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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah vs. California Postgame Quotes
10/11/2015 12:00 AM | Football
Oct. 11, 2015
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
On if the final score was upsetting:
No disappointment there. I'm proud of our guys. They played a full 60 minutes against a very good football team. Their quarterback might be the best pocket passer in the nation.
On what turned the game in Utah's favor:
The two biggest factors in the game - first was our ability to take the ball away. We forced six turnovers and made five interceptions. We also had the fumble recovery. Second, Devontae Booker and our offensive line picking up over 200 yards on the ground.
On the defense:
Defensive line did a nice job creating pressure, although we didn't have many sacks. We batted balls down and made him move around. Those were important aspects of the game also.
On special teams:
Tom Hackett and his punting was big for us. Britain Covey had one return for about 20 yards. We didn't allow any huge plays.
On the game plan:
I'm proud of our coaching staff and the defensive plan they put together for [Jared] Goff. It wasn't our best night offensively, but we got six takeaways and scored 30 points. It was not our best night there but the best thing about being 5-0 is the chance to be 6-0.
On being 5-0:
We have a big challenge next week and we're right in the middle of the Pac-12 slate now, [playing] one right after another for seven weeks or so. We'll enjoy this for a day or so and get right back on it.
On if he has seen a better secondary performance:
That's a tough one. There may be one in there somewhere but the secondary did a great job, especially against a team and quarterback like that. They were ball hawks back there tonight.
On affecting Cal Quarterback Jared Goff:
I thought we did a nice job with our coverage, disguising our coverages and applying pressure. I think that was a big part of it. Mainly, we just made some athletic plays out there.
On Boobie Hobbs saying Utah is No. 1:
Boobie Hobbs is a competitive kid. He's the one who made the play at the end of the game knocking it away, which you all saw. It's great to see a kid play with confidence but we are not even to the midway point. Five down, seven to go. There's a lot of football ahead of us and it's way too early to start thinking of anything other than the next game.
Quarterback Travis Wilson
On the win:
It's a great accomplishment and it's great for our program. I couldn't be happier for the team but we know we can play better and we will do that moving forward.
On the mindset coming out of halftime:
We knew we had the lead and that we had to keep going because Cal has a great offense. They have capabilities of putting up points so we had to keep putting points on the board and keeping our defense off the field.
On the interceptions:
They definitely did a good job but it's on me. I should have made better throws and more accurate passes. That's something I have to correct and make better. It was a bad throw on the first one. I need to be more accurate with the football, and on the second one as well.
On if he was surprised by the close outcome:
We knew it was going to be a battle and we did a great job preparing. All credit to our defense because they played lights out. They got a bunch of turnovers and that gave us great field position.
Free safety Marcus Williams
On if he was surprised by the close outcome:
They are a really good team so we knew it was going to be a slugfest from the beginning. We just have to prepare every day and come out and execute.
On the interceptions:
If we do it in practice, we know we'll do it in a game. We practice things like that all the time.
Linebacker Gionni Paul
On his interception:
My plan was to blitz but I saw a screen coming. Hunter Dimick tipped the ball so I said 'that's got to be mine.' I stretched out and got it.
Running back Devontae Booker
On his game:
The offensive line opened holes and I just tried to make plays. We didn't execute well in the red zone. We got three points, but we wanted to get seven. That comes down to us on offense needing to do a better job.
Defensive back Boobie Hobbs
On the secondary unit:
On the sidelines, I just tell my guys that we're a team. There are no individuals. We are a team. How many guys had picks for us tonight? I said if it comes to me, I'm going to get a pick six. It's a great overall team win.
We know that we are a great team. If we line up against Megatron or Calvin Johnson, we know we play man-to-man and we need to ball up. Sometimes you give up a big play but that's what big-time players do. Big-time players make big-time plays and you're going to get a chance.
On Jared Goff:
He's a great quarterback, no doubt. I give him his props but we have a great secondary. We have the best all-around talent up here. We were not worried, not one bit.
On the interceptions:
We practice like we play. I go get the ball. Practice, practice, practice. We are told to go get the balls in practice and that's what we do in the game. All credit to our coaches there.
On tonight's outcome:
We made a statement. This team doesn't don't feel pressure. We know what type of team we have and we just want to show the world. We can play with Alabama and LSU. We have a great team with great talent and a lot of heart.
Defensive back/receiver Cory Butler Byrd
On the secondary's performance:
All week, our coaches were telling us what routes their receivers would be running. We put that into our game and tonight we adjusted to make plays.
On his big offensive play:
I think I can play both ways. As long as I execute, I know I can get open any way possible. As long as you execute, you can make plays.
California Head Coach Sonny Dykes
On the loss -
"That was a tough one. Boy, our kids played really hard. I'm disappointed for them. It's one of those games we'll look back on and wish we could have it over. Just made too many mistakes to win the football game. We'll learn from it and the next time we won't make as many mistakes. Got to give Utah a lot of credit. That's a good football team and they played really hard. We turned the ball over six times, but they had a lot to do with that as well. So you have to give them credit. That's two football teams that played really hard and it was a very good football game."
On QB Jared Goff's performance with five interceptions -
"We'll look at the tape and talk to him a little bit. He just struggled a little bit tonight. I think that we all wanted to win really badly, especially Jared, and sometimes when you want to win really badly you might try to do a little too much. Next time, we'll react a little differently."
On how his team only gave up three points on three first half turnovers -
"I thought our defense played hard all night. They're playing with some confidence. If somebody makes a play on us they just play the next play. They keep playing our game, keep playing hard and make people earn what they get. The defense certainly bailed the offense out in the first half. The offense gave them some short fields and the defense held them to field goals."
On the play of his defense overall -
"I thought they really did some good things. I thought we tackled well most of the night. Booker's a really good running back and he's really hard to tackle. He's a big, strong runner. We let him get out a couple of times and get one or two big plays, but overall he had to earn everything he got. I thought we really played well in the back end and contested the passing game pretty well. The zone read hurt us a couple of times but I thought we contained the quarterback pretty well on some of that stuff. I thought that we just played hard and were in the right place. I thought we had some guys make plays."
Players Mentioned
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