Agree to a small extent, especially with the injuries this season. But the results last night speak for themselves. We gave up way too many 1st downs on 3rd and long plays this season, because Orlando loved to blitz and left our DBs on islands. With proper scheme and technique, our defense caused all sorts of problems for Utah on offense.
I live in Pac-12 country, and the conference this year is mostly a giant dumpster fire outside of Oregon, Utah, and maybe Washington. Now you could argue that Utah was down after getting blown out in the Pac-12 CCG by Oregon, and missing out on the playoff spot. On the other hand, perhaps Utah could have showed up to the Alamo Bowl with a chip on their shoulder, expecting to prove to the world that it should have been them and not OU in the playoffs.
I've watched a few of Utah's games this year, and their offense is no slouch. Huntley is a good QB who can scramble. They can put up lots of points, especially against mediocre to bad teams like Oregon State, Cal, and UCLA. Going into this game, I honestly thought for Texas to have a chance to win, our offense would need to outscore Utah in a shootout. Our defense showing up and mostly completely shutting down Utah was a shock to me, albeit a very pleasant one.
I agree it's probably too soon to tell whether our defense will be legit next season, with all the changes. Big XII spread offenses are a different beast entirely, and present a monumental challenge for any defense to scheme against. But if (and I suppose right now, it's still a big if) - the defense is set up to succeed with proper scheme and technique, look out.
I will say this, though: I'm not sure we would have won last night's game if Orlando was still the DC. So to that end, it's good that we have moved on.