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The University of Utah Athletics
Quotes from Kyle Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference
11/21/2016 3:32 PM | Football
Opening Statement
Disappointing loss on Saturday, a tough one, a real tough one. It was an interesting game. We did some good things. Defensively they had only scored one field goal until late in the third quarter. Unfortunately, from there we couldn't get one stop. All we needed to do was get one stop the rest of the way and we probably win that game. We couldn't get it done as they had four straight possessions with touchdowns. We had the punt return for a touchdown in the middle of those drives. That was really a disappointing thing on defense, to play particularly well. Even though they had been moving the ball between the 20's, we had been keeping them out of the end zone until late in that third quarter.
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Offensively, we started fast and scored right away then went dormant for a big period of time. We got it going again in the 4th quarter and scored some points but it was not enough. It was a disappointing game. We had some good individual performances. Joe Williams with 150 yards puts him over 1,000 yards which is tremendous considering what he went through and the circumstance he was under was impressive. Troy Williams threw the ball well, 67 percent completion rate, 200 and some yards, no interceptions. He did a nice job. We were able to move the ball, you talk defensively how we gave up a lot of yards and not many points, offensively, and we did the same things. We could not find the end zone often enough and that was the difference in the game. We had a few chances to go up 21-3 and that might have been the dagger to get complete control of the game, but it was all for naught.
We didn't get it done.
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Now we are heading to Colorado and they remind me of Washington. Another complete team with a 1,000-yard back in Phillip Lindsey, two quarterbacks that are exceptionally good and can hurt you. Sefo Liufau in the run game is potent, three really good receivers, a solid offensive line and a defense playing as good as anyone in the league. We have our work cut out for us
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On Cody Barton's status
He is out for the year. Unfortunately he was injured late in the game, in the third quarter. He will not be with us next week
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On changing anything offensively or defensively
We have won eight games and have had a very good season. I'm not sure what the expectations are. I expect to win every game. From the outside looking in, do you want us to win every game? What's the realistic expectation? We are in the hunt in November at 8-3 and there are no moral victories or anything like that but we don't need to make wholesale changes. We are an inch or two from winning Saturday
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On concerns about an emotional letdown
It's a concern when you have an emotional game like that and it ends like it did with so much disappointment. There was a lot of frustration in our locker room, which was different than after the UW game where there was a lot of anger. This was frustrating. There is concern but this team has shown the ability all year long to bounce back and play well so we expect that
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On any extra motivation to play spoiler
We are in that role. We win and USC goes, we lose and Colorado goes so I guess we are the spoiler in that sense. The first meeting during our first season in the pac-12 that was the case for us. There may be some added incentive with that scenario
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On preparing for big games late in November
Preparation was good and has been good all year. We don't deviate from our plan. We have a blueprint that we stick to and believe in. We moved the ball and had almost 460 yards of offense. We need to find the end zone, that's been an issue all season long. It didn't crop up in this game. They keep track of points, that's how you win games, not yards and so when you get in the red zone you need to capitalize and we have not done that
Â
On the predictability of fourth-down play calling
We have been pretty successful on the 12 attempts and we are near the top in the country percentage-wise. It's not like we are disappointed in our fourth-down performance but one of these times we will go play action. I won't tell you when but we will once of these times
Â
On potentially being undefeated against the Pac-12 South and not representing the division in the championship
I've maintained that the Power Five conferences should be the same amount of games. It needs to be a level playing field with so much on the line, an invite to the College Football Playoff. Eight games as opposed to nine is not right. Dr. Hill would do something if he could but he doesn't control that. It doesn't matter if you play eight, nine, 10 games as along as you play the same amount. Combine that with a championship game and that's another chance to get knocked out of the playoffs. It would be nice to see standardized.
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On the final Oregon touchdown
It was a perfectly thrown pass. What a great catch. Brian Allen is right there on the route. He has his hand up in the basket where it belongs. The Oregon receiver is juggling as he comes down but maintains possession and gets it right before his toe touches the white line. It's literally half an inch from being catch or no catch. That's football. The margin of error is razor thin. To go from complete elation to elite devastation is one inch
Â
On the team's goals
Get to a bowl game and win a bowl game. Our teams have been very good in bowl situations the last couple years. They've taken it seriously and played well. We don't know which bowl yet but that's another objective. Winning the Pac-12 championship overall is another and you cant do that until you win the South Division, that's part of the process and another goal.
Â
On advising players who could potentially turn pro
That typically happens through casual conversation during the season. Then we have more in-depth conversations after the season. My take is that during the season we do what's best for the team and after the season what's best for the individual. There are a few guys that need to make a decision and weigh their options. The big factor is the NFL advisory committee process. It spits back information after you turn in paperwork and provides players with a projection of where you'd be drafted that is pretty accurate. We've had guys in this position before. You do your homework, get the advisory committee information and go from there. Everyone has different circumstances. Some guys are married and have families and that lends a little more urgency to become a breadwinner. Academically, some may ask where are they in that area and do they have a degree in hand? Is there an incentive to move on? We do it on a case-by-case basis after the season and make sure we make the decision that's in the best interest of the player
Â
On issues in zone coverage
We are not doing a good enough job matching up on routes. You still have to play man within your zone so it's a little bit of a misnomer. You have to have coverage on anyone in that area. We are a little disoriented in our zone drops and not good enough in route recognition. Guys are getting behind us and sliding into spaces. We continue to work on that
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We are still playing about 60 percent man coverage, which is what we have been doing, as compared to about 80 percent in the Mountain West Conference days. We still play more man than most teams. Colorado, ironically, plays a lot of man. You will see a lot out of them this weekend
Â
On Troy Williams play in the second half
It was more of an execution issue. You judge performance on the overall entirety of the game, not segments. Overall, he was very good. He had nearly 70-percent completion rate, 200-plus yards with no picks. There are going to be stretches that aren't as good as others. We talked about the defense playing well for three quarters, not four, and you have to do it the whole game. There is give and take. Overall, his performance was very good
Â
On going away from the run
They were putting extra guys in the box making it tough sledding in the run game. When they are putting six and seven guys in the box, they're in a plus-one situation. This means that if you're in a situation with no tight ends and one back, it is a plus one for the defense. We bring another tight end in there and we may have to throw the football. They got into a mode where they had more plus-one situations
Â
On Colorado's strength
The entire defense, like Washington. They are good on up front, good at linebacker, good in the secondary. They have two corners that are playmakers. They have a really good scheme, they are well coached and they are disciplined. Again, it's comparable to the Husky defense. It's not complicated, they just do a good job with man-to-man coverage
Â
On Sunia Tauteoli
Sunia was a game-time decision. We were hoping he would play. He practiced one or two days during the week and felt okay. Come game time he had a setback during pregame warm-ups and our trainers disqualified him.
Â
On Colorado as a program
I could see them getting better every year. The record wasn't different years one through four but you could see the personnel. They were recruiting good players and that's what makes the difference. Every one has good coaching, it's the players that make a difference. The country is filled with good coaches and it's the teams with the good players that do their job recruiting that wind up being winners
Â
On the CU series
It's been close. We have won 4 in a row and got beat the first year that kept us out of the championship game. It's been very competitive at their place and we will see what happens. Every game has been very tight in this series.
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Disappointing loss on Saturday, a tough one, a real tough one. It was an interesting game. We did some good things. Defensively they had only scored one field goal until late in the third quarter. Unfortunately, from there we couldn't get one stop. All we needed to do was get one stop the rest of the way and we probably win that game. We couldn't get it done as they had four straight possessions with touchdowns. We had the punt return for a touchdown in the middle of those drives. That was really a disappointing thing on defense, to play particularly well. Even though they had been moving the ball between the 20's, we had been keeping them out of the end zone until late in that third quarter.
Â
Offensively, we started fast and scored right away then went dormant for a big period of time. We got it going again in the 4th quarter and scored some points but it was not enough. It was a disappointing game. We had some good individual performances. Joe Williams with 150 yards puts him over 1,000 yards which is tremendous considering what he went through and the circumstance he was under was impressive. Troy Williams threw the ball well, 67 percent completion rate, 200 and some yards, no interceptions. He did a nice job. We were able to move the ball, you talk defensively how we gave up a lot of yards and not many points, offensively, and we did the same things. We could not find the end zone often enough and that was the difference in the game. We had a few chances to go up 21-3 and that might have been the dagger to get complete control of the game, but it was all for naught.
We didn't get it done.
Â
Now we are heading to Colorado and they remind me of Washington. Another complete team with a 1,000-yard back in Phillip Lindsey, two quarterbacks that are exceptionally good and can hurt you. Sefo Liufau in the run game is potent, three really good receivers, a solid offensive line and a defense playing as good as anyone in the league. We have our work cut out for us
Â
On Cody Barton's status
He is out for the year. Unfortunately he was injured late in the game, in the third quarter. He will not be with us next week
Â
On changing anything offensively or defensively
We have won eight games and have had a very good season. I'm not sure what the expectations are. I expect to win every game. From the outside looking in, do you want us to win every game? What's the realistic expectation? We are in the hunt in November at 8-3 and there are no moral victories or anything like that but we don't need to make wholesale changes. We are an inch or two from winning Saturday
Â
On concerns about an emotional letdown
It's a concern when you have an emotional game like that and it ends like it did with so much disappointment. There was a lot of frustration in our locker room, which was different than after the UW game where there was a lot of anger. This was frustrating. There is concern but this team has shown the ability all year long to bounce back and play well so we expect that
Â
On any extra motivation to play spoiler
We are in that role. We win and USC goes, we lose and Colorado goes so I guess we are the spoiler in that sense. The first meeting during our first season in the pac-12 that was the case for us. There may be some added incentive with that scenario
Â
On preparing for big games late in November
Preparation was good and has been good all year. We don't deviate from our plan. We have a blueprint that we stick to and believe in. We moved the ball and had almost 460 yards of offense. We need to find the end zone, that's been an issue all season long. It didn't crop up in this game. They keep track of points, that's how you win games, not yards and so when you get in the red zone you need to capitalize and we have not done that
Â
On the predictability of fourth-down play calling
We have been pretty successful on the 12 attempts and we are near the top in the country percentage-wise. It's not like we are disappointed in our fourth-down performance but one of these times we will go play action. I won't tell you when but we will once of these times
Â
On potentially being undefeated against the Pac-12 South and not representing the division in the championship
I've maintained that the Power Five conferences should be the same amount of games. It needs to be a level playing field with so much on the line, an invite to the College Football Playoff. Eight games as opposed to nine is not right. Dr. Hill would do something if he could but he doesn't control that. It doesn't matter if you play eight, nine, 10 games as along as you play the same amount. Combine that with a championship game and that's another chance to get knocked out of the playoffs. It would be nice to see standardized.
Â
On the final Oregon touchdown
It was a perfectly thrown pass. What a great catch. Brian Allen is right there on the route. He has his hand up in the basket where it belongs. The Oregon receiver is juggling as he comes down but maintains possession and gets it right before his toe touches the white line. It's literally half an inch from being catch or no catch. That's football. The margin of error is razor thin. To go from complete elation to elite devastation is one inch
Â
On the team's goals
Get to a bowl game and win a bowl game. Our teams have been very good in bowl situations the last couple years. They've taken it seriously and played well. We don't know which bowl yet but that's another objective. Winning the Pac-12 championship overall is another and you cant do that until you win the South Division, that's part of the process and another goal.
Â
On advising players who could potentially turn pro
That typically happens through casual conversation during the season. Then we have more in-depth conversations after the season. My take is that during the season we do what's best for the team and after the season what's best for the individual. There are a few guys that need to make a decision and weigh their options. The big factor is the NFL advisory committee process. It spits back information after you turn in paperwork and provides players with a projection of where you'd be drafted that is pretty accurate. We've had guys in this position before. You do your homework, get the advisory committee information and go from there. Everyone has different circumstances. Some guys are married and have families and that lends a little more urgency to become a breadwinner. Academically, some may ask where are they in that area and do they have a degree in hand? Is there an incentive to move on? We do it on a case-by-case basis after the season and make sure we make the decision that's in the best interest of the player
Â
On issues in zone coverage
We are not doing a good enough job matching up on routes. You still have to play man within your zone so it's a little bit of a misnomer. You have to have coverage on anyone in that area. We are a little disoriented in our zone drops and not good enough in route recognition. Guys are getting behind us and sliding into spaces. We continue to work on that
Â
We are still playing about 60 percent man coverage, which is what we have been doing, as compared to about 80 percent in the Mountain West Conference days. We still play more man than most teams. Colorado, ironically, plays a lot of man. You will see a lot out of them this weekend
Â
On Troy Williams play in the second half
It was more of an execution issue. You judge performance on the overall entirety of the game, not segments. Overall, he was very good. He had nearly 70-percent completion rate, 200-plus yards with no picks. There are going to be stretches that aren't as good as others. We talked about the defense playing well for three quarters, not four, and you have to do it the whole game. There is give and take. Overall, his performance was very good
Â
On going away from the run
They were putting extra guys in the box making it tough sledding in the run game. When they are putting six and seven guys in the box, they're in a plus-one situation. This means that if you're in a situation with no tight ends and one back, it is a plus one for the defense. We bring another tight end in there and we may have to throw the football. They got into a mode where they had more plus-one situations
Â
On Colorado's strength
The entire defense, like Washington. They are good on up front, good at linebacker, good in the secondary. They have two corners that are playmakers. They have a really good scheme, they are well coached and they are disciplined. Again, it's comparable to the Husky defense. It's not complicated, they just do a good job with man-to-man coverage
Â
On Sunia Tauteoli
Sunia was a game-time decision. We were hoping he would play. He practiced one or two days during the week and felt okay. Come game time he had a setback during pregame warm-ups and our trainers disqualified him.
Â
On Colorado as a program
I could see them getting better every year. The record wasn't different years one through four but you could see the personnel. They were recruiting good players and that's what makes the difference. Every one has good coaching, it's the players that make a difference. The country is filled with good coaches and it's the teams with the good players that do their job recruiting that wind up being winners
Â
On the CU series
It's been close. We have won 4 in a row and got beat the first year that kept us out of the championship game. It's been very competitive at their place and we will see what happens. Every game has been very tight in this series.
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Players Mentioned
DB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
QB
/ FootballFormer Utah Football Head Coach Urban Meyer inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
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