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The University of Utah Athletics
Quotes from Kyle Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference
11/10/2014 12:00 AM | Football
Nov. 10, 2014
Opening statement:
Proud of the way our guys came out and played Saturday night. They were ready to play, there is no question about it. We unfortunately didn't do some of the things we needed to do to win the game, primarily turn the ball over four times. You're not going to beat a team the caliber of Oregon turning the ball over four times. As many things that went wrong, it was 30-27 in the fourth quarter and really were playing well until the game got away from us at the end. We had some breakdowns defensively late in the game that let the score get away from us. Like I said, we did a lot of good things. The passing game was much improved - a lot more production there. Defense, up until the last couple of series, played very well. A lot of positives coming out of the game, but we took the loss nonetheless, so got to move on. Moving on to another road game against Stanford. First trip to Palo Alto for a while. Starting preparations for the Stanford game.
On injuries:
Kendal Thompson and Tim Patrick out for the rest of the year. Tevin Carter will be a redshirt, we're going to go ahead and finalize that so he will not be able to play the rest of the season. We're going to hopefully get the medical hardship on him. Kenneth Scott has got to step up, Kenric Young, Andre Lewis, Kaelin Clay, the guys we have left. We have about four guys left, and they've got to get it done for us.
Kenneth Scott has been slowed this year by some things, injury-wise, that have been ailing him. We're not down on him, he's just doing the best he can right now with his situation. Westlee Tonga is also a guy that needs to become more involved in what we are doing with the offense. He's a guy who has a good skill set as a receiver.
Still holding out hope on Jason Whittingham. It won't be this week, but we're hoping if everything goes well he's going to be able to start practicing this week in a non-contact capacity and if there are no steps backward we may have him for the last two regular-season ballgames.
On Kaelin Clay:
He made a mistake. Like I said Saturday night, that's a coaching error. We have to do a better job of instilling that in our players, and like I said Saturday night, you haven't coached until they've learned. If he hadn't learned yet, then that's our fault as coaches to have not coached him up or imparted the knowledge the right way to him. He's a playmaker for us, he did a lot of good things on Saturday night, he's done a lot of great things all season long. Made a mistake, we move on, and hopefully it never shows up again, and we as coaches need to make sure of that.
On the differences between Brandon Cox and Conner Manning:
They are two fairly different types of quarterbacks. Brandon is a dual threat, much like Kendal [Thompson]. Can throw, can run with pretty good proficiency. Conner is more of a pocket guy, more so than Travis [Wilson] even more like Jordan Wynn, as far as a guy who is not going to do a whole lot running the football. Not that he's not capable, it's just not his game. They have to be ready. We have to decide early this week which one we'll sink the majority of the reps into, who's going to be the backup and who's going to be No. 3. That's top priority for us early in the week. That's where we're at quarterback-wise. Travis will obviously be the starter.
On Stanford:
What's glaring with them is that they are playing exceptional defense. They are leading the league in just about every defensive category - total defense, rushing defense, passing defense, pass efficiency defense, scoring defense - you name it, they are on top of the league. That's the thing they are doing exceptionally well. Offensively, they are not as productive as they have been in some recent years, but they still have some weapons. Ty Montgomery is dangerous, the receiver. Not only as an offensive guy but as a kick returner. They are doing running back by committee. They have three guys who really have shared a bunch of the carries. As far as glaring differences between the wins and losses, the ranked teams they have beat are good. The last two we've lost to are really good teams.
Montgomery is different than Kaelin [Clay] as far as his physical stature - he's a big kid. He's got great size that presents problems for you. What he does for that team is very similar to what Kaelin does for us. We have to be smart in the kicking game. He took one back to the house on us last year. The object is to try to minimize his damage. He's brought two punts back to the house already this year, so we have to be smart there. We have to try to slow him down. It's a lot like Marcus Mariota - you're never going to completely shut him down, you just have to slow him down and not let him go crazy on you, because he is very talented.
On Devontae Booker reaching 1,000 yards rushing:
That's been a huge part of our success and a huge reason we've been able to win six ball games, is because of him and what he's been able to do in the run game. He's had a lot of good play up front with the offensive line. He is without a doubt one of the best backs in the conference, up there in the top two in rushing, and we're elated that he is running the ball for us. We think he's an excellent back.
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