Meet Jireh Moe: Utah's new weapon on the defensive line with a career performance

SALT LAKE CITY — It didn't take long for Jireh Moe to introduce himself to the world.

The sophomore defensive tackle for Utah had his coming out party Saturday night in a standout performance as part of a 43-10 win over Arkansas. It was a win that had Moe's hand prints all over it in an overall successful night for the Utah defense that managed 13 pass breakups and limited the offense to under 300 yards and 3 points for much of the night.

Moe led the Utes on defense with eight tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack, while adding a quarterback hit and hurry to an overwhelming night for Arkansas quarterback KJ Jackson.

He was also the highest-graded defender on the Utes Saturday with an 85.7 overall defensive grade and an 80.0 pass rush grade — not bad for the "undersized" defensive tackle transfer from San Jose State, who had 28 total tackles, two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks as a freshman last season.

But Moe's emergence wasn't by happenstance; if anything, it was a performance that was building over the offseason. It was quickly apparent to all involved that Utah had a star on its hands.

Offensive and defensive teammates continued to praise the Westminster, California, native and his hard work and relentless pursuit throughout the offseason, but Saturday was his time to shine and let the world know what he could do for the Utah defensive front.

To Morgan Scalley, though, Moe wasn't a surprise.

As he and the coaching staff put together his first roster as head coach, Moe's name stuck out among the list of players in the transfer portal.

"Our analytics said that he was the best in the portal of anyone," Scalley said following Moe's career night. "But because of his size, a lot of people shied away from him. We did not, because, again, he had showed it versus Power Four teams. I mean, I don't know if there are many that have a better personality. He's a great kid.

"What we saw on film is he's a football player," Scalley added. "He's a football player, and you saw him going up against really good competition and winning. Again, you always look for those one-on-one matchups. When they're in a one-on-one situation, are they winning?"

And Moe continued to show out in those one-on-one matchups (and even two-on-one matchups). It was a no-brainer, then, to bring Moe in to help a defensive front that got pushed around late last season and needed some help.

Utah has long had a tradition of bringing in players who don't fit the prototypical measurables for a position and then turning them into all-conference and NFL players. Whether Moe fits that mold remains to be seen, but position coach Luther Elliss said some of the best players in the world have been undersized.

"You look at the majority of guys who are in the Hall of Fame and those type of guys, they're all undersized guys. ... But you just start looking at John Randle, Warren Sapp, Aaron Donald. You look at all those guys, some of the greatest ones here recently are around that 6-foot mark, 280-ish, 300 maybe.

"The measurables are what they are — measurables," he added. "At the end of the day, it's about can you play this game, and he can play this game."

Moe is listed at 6-foot — Scalley takes a bit of exception there — and 280 pounds, with more time to grow and develop at Utah as a sophomore. But already, he's finding himself on a defensive line that made life tough on an SEC team.

Elliss said Moe is a "technician" who tries to find new wrinkles to take his game to the next level. That much was evident in a spin move made during Saturday's game that allowed him to quickly move past the offensive lineman and directly into the face of quarterback KJ Jackson for the sack.

For all his success Saturday night, Moe summarized his performance with a simple two sentence thought that gave all the credit to his coaches for "putting us in the right spot." He's all about the team success.

And though Moe showcased what could be a successful career at Utah, he readily admits he's not a finished product and there's "still room to improve," but he believes the Utah coaching staff, in conjunction with the teammates he has around him, can take him to even greater heights.

"Coming in in January, we've just been progressing — progressing and getting better every day, and just trusting in the coaches, believing. I believe that they can take me all the way — take us all the way."

If Saturday is a sign of things to come for Moe, Utah is in good hands up front on the defensive line.

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