the game and said we had him a little bit confused," Hansen said. "It was cool to hear, because that's something me and [Jordan Fogal] worked on throughout the week, making sure we had disguises."

Hansen had his own compliment for Browning, saying he's the best quarterback Utah has faced thus far.

Tying his season high with 9 tackles and getting the only turnover of the game with a 30-yard interception return, Hansen isn't yet content, however. And it's hard to be content coming off a loss, as well as a lowlight reel with missed tackles in the run game.

While Hansen was a big player in the secondary, which didn't allow Browning to have a Heisman-like day, he's looking at how the Utes can get better against the run. Sophomore back Myles Gaskin had his way, particularly in the third quarter as he ripped through the heart of Utah's defense.

Nine tackles could have been 10, 11 or 12 if Hansen had played a perfect game.

"A missed tackle, or I was a little late — I try to focus on the things I can improve on," Hansen said. "Especially at this point in the season."

The sophomore safety's progress on defense has been one of the defining storylines of the season, particularly with junior safety Marcus Williams missing in action. More teams have been scheming to take Hansen out of plays, but he's still made them: Hansen has recorded a turnover each of the last three weeks.

The key, he said, is trying not to play any differently from when Williams is in versus when he's out. Fogal, he said, has been a good partner, and if he tries to focus on doing Williams' job, he starts losing track of his own.

"That's when I find myself getting into trouble, making mistakes or getting out of position," he said. "I try to just execute as best I can in my job and trust whoever is behind me that Marcus or Fog is going to do theirs."

Williams gears for stretch run • This whole rest thing is familiar to Joe Williams. http://bit.ly/2epYc37";>His last bye was four weeks long.

But that doesn't mean the senior running back isn't languishing in enjoying another. Much of Utah's Monday conditioning session was spent using foam rollers and massagers to loosen out muscles and stretch tired limbs. Williams, who "retired" in September http://bit.ly/2c9fIYJ";>citing mental wear-and-tear brought on by physical wear-and-tear, said he was as grateful as anyone for the break.

"It's taken a toll, but we've got a good training staff, a good weight room staff, so the rehab part is in their hands," he said. "So I just go in, get the treatment for what's hurting me most and recover pretty fast. I'm glad we got a bye week this week. It helps."

Williams' name has been on the tongue of virtually every college football writer in the country since he http://bit.ly/2es4oVt";>returned three games ago. Through his comeback tour, he's lodged 98 carries for 683 yards (6.9 yards per carry) with six touchdowns and no fumbles.

Each of his games, he's had at least 170 rushing yards, and his 332 against UCLA still stands as the best FBS rushing performance this year — he's the only back with a game over 300 rushing yards. Comparing the last three games side-by-side, he's out-rushed the nation's leading running back, San Diego State's Donnel Pumphrey, by more than 100 yards (578).

Perhaps even more impressively, Williams' performance thus far made coach Kyle Whittingham eat some words: After saying at the season's start that Williams couldn't handle as many carries as Devontae Booker, he said on Monday that assessment "was clearly wrong."

Williams laughed as he heard the quote read back to him.

"The nation knows Utah football as a run-first, run-heavy team," he said. "That's one of the reasons why I committed here. I knew after Devontae left, the workload would be similar if not the same. That's nothing I shy away from. I always want the ball in my hands. It's my job description really."

That's not to say that Williams has been perfect. Notably, he hasn't caught a pass yet since returning. He said one of the bye week goals is to get him more involved in receiving, and he's working on his timing to making that happen.

Utah didn't expect that Williams would be handling the workload he has been, and neither has he. He said he thought he would be getting 20-25 carries per game, but he's had at least 29 in each of his games with freshman Zack Moss getting in as a spell back. But with three regular season games left, plus a bowl and a possible Pac-12 Championship, Williams said he's not about to ask for less.

After all, there's a four-game absence he's still trying to make up for.

"They want to give me the ball, I'm not going to shy away and say, 'Let's pass it,'" He said. "It's above my pay grade, and I just go out there and carry the ball."

Falemaka in the mix at center • Thrust into game action against Cal for the first time when J.J. Dielman went down, Lo Falemaka's career at center got off to a rough start.

He had a bad snap. Then he let a pass rusher take a free run at Troy Williams up the middle. Then, he felt something wrong in his foot. It was still the first quarter.

"As soon as it happened, I thought, 'Well, I can still walk, I can jump, we're good,'" said Falemaka, who finished out the game. "On the way back [to Utah], I felt it swelling up and throbbing the whole way."

So before he even got a chance to prove himself as a capable back-up for Dielman, http://bit.ly/2dDohHm";>who was lost for the year, http://bit.ly/2e02kqc";>Falemaka was shelved with a Lisfranc sprain. But this week, Whittingham said that Falemaka, a junior, will battle with former walk-on senior Nick Nowakowski, who has started the last four games.

Falemaka, who suited up for the last game but was unable to participate in a padded practice, said he doesn't see it as a competition in the same way others might.

"For me and Nick, it's not a battle between us," he said. "We're just encouraging each other kind of like motivation just for us to do our best. We're both just taking it day by day, just doing what we do best. The coaches will decide what they want."

The two have a distinct difference in build: Falemaka is 6-foot-5 and listed at 283 points, while Nowakowski is 6-foot-1 and listed at 295 pounds. Since a rough debut against Arizona during which the offensive line was http://bit.ly/2epba14";>continually bugged by the Wildcats' stemming calls, Nowakowski has at the very least blended in, and at his best has helped the run game surge in recent weeks since Joe Williams returned.

Falemaka said while he hopes to perform well enough in practice to earn the nod, he has no problem if Nowakowski continues as the starter.

"Watching Nick, I have all the confidence in the world in Nick," he said. "I know he can do it."

Defensive position tweaks • The Utes haven't stopped tinkering with some key roles on defense, Whittingham acknowledged on Monday. And with mixed results on defense against Washington, they're probably not done through the bye.

With Lowell Lotulelei and Pasoni Tasini settling in as defensive tackle starters, Utah has used junior Filipo Mokofisi more at defensive end, looking for a consistent solution against run-heavy teams. Whittingham estimated that Mokofisi took about two-thirds of the snaps over Pita Taumoepenu, about 30 pounds lighter than Mokofisi. Taumoepenu is still the pass-rush specialist and got a sack against Browning, but the Utes will rotate based on match-ups.

"When we play a running team, we'll have a bigger body out there and against a passing team, more of a speed rusher," Whittingham said.

Hayden Clegg also played more reps than he has this season, getting in at the "stud" linebacker position, though often moving up to the line of scrimmage. He made three tackles against the Huskies.

Again, it was a matter of size: Whittingham said that Clegg weighs 15-10 pounds more than Cody Barton, whom the Utes would like to play inside more. Ideally, Clegg could fit the role the Utes envisioned for Kylie Fitts before he was lost for the year.

Moving on • Two scholarship players have been removed from Utah football's roster, and at least one is transferring.

The Tribune has learned defensive end Kendall Huey has left Utah football and is pursuing other options. Defensive back Tavaris Williams is also off the roster, is not practicing and may be considering medical retirement.

The departures were first reported by Scout site UteZone.

Huey had apparent promise, netting three sacks in the Utah spring game this year, but didn't seize a role in fall camp after joining Utahhttp://www.sltrib.com/home/2111894-155/recruiting-update-juco-de-kendall-huey";> last year from Pima Community College. Williams, a sophomore, played a reserve role in 2014, but was injured in the season opener in 2015. He had only recorded one game of action this year on special teams.

Utah has also seen two other scholarship transfers this year, withhttp://bit.ly/2b5M1SV";> quarterback Brandon Cox and running back http://bit.ly/2dHFCys";>Marcel Manalo transferring out earlier.

kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon