This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Nothing about Utah's performance Friday night earned much of an endorsement from coach Kyle Whittingham. "Unimpressive" became his word of choice in the interview that followed the Utes' 24-14 defeat of Utah State at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
There was something to be said for Utah's defense shutting out the Aggies in the second half. Of course, even that effort required some cooperation from the other guys, with dropped passes.
USU made the Utes agonize until the end, producing three long drives in the fourth quarter — after going three plays and out on all three possessions in the third period. Regardless, the result was the same throughout the second half, according to the scoreboard. After delivering two second-quarter touchdowns and earning a 14-14 halftime tie, the Aggies failed to score the rest of the way.
Utah's defense recorded its first two sacks of the season in the fourth quarter, beginning with Pita Taumopenu's hitting USU quarterback Chuckie Keeton from behind and forcing a fumble that linebacker Gionni Paul recovered. Paul stopped the Aggies' next drive with an interception of a pass that bounced off the hands of USU receiver Andrew Rodriguez.
"That's the nature of Gionni Paul; he's a playmaker," Whittingham said. "Instinctive guys have a knack of making those plays."
Paul's interception came moments after USU running back Kennedy Williams dropped a pass along the sideline with no Ute defender near him.
That's what I mean by the Aggies' playing along. As Paul said of his key play, "He bobbled it; it fell into my hands."
The point is that the Utes didn't give away this game. When Utah linebacker Jared Norris said, "I think we finished pretty well," he was referring to the scoreboard — not necessarily the stat sheet. The Aggies may have gained 172 yards in the fourth quarter and finished with 373 total yards to Utah's 327, but none of that stuff mattered in the end.
"Chuckie Keeton will make you look pretty average at times on defense," Whittingham said.
Yet the Utes responded well in the third quarter, right after Keeton seemed capable of taking over the game. The Utes played the second half without defensive end Hunter Dimick and knew the offense was missing quarterback Travis Wilson. That's why it was important for the defense to come through in the third quarter of a tie game.
Filipo Mokofisi and Marcus Williams made that happen on USU's first series of the second half. They teamed to stop LaJuan Hunt on an attempted dive over the top on a third-and-1 play. On USU's next possession, Paul caught Devonte Robinson for a 3-yard loss after a pass reception.
Following Paul's two takeaways in the fourth quarter, the Ute defense was in position for a solid finish. Jason Fanaika's sack was not quite the finishing touch, however. Keeton completed a 51-yard pass to Robinson over Ute cornerback Dominique Hatfield, with Robinson making a spectacular catch. But as the clock wound down, Norris tackled Hunt after a reception in the open field and the Utes could celebrate their partial shutout.
Afterward, Whittingham was reasonably pleased with the increased pressure on the quarterback and the Utes' tackling. He was unhappy with some creases the Utes allowed in the running game — in contrast to the unacceptable performance of his own offensive line, forcing Utah's Devontae Booker work hard for his 120 yards.
In his news conference, Whittingham somewhat jokingly apologized to those who were bored with Utah's performance. But any greater level of excitement would have been a bad sign for the Utes. As long as the Aggies couldn't score in the second half, Utah was going to be OK.
Twitter: @tribkurt