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The University of Utah Athletics
Quotes from Kyle Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference
10/19/2009 12:00 AM | Football
Oct. 19, 2009
Opening statement:
Before I talk about the game, we have a project going called `Project One Hope." The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Alumni Association are collecting donations for families affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami at the Samoan Islands. There will be members outside the stadium collecting donations for the families affected. This hits close to home for football.
There were positives and negatives against UNLV. Our red zone production was very good on both sides of the ball. We were 3-for-3 in touchdowns in the red zone. UNLV had just one touchdown in five trips to the red zone. That played a major difference in the game. We also scored a touchdown on defense with Robert Johnson's interception return on the fumble. Robert also intercepted the ball and returned it to the nine-yard line to set up a touchdown. Eddie Wide had his third-straight 100-yard game. He is doing just what we need him to do. He has stepped in and is doing a great job. Terrance Cain was solid. He did not have quite the numbers he had in previous weeks, but he has been solid managing the offense. The negatives were that we fumbled five times. Fortunately we only lost two, but ball security has to improve. We also had too many penalties. We are always going to be aggressive, but we have to be smarter than we were on Saturday night. On special teams, we improved over CSU but we are still not where were need to be. Our performance was average.
Air Force is a solid football team. They have done some good things on defense this year. They are at or near the top of most defensive categories in the conference and are leading the nation in turnover margin. It's a great conference battle. Games with Air Force have gone down to the wire and we don't expect anything other than a competitive football game.
Injury report:
Terrance Cain tweaked an ankle in the first half against UNLV, but that is a non-issue. He is good to go. Joe Dale has a knee injury and is out 3-4 weeks. Lei Talamaivao (broken fibula) and Walter Watts (knee) are both doubtful for this week. Their progress is coming along though. Shaky Smithson (ankle) should be good to go. He was available against UNLV and could have gone in an emergency, but he will be 100% this week.
On the defense against Air Force:
We usually play 3-4 safeties against Air Force, and Joe [Dale] is an integral part of our defense. We have got to get our best 11 defenders out there, and we are in the process of sorting it out.
On preparing for Air Force:
Think assignment football. Everyone on the field has an assignment, and any breakdowns mean a potential for a big play. We need to be sound in our scheme and match their discipline and toughness. They are a great cut block team and we need to stay on our feet and rally to the football and gang tackle.
On Robert Johnson:
If we singled out one guy the last few weeks who had the biggest impact, it would be RoJo. He is playing his best football as a Ute. He has always been solid and been a big play guy, but now he is playing a complete game. All of his reads have been good and he comes down and tackles well. He is playing tremendous football. RoJo is one of the best free safeties in the country.
On the team at midseason:
Offensively, the running game has been positive. We are still leading the conference in yards per carry. Cain is getting better each week. His efficiency rating is climbing steadily and that's where we need him to be. He is functioning at a high level. The offensive line is tied into the run game and they have done a nice job. The receivers have made big plays, but the biggest negative is ball security.
On defense, the run game has been spotty and inconsistent. It was good on Saturday against UNLV when we gave up less than 100 yards rushing. Scoring defense has been good, our third down defense has been very good and our red zone defense is starting to shape up.
On special teams, we have won the battle most weeks, but we have not been as good as we were earlier in the season.
Players Mentioned
QB
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DB
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WR
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DE
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OL
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RB
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