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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah vs. North Dakota Postgame Quotes
8/31/2017 9:20 PM | Football
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening statements...
"As far as us, it was a mixed bag. We did some good things. We had far too many penalties overall as a team, most of them were on offense. Ball security, we were carrying the ball a little loose and that is a fumble waiting to happen if we do not get that corrected. We moved the ball with 500 yards of offense. We had balance. Zack Moss had over 100 yards. Darren Carrington II is as advertised. He is one heck of a receiver and was Tyler's favorite target with 10 catches and well over 100 yards. Defensively, we did some good things and some not so good things. Sacks and takeaways, we only had one of those tonight. That has to change and we need to be better on defense with those havoc plays. That's our M.O. for many years. We have sacked the quarterback and taken the ball away. We came off coverage a couple times and it hurt us, like on the touchdown. As much man coverage as we play, we have to stick to them, plaster. When the play extends we have to cover them. Special teams with Matt Gay was good. We started off with Chayden Johnston and he missed the kick so we gave Matt an opportunity. He made three kicks and the PAT's. Mitch had a 52-yard punt. We had a chance on two returns. The first time we clipped and the second time, Boobie Hobbs tripped. It was a good start and gave us plenty to work on for our next opponent in nine days. So that is what we will do. Come in as coaches in the morning and watch film then talk to the players in the afternoon. Make corrections and give them the weekend off and be ready for the next game."
On Darren Carrington II...
"I don't think it was the plan to target him that many times. He is a big receiver that runs good routes. He has a big catch radius with his length and if you put the ball in his general vicinity, he comes away with it. He is a very polished receiver and we didn't go in thinking, 'let's get Darren 10 catches for 100-plus yards' but when you are as talented as he is, you are going to get a lot of touches. He has been great. The players have welcomed him with open arms. In the locker room and the film room, he has been a great addition. He is a senior and has a lot of wisdom. He needs to continue on the path he's on. He has great practice habits and has done everything we have asked of him off the field, meeting every requirement."
On Tyler Huntley...
"He needs to be more judicious. He needs to hit the cracks. He needs to be more evasive and can't take those shots. He's a tough kid and can take those shots, but he has to get out of bounds. It's a talent you can develop, avoiding those tackles and types of hits."
On the offensive scheme...
It was good. I do not think it was smooth at the start of the game but it got smoother as the game went on. The play calling was very balanced and that's Troy Taylor. The offensive line did a nice job pushing them around and we had one turnover, which we can live with, but the ball was way too loose way too often. We have to have better ball security. Pass protection needs to be better since we allowed three sacks. We need more havoc plays, takeaways and sacks. We only had a chance to return one kick and we only punted once so it was tough to gauge where we are on special teams."
On the freshmen...
"They played pretty good. Maxs Tupai missed on a blitz. He needed to peel and go with the back but he will learn from that. Jaylon Johnson played well. Julian Blackmon was exceptional. He dropped an interception at the goal line that would have knocked out the drive with the late hit. Samson Nacua will be a big-time player for us. Pita Tonga and Hauati Pututau are really going to help us this year."
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Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley
On his first start...
"There were no nerves. I just had to adjust at the beginning and start playing from there."
On having his family in the stands...
"It felt good for them to come out and support me. I did not know they were going to come out, so it was a nice feeling to have them surprise me."
Utah safety Chase Hansen
On when he knew he was playing...
"I found out this morning and I thought I would get some reps. I was able to rotate with some guys and that made things better. It is a blessing to be as deep as we are on both sides of the ball."
On the defense's overall performance...
"I thought they looked good. There were a few mistakes made and a lot of credit to North Dakota, but we are going to face better teams. We just have to look at the film and make adjustments."
Utah running back Zack Moss
On week one...
"I felt great. I have been preparing all week to come out and have a great game. We had a good game plan on how to attack these guys and we executed it pretty well."
On Tyler Huntley...
"He was outstanding. He has some work to do because he did miss some passes and had a pick, but for his first game at quarterback, he did well. He will keep accelerating."
Utah wide receiver Darren Carrington II
On his first game...
"It feels great and I am just happy to be here. I am very thankful to have another chance."
On how he feels he fits in the offense...
"I think it feels pretty good. With Zack and Tyler and myself, we have a lot of weapons. I think the defenses are going to have to pick their poison when they play us."
North Dakota Head Coach Bubba Schweigert
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On how his team played...
"One thing that I asked our team to do was play hard for 60 minutes. I think our guys did that tonight. Can we play better? Sure. I think we can execute better. On the defensive side, [Darren} Carrington hurt us. We always want to tackle better and we take a lot of pride in our tackling. We probably didn't do that as well as we needed to. Offensively, we want to run the ball with more consistency, but we knew that would be a challenge coming into the game. But then we made some big plays. We really had it at a two-score game with eight minutes left. We got the ball back and planned on going down and getting one, giving ourselves a chance for an onside kick and getting another possession. But that wasn't the case and we're going to look at it as another experience and move forward with our season."
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On trying to run the ball against Utah's defense...
"Nobody really moves them. You have to neutralize them and get to the edges. As we watched Pac-12 teams, they just don't get movement. Those two guys on the inside are really big and tough to move, and when you don't get that movement, the other guys really show up and play better. I thought we protected the quarterback pretty well tonight and neutralized them that way. Keaton [Studsrud] made some good plays on his own scrambling and got a big first down running it that way. We were pleased with that. We just could not run it consistently. They are just so big and physical, so that was a tough match-up for us."
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On the way his team handled the road environment against a Pac-12 team...
"I don't think the environment really was an issue for us. We had one procedure penalty. We executed and were getting the plays in and out. Our guys handled the sideline and we were calm and confident most of the evening. There wasn't panic on our sideline. There's always a little frustration when you play against a good opponent. It's hard to play the way we want to play and run the football. That was a big challenge for us. But I was really proud of our team. I thought we handled the environment and we went in at halftime with a one-score game, and it was a game really to the end when it became three scores."
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Opening statements...
"As far as us, it was a mixed bag. We did some good things. We had far too many penalties overall as a team, most of them were on offense. Ball security, we were carrying the ball a little loose and that is a fumble waiting to happen if we do not get that corrected. We moved the ball with 500 yards of offense. We had balance. Zack Moss had over 100 yards. Darren Carrington II is as advertised. He is one heck of a receiver and was Tyler's favorite target with 10 catches and well over 100 yards. Defensively, we did some good things and some not so good things. Sacks and takeaways, we only had one of those tonight. That has to change and we need to be better on defense with those havoc plays. That's our M.O. for many years. We have sacked the quarterback and taken the ball away. We came off coverage a couple times and it hurt us, like on the touchdown. As much man coverage as we play, we have to stick to them, plaster. When the play extends we have to cover them. Special teams with Matt Gay was good. We started off with Chayden Johnston and he missed the kick so we gave Matt an opportunity. He made three kicks and the PAT's. Mitch had a 52-yard punt. We had a chance on two returns. The first time we clipped and the second time, Boobie Hobbs tripped. It was a good start and gave us plenty to work on for our next opponent in nine days. So that is what we will do. Come in as coaches in the morning and watch film then talk to the players in the afternoon. Make corrections and give them the weekend off and be ready for the next game."
On Darren Carrington II...
"I don't think it was the plan to target him that many times. He is a big receiver that runs good routes. He has a big catch radius with his length and if you put the ball in his general vicinity, he comes away with it. He is a very polished receiver and we didn't go in thinking, 'let's get Darren 10 catches for 100-plus yards' but when you are as talented as he is, you are going to get a lot of touches. He has been great. The players have welcomed him with open arms. In the locker room and the film room, he has been a great addition. He is a senior and has a lot of wisdom. He needs to continue on the path he's on. He has great practice habits and has done everything we have asked of him off the field, meeting every requirement."
On Tyler Huntley...
"He needs to be more judicious. He needs to hit the cracks. He needs to be more evasive and can't take those shots. He's a tough kid and can take those shots, but he has to get out of bounds. It's a talent you can develop, avoiding those tackles and types of hits."
On the offensive scheme...
It was good. I do not think it was smooth at the start of the game but it got smoother as the game went on. The play calling was very balanced and that's Troy Taylor. The offensive line did a nice job pushing them around and we had one turnover, which we can live with, but the ball was way too loose way too often. We have to have better ball security. Pass protection needs to be better since we allowed three sacks. We need more havoc plays, takeaways and sacks. We only had a chance to return one kick and we only punted once so it was tough to gauge where we are on special teams."
On the freshmen...
"They played pretty good. Maxs Tupai missed on a blitz. He needed to peel and go with the back but he will learn from that. Jaylon Johnson played well. Julian Blackmon was exceptional. He dropped an interception at the goal line that would have knocked out the drive with the late hit. Samson Nacua will be a big-time player for us. Pita Tonga and Hauati Pututau are really going to help us this year."
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Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley
On his first start...
"There were no nerves. I just had to adjust at the beginning and start playing from there."
On having his family in the stands...
"It felt good for them to come out and support me. I did not know they were going to come out, so it was a nice feeling to have them surprise me."
Utah safety Chase Hansen
On when he knew he was playing...
"I found out this morning and I thought I would get some reps. I was able to rotate with some guys and that made things better. It is a blessing to be as deep as we are on both sides of the ball."
On the defense's overall performance...
"I thought they looked good. There were a few mistakes made and a lot of credit to North Dakota, but we are going to face better teams. We just have to look at the film and make adjustments."
Utah running back Zack Moss
On week one...
"I felt great. I have been preparing all week to come out and have a great game. We had a good game plan on how to attack these guys and we executed it pretty well."
On Tyler Huntley...
"He was outstanding. He has some work to do because he did miss some passes and had a pick, but for his first game at quarterback, he did well. He will keep accelerating."
Utah wide receiver Darren Carrington II
On his first game...
"It feels great and I am just happy to be here. I am very thankful to have another chance."
On how he feels he fits in the offense...
"I think it feels pretty good. With Zack and Tyler and myself, we have a lot of weapons. I think the defenses are going to have to pick their poison when they play us."
North Dakota Head Coach Bubba Schweigert
Â
On how his team played...
"One thing that I asked our team to do was play hard for 60 minutes. I think our guys did that tonight. Can we play better? Sure. I think we can execute better. On the defensive side, [Darren} Carrington hurt us. We always want to tackle better and we take a lot of pride in our tackling. We probably didn't do that as well as we needed to. Offensively, we want to run the ball with more consistency, but we knew that would be a challenge coming into the game. But then we made some big plays. We really had it at a two-score game with eight minutes left. We got the ball back and planned on going down and getting one, giving ourselves a chance for an onside kick and getting another possession. But that wasn't the case and we're going to look at it as another experience and move forward with our season."
Â
On trying to run the ball against Utah's defense...
"Nobody really moves them. You have to neutralize them and get to the edges. As we watched Pac-12 teams, they just don't get movement. Those two guys on the inside are really big and tough to move, and when you don't get that movement, the other guys really show up and play better. I thought we protected the quarterback pretty well tonight and neutralized them that way. Keaton [Studsrud] made some good plays on his own scrambling and got a big first down running it that way. We were pleased with that. We just could not run it consistently. They are just so big and physical, so that was a tough match-up for us."
Â
On the way his team handled the road environment against a Pac-12 team...
"I don't think the environment really was an issue for us. We had one procedure penalty. We executed and were getting the plays in and out. Our guys handled the sideline and we were calm and confident most of the evening. There wasn't panic on our sideline. There's always a little frustration when you play against a good opponent. It's hard to play the way we want to play and run the football. That was a big challenge for us. But I was really proud of our team. I thought we handled the environment and we went in at halftime with a one-score game, and it was a game really to the end when it became three scores."
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Players Mentioned
DB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
QB
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WR
/ Football
DT
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DT
/ Football
DE
/ FootballFormer Utah Football Head Coach Urban Meyer inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
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