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The University of Utah Athletics
Quotes from Kyle Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference
9/3/2018 12:44 PM | Football
Opening Statement…
"On to week two. Northern Illinois is a good football team. They played Iowa tough last week. It was 3-0 midway through the third quarter. They are a very physical team, hard-nosed and disciplined. We have a challenge ahead of us. It is our first road game of the year, so this will be a new experience for those rookies that haven't been on the road with us yet. We came out of the game against Weber State healthy, which was a big positive. Even though we came out with a slow start, we ended up coming up with some decent numbers. I'm feeling decent about the outing. It wasn't great, but nothing is ever perfect."
On what he thought about the defensive effort against Weber State…
"I would say it was a very good defensive effort. Weber played it pretty close to the chest, so there weren't as many opportunities to get takeaways as there are in some weeks. We tackled well. We only missed six tackles which is pretty good in any game, particularly for an opener. When you think about how little live work we had during fall camp, we were pleased with what we got."
On if playing in a smaller stadium will change the atmosphere of the game for them…
"No I don't think so. The players tune out the opposing crowd regardless of where you are at, so that is just something that I don't think will be a big factor."
On if Orlando Umana or Nick Ford solidified the left guard spot…
"No they both played well in spots. Both had a few errors here or there, but it should be the same this week where they both get time. We will continue to play both of them until there is separation, if there is separation."
On if they emphasized less penalties and red zone play before the Weber State game…
"Penalties you know we work hard to make sure our guys know the rules with just the administrative penalties like who's on, who's off, staying onside, watching the football, things like that. We didn't emphasize it any more than we have in the past, we just happened to play cleaner in that game. With the red zone, it is still a work in progress. We were 2-of-3 with two touchdowns in three trips and in that last trip we kind of called off the dogs and went with the field goal. It was good to see us start off on the right foot because both of those have been issues for us and hasn't been a real positive for us in the past."
On how he thought Jason Shelley responded to his opportunity…
"Very well. He came in with a lot of poise and made great decisions. He threw a nice deep ball to Jaylen Dixon and looked very athletic running the football. When he pulled that on the read zone and went around the edge, he looked like he had done before, which he had in high school. That was his forte in high school."Â
On if he got to watch any of the other Pac-12 games from week one…
"Yeah I watched a few games. I certainly watched the Washington/Auburn game. That was entertaining with a lot of good defense that could have gone either way. I also got a chance to see the Stanford game on Friday night and watched a little of the Washington State game against Wyoming."
On his expectations of Solomon Enis this fall…
"We have high expectations of Solomon. I think you got a little bit of a taste of what he is capable of against Weber State. We targeted him three or four times and he came away with a couple of catches and a defensive pass interference that was incomplete. He is a guy that has a tremendous upside and he is going to continue to get playing time."
On Tyler Huntley only carrying the ball seven times against Weber State and if that is a number he wants to keep…
"Well it will be week-to-week. Some weeks it will be more than that and some it might be less, it just depends on the opponent and what the game plan is. Tyler Huntley has got a great ability to run the football and we aren't just going to take that away, but I think what you did see is Tyler stay out of harms way on Thursday night. I think he did a nice job of avoiding those direct shots and getting down. I think that is what the key will be. You can't run him 25 times, but if he runs it 15 times a game and is smart with his decisions in terms of ending the play, I think that will be just fine."
On what he thinks about Northern Illinois's running backs…
"They are good. One kid went for about 75 yards. They have a different look this year because last year they deployed multiple tight ends and one got injured in camp. So the personnel groupings are quite a bit different than they were last year. But the running back ran hard, he was tough."
On if Tyler got hit on the interception against Weber State…
"Yes he did. He got hit in the hip and that definitely altered the throw."
On how he felt the offensive line played…
"Overall not bad. We expect a lot out of the offensive line. We returned four of our five starters from last year. There were a few breakdowns here and there, but not many. We rushed for about 250, so I think for an opening game I think it was a pretty good performance from the offensive line. We have to continue to get better, but it was a good starting point."
On if they went deep on the play before Mitch Wishnowsky's fake punt was called because they knew the fake punt call was coming up…
"Well the fake punt wasn't really a call. Based on what he sees, we have built in opportunities for him. He is such a great athlete that if he sees certain things, then he is going to pull the ball down and run. So far, through his career here he has proven to be a very good decision maker on that."
On what he thinks they need to improve on between game one and game two…
"What we need to do is start better. That was something that was obvious on Thursday night is that we didn't start very well. Defensively, we just need to find a way to get a takeaway. Special teams, we have plenty of things to work on there. We had a field goal blocked for the first time in six or seven years, we turned the ball over on a punt return. Northern Illinois did a nice job of blocking a punt of Iowa's, and I think they blocked five last year, so we have to make sure we are taking care of that."
"On to week two. Northern Illinois is a good football team. They played Iowa tough last week. It was 3-0 midway through the third quarter. They are a very physical team, hard-nosed and disciplined. We have a challenge ahead of us. It is our first road game of the year, so this will be a new experience for those rookies that haven't been on the road with us yet. We came out of the game against Weber State healthy, which was a big positive. Even though we came out with a slow start, we ended up coming up with some decent numbers. I'm feeling decent about the outing. It wasn't great, but nothing is ever perfect."
On what he thought about the defensive effort against Weber State…
"I would say it was a very good defensive effort. Weber played it pretty close to the chest, so there weren't as many opportunities to get takeaways as there are in some weeks. We tackled well. We only missed six tackles which is pretty good in any game, particularly for an opener. When you think about how little live work we had during fall camp, we were pleased with what we got."
On if playing in a smaller stadium will change the atmosphere of the game for them…
"No I don't think so. The players tune out the opposing crowd regardless of where you are at, so that is just something that I don't think will be a big factor."
On if Orlando Umana or Nick Ford solidified the left guard spot…
"No they both played well in spots. Both had a few errors here or there, but it should be the same this week where they both get time. We will continue to play both of them until there is separation, if there is separation."
On if they emphasized less penalties and red zone play before the Weber State game…
"Penalties you know we work hard to make sure our guys know the rules with just the administrative penalties like who's on, who's off, staying onside, watching the football, things like that. We didn't emphasize it any more than we have in the past, we just happened to play cleaner in that game. With the red zone, it is still a work in progress. We were 2-of-3 with two touchdowns in three trips and in that last trip we kind of called off the dogs and went with the field goal. It was good to see us start off on the right foot because both of those have been issues for us and hasn't been a real positive for us in the past."
On how he thought Jason Shelley responded to his opportunity…
"Very well. He came in with a lot of poise and made great decisions. He threw a nice deep ball to Jaylen Dixon and looked very athletic running the football. When he pulled that on the read zone and went around the edge, he looked like he had done before, which he had in high school. That was his forte in high school."Â
On if he got to watch any of the other Pac-12 games from week one…
"Yeah I watched a few games. I certainly watched the Washington/Auburn game. That was entertaining with a lot of good defense that could have gone either way. I also got a chance to see the Stanford game on Friday night and watched a little of the Washington State game against Wyoming."
On his expectations of Solomon Enis this fall…
"We have high expectations of Solomon. I think you got a little bit of a taste of what he is capable of against Weber State. We targeted him three or four times and he came away with a couple of catches and a defensive pass interference that was incomplete. He is a guy that has a tremendous upside and he is going to continue to get playing time."
On Tyler Huntley only carrying the ball seven times against Weber State and if that is a number he wants to keep…
"Well it will be week-to-week. Some weeks it will be more than that and some it might be less, it just depends on the opponent and what the game plan is. Tyler Huntley has got a great ability to run the football and we aren't just going to take that away, but I think what you did see is Tyler stay out of harms way on Thursday night. I think he did a nice job of avoiding those direct shots and getting down. I think that is what the key will be. You can't run him 25 times, but if he runs it 15 times a game and is smart with his decisions in terms of ending the play, I think that will be just fine."
On what he thinks about Northern Illinois's running backs…
"They are good. One kid went for about 75 yards. They have a different look this year because last year they deployed multiple tight ends and one got injured in camp. So the personnel groupings are quite a bit different than they were last year. But the running back ran hard, he was tough."
On if Tyler got hit on the interception against Weber State…
"Yes he did. He got hit in the hip and that definitely altered the throw."
On how he felt the offensive line played…
"Overall not bad. We expect a lot out of the offensive line. We returned four of our five starters from last year. There were a few breakdowns here and there, but not many. We rushed for about 250, so I think for an opening game I think it was a pretty good performance from the offensive line. We have to continue to get better, but it was a good starting point."
On if they went deep on the play before Mitch Wishnowsky's fake punt was called because they knew the fake punt call was coming up…
"Well the fake punt wasn't really a call. Based on what he sees, we have built in opportunities for him. He is such a great athlete that if he sees certain things, then he is going to pull the ball down and run. So far, through his career here he has proven to be a very good decision maker on that."
On what he thinks they need to improve on between game one and game two…
"What we need to do is start better. That was something that was obvious on Thursday night is that we didn't start very well. Defensively, we just need to find a way to get a takeaway. Special teams, we have plenty of things to work on there. We had a field goal blocked for the first time in six or seven years, we turned the ball over on a punt return. Northern Illinois did a nice job of blocking a punt of Iowa's, and I think they blocked five last year, so we have to make sure we are taking care of that."
Players Mentioned
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