Texas defense gearing up to face Zack Moss, other Utah offensive weapons in Alamo Bowl

Utah Utes running back Zack Moss (2) gets past Oregon Ducks cornerback Thomas Graham Jr. during the Pac-12 Championship game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News

Longhorns defense aware of Utah’s strengths on offense

SAN ANTONIO — Utah wasn’t the primary topic for the Texas Longhorns. Saturday’s Alamo Bowl press conference featured a lot of discussion on the firing of defensive coordinator Todd Orlando. The former Utah State assistant lost his job at the end of the regular season.

Interim defensive coordinator Craig Naivar answered several questions about Orlando before being asked about Utah. The Utes and Longhorns meet Tuesday (5:30 p.m. MST, ESPN) in the Alamodome.

“Any Utah team you’ve ever seen play, they’re physical, a tough-oriented team. They do a tremendous job coaching their kids to be tough and they get the right type of guys that do that,” Naivar said. “They’re equally good at running and throwing the ball. If you’re going to load the box up, the quarterback can do good things with it.”

Naivar noted that the Utes can also run the ball down your throat if you sit back.

Utah running back Zack Moss, the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, is among the players Texas hopes to shut down.

“That is the focus. I feel like they’re a run-first team,” said Texas defensive lineman Keondre Coburn, who added there’s a reason Moss was the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year. “He’s very good.”

Texas has a mindset going into the game. The Longhorns are eyeing Moss. They want to shut him down.

“We stop him then I feel like the game can be even more smoother than we thought,” Coburn said.

Defensive end Malcolm Roach noted that Utah is good up front and a very experienced ball club overall. He added that the Utes are a group of guys that play hard.

Besides Moss, Roach said the Texas defense also has to keep quarterback Tyler Huntley and tight end Brant Kuithe in check, calling them “three great players.”

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