Through two games, what grade would Utah cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah give his group?
“If I had to grade us right now as a unit, it would be like a C-, and that’s being really gracious on the grades,” Shah said.
Contrary to Shah’s assessment, the stat sheet paints a favorable picture of Utah’s secondary, and defense as a whole. The Utes have allowed just 9.5 points per game (21st in the nation), 147 passing yards per game (32nd in the nation) and have intercepted three passes, including a pick-six by cornerback Jackson Bennee.
There’s been good plays — including Bennee’s pick-six against Cal Poly, which extended Utah’s interception-return-for-a-touchdown streak to an NCAA-record 22 seasons.
Yes, the competition was UCLA — which looks so far to be a lower-tier FBS team — and FCS Cal Poly, but when a team allows just one touchdown over its first two games, there’s definitely more good than bad happening in the secondary.
Bennee has stood out so far at nickel with his pick-six, plus another near interception and three pass breakups against Cal Poly. Smith Snowden has also done fairly well in coverage, even with the addition of being a significant contributor on offense on his plate.
When coaches turn on the tape, however, they see plenty that needs fixing in the secondary before Big 12 Conference play starts next Saturday against Texas Tech. For Utah’s defense to hit an elite level, however, coaches know that there are things to clean up.
Coverage breakdowns in the first two games didn’t lead to touchdowns or big gains, but against better opponents, they almost certainly would have.
A couple examples: On UCLA’s first drive of the game, former Ute Mikey Matthews was uncovered deep down the field and could have scored if he caught the pass from quarterback Nico Iamaleava, but Iamaleava’s…
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