Utah defensive front is deepest Donahue has seen

Boise State wasn’t the only BCS buster to come up large on opening weekend.

The Utah Utes surprised almost everyone with a 27-24 overtime win over Pittsburgh in Salt Lake City last Thursday. Former UCLA head coach Terry Donahue was very impressed with Utah’s defense.

“Their defensive line really controlled the line of scrimmage,” Donahue said on the Legends Poll’s conference call Tuesday. “(Pitt running back) Dion Lewis had the lowest output of his illustrious, short career thus far.”

Utah held Lewis to 75 yards on the ground and a single touchdown, and Pitt managed just 266 total yards.

“Utah’s got about six or seven, maybe eight guys just at the interior defensive tackle position that they roll in there,” Donahue said. “I’ve not been around a team for a long time that I thought was as deep or maybe as potentially as good up front as Utah. I was just really impressed.”

Like many others on opening weekend, both teams suffered costly penalties and turnovers that led to scores. Pitt overcame an 11-point, fourth quarter deficit to tie the score at 24 and send it to overtime

But Utah’s Brian Blechen intercepted a Tino Sunseri pass on Pitt’s opening possession in overtime to help seal the victory.

“If Utah didn’t kind of self-destruct, then they probably would have put up 45 points on Pittsburgh,” Donahue said.

That’s against a Pittsburgh squad that Donahue believes could still win the Big East.

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