This year’s defense

[Yergensen]

didn’t look like a Utah defense. Had some games, had to blitz a lot to get pressure. Didn’t see the physicality and nastiness we usually see. I know they’re young and will get better with time, but do they have that dawg in them ala Blair, FBernard or Anae?

[chinngiskhaan]

don’t do the dawg in them thing please. It’s embarrassing and stupid.

This defense did not have a vocal leader on the field. That was a major problem this year. Hubert should have been that, but wasn’t. He wasn’t a lot of things he should have been. Oh well.

[2008 National Champ]

Hubert? He was exactly who he should have been – a kid who had missed most of the last 3 years with injury. He played well at times and made some mistakes. I’m not sure what your expectations were but it seems like perfection from a first time starter is a pretty high bar.

[Yergensen]

Post is directed at the defense as a whole. IMO it’s missing that physicality and nastiness that Utah defenses are known for.

[2008 National Champ]

My reply to Chinnig was based on him calling out Hubert on multiple threads.

As for your point on the Defense, of course it didn’t look like what we are all used to. Linebackers have always been critical to the scheme Scalley runs and it was manned this year by a guy better suited to EDGE, a true freshman and a former walk-on. For the first time in at least a decade, Utah didn’t get exceptional LB play which was sorely needed to cover the youth on the DLine and in the secondary.

That being said, I felt like the problems on both sides of the ball tonight were more scheme than execution. PSU was able to throw to the stack receiver all game because neither Vaughn nor Hubert/Vaki/Bishop knew who they should be covering. Same thing happened against UCLA where the lead receiver would get a free release.

[Yergensen]

Good observations