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There's a couple of them that Brian Allen would like to have back, but probably none more than this one: Jordan Lasley catches a pass by the UCLA 38, and Allen is in perfect position to make the tackle.

But that's not what he does. The senior cornerback reaches across Lasley's body for the ball, looking for the strip instead of the takedown. He nearly gets it, but not quite, and falls down — allowing Lasley to put a move on safety Jordan Fogal and slip through for a 75-yard touchdown.

"That one I'm pretty hard on myself," Allen said this week. "That was a tackle I should've made."

There are a lot of Utes saying that to themselves this week after the 52-45 win over UCLA. The Utes allowed 464 yards against a backup quarterback — the first time the defense has allowed over 400 passing yards since 2014 against Washington State. Kyle Whittingham cited 16 missed tackles the team uncovered in film study: Not a good day by the Utes' usual standards.

And it's not a one-time thing. For a defense that traditionally doesn't break much, these Utes are. Of the past 12 touchdowns thrown against Utah, eight have been by 24 or more yards. While a 100-yard passing game by Oregon State stands as strong performance aided by wind and rain, the Utes are only 8th in the Pac-12 in passing yards allowed (243 ypg). Passing efficiency defense (116.58, No. 5) and yards per completion (13.3 ypc, No. 3) have been better, but not exactly spectacular.

While the Utes believe their system will always account for a few whiffs in space — Whittingham said nine or fewer is a good day — they know there's a lot to work on.

"Sometimes we're going for the ball. Sometimes we're not physical enough, we're not striking hard enough," Fogal said. "When you're in space against 4- and 5-star recruits, it's going to be a difficult task. But we can do a lot better on our part, I know that I had a few missed tackles."

If the Utes are feeling injuries in any particular spot right now, it's in the secondary. With junior safety Marcus Williams out, the Utes have a weak spot in the deep middle of the field that didn't exist when he was playing.

"People won't throw the ball there because he's such a ballhawk," Whittingham said after the game.

UCLA tested the middle, and other parts too, throwing 70 times against Utah — in part out of desperation with a broken running game. Other breakdowns the Utes identified were the zone coverages, such as on UCLA's second touchdown pass to Nate Iese, who slipped through a pocket in the middle of four defenders and caught a well-placed pass from Mike Fafaul.

When Utah wasn't giving up big plays (five passes of 20 or more yards), it struggled with penalties: There were three pass interference calls, plus a defensive holding call that cost 40 yards.

But when Fafaul gave Utah opportunities, the Utes were ready to pounce. An overthrow cost Fafaul his first pick against the secondary, as Fogal managed to somersault for the interception. An underthrow gave 6-foot-3 Allen a shot at another pass intended for Lasley.

Allen joked he had to get the last two picks he needed after missing two opportunities earlier in the game.

"The one in the end zone, I was looking at it today," he said. "I thought maybe if that pass would've been a little lower, it would've been an easier catch, but the guys gave me crap all morning about the one crossing route I missed."

Fogal got a nod from Whittingham for assuming the difficult role of replacing Williams at safety. He had five tackles to go with his two interceptions, including a fourth-down stop at the line of scrimmage.

The Bay Area native had a difficult and winding path to his starting gig: He had four ACL injuries, including one last year, and hadn't played in a game for two years. He's keeping that in mind as he prepares for Washington's John Ross and Dante Pettis this week, two of the top playmakers in the Pac-12.

Fogal remembers opportunities aren't promised, and that he and the Utes only have a few opportunities to find the solution to their leaky secondary.

"I'm not really supposed to be playing here supposedly," he said. "It was just a blessing to have the opportunity and play successfully. I hope Marcus can just back as soon as possible. When he does, that'll be great for us. For the time being, I'm here, and doing what I've got to do.

Added Fogal: "Hopefully we keep winning."

Twitter: @kylegoon —

Bad breaks

Utah's pass defense has given up big plays recently in the passing game. A list of the plays that have resulted in touchdowns of 24 yards or more in the past four games:

UCLA • 75-yard reception by Jordan Lasley; 50-yard reception by Nate Iese

Arizona • 75-yard reception by Shun Brown; 63-yard reception by Samaje Grant

California • 40-yard reception by Chad Hansen; 39-yard reception by Demetrius Robertson; 24-yard reception by Hansen; 56-yard reception by Robertson