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Postgame Quotes vs. Washington
9/16/2018 12:04 AM | Football
UTAH HEAD COACH KYLE WHITTINGHAM
Opening statement …Â
"Well, that didn't go well. Give Washington credit. That is a good team and is well coached. As far as ourselves, I thought we played great defense. Gave up just 320-plus yards. We got a takeaway that should have been a score. Ball came out of his hands as he was trying to score. Other positives was special teams. Britain Covey had a great game getting back in the punt return. We had some chances but we couldn't capitalize. When you play a team that good you better capitalize on those opportunities."
About the offense and the dropped passes …
"We are dropping passes and that is our biggest issue right now. Those are drive killers. I thought Tyler actually threw the ball pretty good tonight. Some throws were not ideal, but he threw the ball better than his numbers would indicate."
How to guard on targeting …
"We harp on it. Teach it a certain way, but I guess we didn't teach it well enough. It has an effect on the team when you lose good players, but you have to have 'next man up' mentality."
Biggest thing the team needs to work on …
"Catching the football. Even our personnel was an issue at times. Had a little bit, too much, disarray in the mechanics. Changing personnel groups should have been a lot smoother than it was. Getting some guys healthy will be a plus."
On moving forward …Â
"We control our own destiny. We lose a game to the North (Division) and we still have to play every team in the South. I don't see anyone going undefeated in the South this year. I could be wrong, but I don't think that is going to happen. The bright side is that it is still early and we played, I guess you say, the best team in the conference and we stood toe-to-toe. We came up short, but now it is preparation for the next one."
UTAH PLAYER QUOTES
#18 WR Britain Covey
On getting hit a few times …Â
"I'm good. I'm alright. I got the wind knocked out of me a few times, but I'm okay."f
On offensive execution …
"I think we need to reevaluate a lot. We got to fix some things."
On the offensive struggles …
"There are some things you can do, and we will do it, but you cannot become a better catcher in one week. We need to be locked in more. Quit taking our eyes off the ball, things you learn in kindergarten."
#1 QBÂ Tyler Huntley
On his thoughts that is wrong with the offense …
"There are a lot of things that play a part, but we just had a lot of drive killers. I give credit to Washington's defense. They played hard all four quarters."
#30 LB Cody Barton
On the game …Â
"I thought our defense played pretty good. We need to get more takeaways and maybe a few more impact plays. They were coached really well."
On the targeting calls …
"You can feel it as the game goes on, but that is the way the game goes. Sometimes there are just things you can't do differently. Just the way the game is. It's sad, but that is the way it is."
WASHINGTON HEAD COACH CHRIS PETERSEN
On his team's performance...
"Proud of our guys. It's a hard place to play. It's a physical Utah team and we knew it would be. Our guys, obviously, answered that. I'm proud of our defense for stepping up when they needed to a couple of different times. I think we really made some strides on offense. We didn't score the points that we'd like to score, but we know the quality of defense we just went against. I think at the end of the day this is going to give our offense some confidence. Really proud of Myles (Gaskin). When those linemen cover up the D line, he's going to get really good yards for us. When they're not, the other side is hitting us in the backfield and we have to get the cleaned up."
On his defense dealing with adversity in the fourth quarter...
"They turned up the dial. I'm proud of them. We got their best when we needed their best. We talk about that ad nauseam. I thought we tackled well tonight, played really, really physical. It wasn't just one guy. Zack Moss is a heck of a running back, (Britain) Covey is as electric and shifty as anybody in our league. They made their plays but I thought our guys contained them probably as well as we could."
On creating turnovers tonight...
"Turnovers come in bunches. For whatever reason, we've been slow to start there. I think we have a really good defense, and a really good defense creates turnovers. We don't count on the offense just giving us the ball. Those almost don't count for us. I thought we saw our guys create some turnovers tonight by a lot of physical play."
Â
Opening statement …Â
"Well, that didn't go well. Give Washington credit. That is a good team and is well coached. As far as ourselves, I thought we played great defense. Gave up just 320-plus yards. We got a takeaway that should have been a score. Ball came out of his hands as he was trying to score. Other positives was special teams. Britain Covey had a great game getting back in the punt return. We had some chances but we couldn't capitalize. When you play a team that good you better capitalize on those opportunities."
About the offense and the dropped passes …
"We are dropping passes and that is our biggest issue right now. Those are drive killers. I thought Tyler actually threw the ball pretty good tonight. Some throws were not ideal, but he threw the ball better than his numbers would indicate."
How to guard on targeting …
"We harp on it. Teach it a certain way, but I guess we didn't teach it well enough. It has an effect on the team when you lose good players, but you have to have 'next man up' mentality."
Biggest thing the team needs to work on …
"Catching the football. Even our personnel was an issue at times. Had a little bit, too much, disarray in the mechanics. Changing personnel groups should have been a lot smoother than it was. Getting some guys healthy will be a plus."
On moving forward …Â
"We control our own destiny. We lose a game to the North (Division) and we still have to play every team in the South. I don't see anyone going undefeated in the South this year. I could be wrong, but I don't think that is going to happen. The bright side is that it is still early and we played, I guess you say, the best team in the conference and we stood toe-to-toe. We came up short, but now it is preparation for the next one."
UTAH PLAYER QUOTES
#18 WR Britain Covey
On getting hit a few times …Â
"I'm good. I'm alright. I got the wind knocked out of me a few times, but I'm okay."f
On offensive execution …
"I think we need to reevaluate a lot. We got to fix some things."
On the offensive struggles …
"There are some things you can do, and we will do it, but you cannot become a better catcher in one week. We need to be locked in more. Quit taking our eyes off the ball, things you learn in kindergarten."
#1 QBÂ Tyler Huntley
On his thoughts that is wrong with the offense …
"There are a lot of things that play a part, but we just had a lot of drive killers. I give credit to Washington's defense. They played hard all four quarters."
#30 LB Cody Barton
On the game …Â
"I thought our defense played pretty good. We need to get more takeaways and maybe a few more impact plays. They were coached really well."
On the targeting calls …
"You can feel it as the game goes on, but that is the way the game goes. Sometimes there are just things you can't do differently. Just the way the game is. It's sad, but that is the way it is."
WASHINGTON HEAD COACH CHRIS PETERSEN
On his team's performance...
"Proud of our guys. It's a hard place to play. It's a physical Utah team and we knew it would be. Our guys, obviously, answered that. I'm proud of our defense for stepping up when they needed to a couple of different times. I think we really made some strides on offense. We didn't score the points that we'd like to score, but we know the quality of defense we just went against. I think at the end of the day this is going to give our offense some confidence. Really proud of Myles (Gaskin). When those linemen cover up the D line, he's going to get really good yards for us. When they're not, the other side is hitting us in the backfield and we have to get the cleaned up."
On his defense dealing with adversity in the fourth quarter...
"They turned up the dial. I'm proud of them. We got their best when we needed their best. We talk about that ad nauseam. I thought we tackled well tonight, played really, really physical. It wasn't just one guy. Zack Moss is a heck of a running back, (Britain) Covey is as electric and shifty as anybody in our league. They made their plays but I thought our guys contained them probably as well as we could."
On creating turnovers tonight...
"Turnovers come in bunches. For whatever reason, we've been slow to start there. I think we have a really good defense, and a really good defense creates turnovers. We don't count on the offense just giving us the ball. Those almost don't count for us. I thought we saw our guys create some turnovers tonight by a lot of physical play."
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Players Mentioned
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