UCLA Football Preview: Utah Defense Should Look Familiar Tomorrow
Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley is back for his 18th season. That should give the Bruins an idea of what to expect.
Today, we will wrap up our previews for tomorrow’s UCLA game against the Utah Utes. Earlier this week, I noted that the Utes have not provided a depth chart for this week’s game. That certainly makes writing our opponent previews more difficult. At the same time, Joe Coles of the Deseret News has cobbled together projected depth charts for both the Ute offense and the defense. Those projected depth charts helped make our previews possible this week. So, check out his work. It’s worth the read.
The Utah defense is still led by defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley. Scalley likes to run a 4-3 base defense while occasionally swapping in a nickel back into the secondary. Let’s dive in and look at Utah’s defensive personnel.
Defensive Line
Senior defensive tackle Aliki Vimahi returns for the Utes after being limited to just four games lasst season due to injury. He will be joined by sophomore Dallas Vakalahi at the other defensive tackle position. Vakalahi made 16 tackles including 2.5 TFLs and he had two sacks.
Redshirt sophomore Jonah Lea’ea and freshman Karson Kaufusi will back those guys up. Kaufusi is the nephew of former UCLA defensive assistant Jason Kaufusi, who is coaching at Washington under Jedd Fisch.
Redshirt junior Logan Fano will be one of the starting defensive ends. Last season, he had 35 tackles including 6.5 TFLs as well as 2.5 sacks and a pass breakup. The other starting defensive end is unknown. Joe Coles thinks it’s a battle between redshirt sophomore John Henry Daley, redshirt junior Paul Fitzgerald or redshirt freshman Kash Dillon as to who will get the start there, though it looks like redshirt junior Lance Holtzclaw will also factor into the rotation at the position. Coles lists Holtzclaw second on his two-deep but doesn’t mention him as a possible starter.
Linebackers
Linebacker is the position where the Utes seem to have the most experience defensively. All three anticipated starters are seniors. Lander Barton started all 12 games last season. He led the team with 72 tackles including five TFLs and he had added two interceptions, four pass breakups and one fumble recovery to the stat sheet. Levani Damuni returns to the starting lineup after missing all of last season due to an injury. Meanwhile, Johnathan Hall will be in his second season as a linebacker after moving from safety last season. Hall made 38 tackles including nine TFLs and a sack last year and he picked off one pass and broke up three more.
Those three guys will likely be backed up by redshirt freshman Kana’i Lopes, junior Trey Reynolds, and senior Moroni Anae, who is the cousin of former Southern Cal safety Su’a Cravens.
Secondary
Senior Blake Cotton, who transferred from UC Davis, will be one of the Utes’ starting corners while redshirt junior Elijah “Scooby” Davis will be the other. Last year, Davis made 29 including one TFL and he picked off two passes. Davis got the nickname Scooby from his grandmother, but let’s just hope that Nico Iamaleava doesn’t feed into that nickname by throwing him any Scooby Snacks.
Look for redshirt juniors Donovan Saunders and Jeremiah Caldwell to rotate in for the corners.
Redshirt junior Tao Johnson returns at free safety this year after making 70 tackles, picking off one pass, breaking up four more and forcing one fumble. Meanwhile, senior Rabbit Evans will be back at strong safety after becoming the starter late last season. Evans made 34 tackles and broke up one pass a year ago. Freshman Nate Tilmon will backup Johnson and junior Nate Ritchie will backup Evans.
When the Utes send in their nickel package, look for Smith Snowden to be the guy. Snowden was named to the 2025 Chuck Bednarik Award watchlist recently. Last season, Snowden was one of the Utes’ top defenders. He made 48 tackles including four TFLs. Additionally, he broke up eight passes and intercepted two more, and he forced a fumble. Snowden’s backup will be sophomore Jackson Bennee.
Analysis
Morgan Scalley has always had his defenses prepared whenever the Utes have played the Bruins. So, I fully expect the Utah defense to be ready for tomorrow’s game. The only difference between tomorrow’s game and the other times since 2007 that UCLA has faced the Utes is that they haven’t opened a season against them during that time. In fact, the only time the Bruins have opened the season against Utah was 2006. That was Karl Dorrell’s first season and the Bruins won that game, 31-10.
I’m hopeful that new Bruin offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri dials up plenty of creativity without emptying the bag entirely tomorrow to keep the Ute defense on their heels all game long.
As far as how the Bruin offense will fare against the Utah defense goes, your guess is as good as mine, given the shroud of secrecy that DeShaun Foster has placed on the program leading up to tomorrow. At least the UCLA offense will have a decent idea of what the Utes plan to do defensively given long tenures of both Kyle Whittingham and Morgan Scalley.
Go Bruins!!!
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Not really sure what to expect this season with so many changes to the coaching staff and roster, but hoping it won't turn out to be another "Year-1" performance for HC DSF (a 5-7 record or worse). Look forward to see what he's been trying to hide from the press this Saturday against Utah.
Go Bruins!
Unfortunately the elephant in the room is our head coach. No credits for him being hired. How’s this happening at UCLA? How is he our head coach? Please respond. Be honest.