Utah Football: 3 takeaways from 2019 Holy War win over BYU

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SAN DIEGO, CA – DECEMBER 31: Marquise Blair #13 of the Utah Utes tackles Flynn Nagel #2 of the Northwestern Wildcats on a kickoff return during the first half of The San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl at SDCCU Stadium on December 31, 2018 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

1. Utah’s defense is still the real deal

Utah finished 2018 with one of the best defenses in the nation, especially against the run. If there was any question on if this unit lost any of their game or talent or anything like that between then and now, all of those were put to rest in the opener against BYU.

Remember all of those mistakes we talked about earlier? The Utah defense exploited those on a big scale, putting up two pick-sixes and a fumble that would lead to a touchdown that changed this game in a hurry.

Francis Bernard had the first pick-six, flipping the momentum in a hurry. Mika Tafua recovered the fumble later in the second half and then Julian Blackmon would add another pick-six to put this one away.

Next. Top 50 college football players in 2019. dark

Look for this defense to make big-time plays throughout the Pac-12 schedule because honestly Utah could be the real deal in the conference this season if this defense stays as dominant as it was. Now the offense just has to clean up some missed kicks and a couple of slow moments that could have changed this game if the defense hadn’t put up 14 points on their own.

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