After practice on Tuesday, Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota was quick to acknowledge the Utah Utes’ pass rushing prowess. The Utes’ stout defense is led by the duo of Nate Orchard and Hunter Dimick, who have 12 and nine sacks this season, respectively.

Mariota met with members of the media after practice to preview Utah’s aggressive defense.

Can you give us an idea of how it’s been going the last couple days and what you have been working on?

The last couple days – Monday was kind of a recovery day for us, but we were able to get some good work. We dived into the game plan a little bit today. Execution wise, it was a little bit sloppy but for the most part the effort was there. In the game plan we can kind of fix that so as long as the effort is there we can get better at it.

Is sloppiness a regular thing, or a common thing for you guys?

Yeah, definitely. Early in the week, you’re just starting to learn the game plan. So, we kind of expect a couple, not really a couple, but a day where guys are still trying to figure it out. So yeah, we kind of expect that.

There has been a lot of talk from the coaches about the Arizona loss and focusing things and preparation. Mark (Helfrich) said on Sunday that the preparation has been way better since that loss. Do you agree and in what ways has it been better?

Yeah, definitely. Guys have really taken it upon themselves to provide the effort, keep the intensity high and to make sure that whatever the game plan is, they’re executing it to the best of their abilities in practice.

Marcus, kind of along that same line, you guys have had difficult Novembers in the past. What makes this team different in that respect from last year?

I think we’ve learned a lot in terms of having that loss earlier in the year. Having experienced failure a little bit and now that we kind of have our backs against the wall, guys feel the need to continue to fight and play loose and play with high intensity and if we continue to play like that we’ll be successful.

Another strong defensive team, can you talk about what you expect from Utah and playing on the road there?

Yeah. The atmosphere is going to be unbelievable and we’re going to have to be prepared for that. Up front, defensively, they’re very good. They have a couple of the best pass rushers in the country so we have to be ready for that. We have to be ready for many types of man (coverage), because they do play a lot of man free (coverage). In terms of that, they’re a very aggressive defense, they like to bring pressure and we just have to make sure that we’re all on the same page.

How do you manage to stay upright against one of the best defenses?

Just continue to harp on our keys. There’s tells that the defense will give you in terms of when they’re bringing the pressure. If we’re all on the same page, in that sense we can make sure our protection slides the right way. If our tight ends or running backs are staying in to block, just making sure they know who they’re blocking and that they really just provide the best protection they can.

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