After being a bit of a concern, Kyle Whittingham 'pleased' with secondary

SALT LAKE CITY — Redshirt freshman cornerback Cam Calhoun was disappointed with his performance on Saturday.

The Michigan transfer holds himself to a high standard and was frustrated he gave up a handful of catches against Oklahoma State.

Of the eight balls thrown his direction on a total of 45 snaps played on defense, his opposing receiver caught half. His NFL passer rating against him was a 76.0 and he graded out with a moderate 64.1 grade from Pro Football Focus in coverage.

It wasn't good enough in his eyes — even if it was just the fifth game of his collegiate career and the most playing time he's ever played in one game.

"I didn't really like my performance," he said.

Calhoun studies his stats — the basic ones that everyone knows and sees regularly, as well as the more advanced ones like the grades PFF gives out after each game. They weren't as favorable as the week before.

"I really wanted to get the 90 last week, so I wasn't happy with it," he said. "But this week, I'm going a little bit harder, just so I can make sure I'm a dominant corner in this game."

Against Utah State, Calhoun was graded out as the team's best defender, according to PFF, but against the Cowboys he was middle of the pack. It's enough to push the young cornerback to be better, while also recognizing that he's just one part of a defense that has to come ready each game.

"I know if I'm doing my job, everything else is really gonna take care of itself," he said. "I've got to trust the D-line's gonna do their job, the linebackers are gonna do their job, and I know if I just do my job, then the defense is gonna be great."

That defense is well on its way to being great as a top-20 defense in the country. And while there's always more room for improvement, the defense has turned what was perceived to be a weakness in the secondary — mostly from a lack of playing experience with its depth — to a strength just four games into the season.

Nobody in the secondary is satisfied with where they're at, but there's optimism about its direction this season, especially after the team lost Kenan Johnson in the first game of the season to a season-ending injury.

"I think we're pleased right now with the entire secondary," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "We did miss some tackles from the safety position, but everybody contributed a little bit to the missed tackles. But so far through four games, I think we're holding the fort down."

So far this season, Utah ranks as the 14th best team in the Power Four in coverage against receivers with a grade of 89.5, according to PFF. In comparison, Utah ranked 45th last season (75.2), 20th in 2022 (84.1) and 39th in 2021 (69.2).

And against Oklahoma State's top two receivers, who have been considered some of the best in the conference, Utah only allowed a combined 97 yards between the two of them — and most of that (59 yards) came in the Cowboys' final two scoring drives late in the game.

Until the final two drives of the game for Oklahoma State — after the Utes went up 22-3 and became more lackadaisical on the defensive side of the ball — Utah's defense limited the receivers to 120 yards and forced several incompletions.

One of the best defenders for Utah in the secondary was Stanford transfer Alaka'i Gilman, who graded out as the top defender for the Utes with an 84.8 grade and a 90.6 grade in coverage. More impressive was his 16.7 NFL passer rating against him.

"He's playing really good football for us — very reliable, had a big interception on Saturday, and extremely intelligent," Whittingham said. "He's a Stanford guy, what more can you say?"

For Gilman, he's starting to feel more comfortable with Utah defense and is simply trying to stack good days upon each other as he continues his development with the Utes.

"I think it's going well," Gillman said. "I mean, you just try and learn from your mistakes each and every week, because mistakes are inevitable; they're going to happen regardless, but trying to limit those and create more big plays. I feel like I'm sort of trending in the right direction. I've just got to keep stacking days and keep stacking each week."

There's also Elijah Davis, who is splitting reps with Calhoun in the cornerback spot opposite consistent veteran Zemaiah Vaughn, who is making progress. The sophomore corner recorded a late interception — his second of the season — against the Cowboys and had an NFL passer rating against him of 8.3.

His interception against the Cowboys was most impressive to Whittingham.

"The first one he had in the season was kind of a gimme right to him, but this one was — not a lot of guys could make that play," Whittingham said. "Adjust to the ball with your outside shoulder and catch the back half of the football. He has a lot of receiver experience in high school, so I think you saw that right there."

And then there's nickel Smith Snowden, who has been everywhere for the Utes this season and is someone Whittingham described as playing "exceptionally well."

Snowden has improved in every facet of his game and continues to grade out high among defensive players — including being one of the best tacklers on the team and doing well in coverage.

"That's the most difficult assignment, is slot corner," Whittingham said of Snowden's position. "You've got the most challenging — not only physically, but mentally, there's more to it."

It's all combining to a strong showing for a secondary that made strides and has been a welcomed surprise to a defense that has only scratched the surface of its potential, according to many on the team.

Utah's defense has played well, but there's more to come.

"I think we've got a lot of potential as a defense," Gilman said. "We've just got to keep stacking days. I mean, we're working through this thing like it's one game seasons every single week. Every game is just as important as the last, or just as important as the next one. So we're not looking back, we're not looking ahead, we're not celebrating our wins too much.

"We've got to continue as a defense to uphold our standard that we have in the room, which I think is going well, but just continue to press that issue every single day and practice in a game."

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