Upcoming Event: Football at Kansas on November 28, 2025 at 10 a.m.
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
Football
at Kansas
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Football Player Quotes: Southern Utah
9/7/2022 12:50 PM | Football
Sophomore Defensive End Van Fillinger
On assessing the Florida game…
"Obviously not good enough. We made a lot of mistakes fundamentally, technically, things that we saw on film. Obviously we weren't expecting that to happen and things to go that way. But it's nothing that we can't fix or can't get better from. Right now, we're just trying to not think about it anymore and move on to the next week. Prepare for SUU and get better fundamentally."
Â
On identifying a priority for the defensive line…
"On the defensive line, we just have to be better physically, getting knocked back, holding our gaps. Technically, with inside hands. It's just fundamentals, that's all it is. We know what we need to do, we know how to do it. We've been doing it all Summer and preparing for it all Summer. Sometimes it just doesn't work out our way. We didn't come out on top on Saturday. We're preparing so that that'll never happen again."
Â
On playing in The Swamp…
"It was really electric. The energy was there, for sure. I thought it was fun, thought it was a good game. I never think crowd noise is an issue for the defense, at least for me. It gives me energy, makes me feel good. I like to hear fans, even if it's against me. I don't think it affected us negatively…it was cool to be in that stadium. It was not cool to lose in it, but it was a cool experience."
Â
Sophomore Cornerback Clark Phillips III
On assessing the Florida game…
"We didn't get the job done. We prepared our butts off. Hats off to them, they balled out. They did everything they planned on doing. We tried to do everything we planned on doing, we weren't successful. That's the end of it."
Â
On leaders stepping up…
"Every year, new leaders gotta step up. Those guys transition. I like to call myself a leader and we've got other great leaders in Karene Reid, Cole Bishop, Van Fillinger. I think about guys like Mohamoud Diabate, he's a leader. We just gotta come in and fill those roles. Week 1 was a test, we knew it would be. I'm glad we got that out of the way. Now it's time to move forward. SUU."
Â
On priorities this week…
"One day at a time. We just had a nice Bloody Tuesday [practice]. It was a grinder. It was hot. It was good. Every day, we're just getting better, honing in on the details and perfecting this thing so we can go out there and dominate this weekend."
Â
On the Bloody Tuesday practice…
"Bloody Tuesday is one of those days of the week where we try to simulate it the most like the game, try to make it super violent, super crazy. It's the longest practice of the week in terms of length. It's a grinder, we've got some live periods in there. It's Bloody Tuesday."
Â
On areas he'd like to improve personally…
"Personally, for me, it's tackling. That was a highlight of the game for the whole defense as something we've got to improve on. After Week 1, [we know] in Week 2 that's got to be a point of emphasis. To me, that's one of the things where I'm like 'OK, I've got to be a great tackler.'"
Â
On JaTravis Broughton's return from injury…
"That dude is a baller. I was pleased with his first performance. I thought he made some plays, he made some nice tackles. It was good to have him back. He's a leader on the defensive side of the ball, a leader in our corner room, a leader in our secondary. It was a blessing having him back."
Â
On having enough film to realize where deficiencies were in Week 1…
"Most definitely. All my faith lies with this team. We've been through everything. There was no doubt in my mind when we were down by a little bit or a lot last season, or the first week this season. We feel like we can come back from anything because we've been through everything."
Sophomore Wide Receiver Devaughn Vele
On handling punt return duties…
"I try not to think too much. The biggest thing I was nervous about was trying to fill in [Britain] Covey's shoes. Everybody talks about Covey and how great a punt returner he is, but I'm not Covey. I'm my own kind of punt returner. So I try not to focus too much on that and just do what I gotta do, do the things the coaches are telling me to do and make the plays I gotta make."
Â
On the final drive against Florida…
"Every Wednesday we always go over two-minute. We put ourselves in situational football, whether it's a minute-20 [seconds], we have two timeouts or we have no timeouts and two minutes left. We do different situational drills with two minutes. We felt well-prepared. Even last year, I think of the SDSU game. We went into two-minute mode and were able to score the ball. I've realized as a team, we are really efficient at two-minute. We came up short at the end there, but I have full trust in our offense when it comes to two-minute situations, that when we do get the ball and there's only a minute left and we don't have any timeouts or we have one timeout, I'm confident in our team that we're able to drive down the field. We do so much in practice and have that trust in our guys."
Â
On moving on from Florida and getting ready for Southern Utah…
"It's that 1-0 mentality. We try not to dwell too much. We learned from what we experienced in The Swamp. But we don't want to dwell on it too much to the point where it affects us in the next game. We understand that, and we're just putting the focus on [Southern Utah], just making sure we're taking the things the coaches are telling us from The Swamp, keying in on that, emphasizing it in practice and making sure it shows up on Saturday when we play against Southern Utah."
Â
On assessing the Florida game…
"Obviously not good enough. We made a lot of mistakes fundamentally, technically, things that we saw on film. Obviously we weren't expecting that to happen and things to go that way. But it's nothing that we can't fix or can't get better from. Right now, we're just trying to not think about it anymore and move on to the next week. Prepare for SUU and get better fundamentally."
Â
On identifying a priority for the defensive line…
"On the defensive line, we just have to be better physically, getting knocked back, holding our gaps. Technically, with inside hands. It's just fundamentals, that's all it is. We know what we need to do, we know how to do it. We've been doing it all Summer and preparing for it all Summer. Sometimes it just doesn't work out our way. We didn't come out on top on Saturday. We're preparing so that that'll never happen again."
Â
On playing in The Swamp…
"It was really electric. The energy was there, for sure. I thought it was fun, thought it was a good game. I never think crowd noise is an issue for the defense, at least for me. It gives me energy, makes me feel good. I like to hear fans, even if it's against me. I don't think it affected us negatively…it was cool to be in that stadium. It was not cool to lose in it, but it was a cool experience."
Â
Sophomore Cornerback Clark Phillips III
On assessing the Florida game…
"We didn't get the job done. We prepared our butts off. Hats off to them, they balled out. They did everything they planned on doing. We tried to do everything we planned on doing, we weren't successful. That's the end of it."
Â
On leaders stepping up…
"Every year, new leaders gotta step up. Those guys transition. I like to call myself a leader and we've got other great leaders in Karene Reid, Cole Bishop, Van Fillinger. I think about guys like Mohamoud Diabate, he's a leader. We just gotta come in and fill those roles. Week 1 was a test, we knew it would be. I'm glad we got that out of the way. Now it's time to move forward. SUU."
Â
On priorities this week…
"One day at a time. We just had a nice Bloody Tuesday [practice]. It was a grinder. It was hot. It was good. Every day, we're just getting better, honing in on the details and perfecting this thing so we can go out there and dominate this weekend."
Â
On the Bloody Tuesday practice…
"Bloody Tuesday is one of those days of the week where we try to simulate it the most like the game, try to make it super violent, super crazy. It's the longest practice of the week in terms of length. It's a grinder, we've got some live periods in there. It's Bloody Tuesday."
Â
On areas he'd like to improve personally…
"Personally, for me, it's tackling. That was a highlight of the game for the whole defense as something we've got to improve on. After Week 1, [we know] in Week 2 that's got to be a point of emphasis. To me, that's one of the things where I'm like 'OK, I've got to be a great tackler.'"
Â
On JaTravis Broughton's return from injury…
"That dude is a baller. I was pleased with his first performance. I thought he made some plays, he made some nice tackles. It was good to have him back. He's a leader on the defensive side of the ball, a leader in our corner room, a leader in our secondary. It was a blessing having him back."
Â
On having enough film to realize where deficiencies were in Week 1…
"Most definitely. All my faith lies with this team. We've been through everything. There was no doubt in my mind when we were down by a little bit or a lot last season, or the first week this season. We feel like we can come back from anything because we've been through everything."
Sophomore Wide Receiver Devaughn Vele
On handling punt return duties…
"I try not to think too much. The biggest thing I was nervous about was trying to fill in [Britain] Covey's shoes. Everybody talks about Covey and how great a punt returner he is, but I'm not Covey. I'm my own kind of punt returner. So I try not to focus too much on that and just do what I gotta do, do the things the coaches are telling me to do and make the plays I gotta make."
Â
On the final drive against Florida…
"Every Wednesday we always go over two-minute. We put ourselves in situational football, whether it's a minute-20 [seconds], we have two timeouts or we have no timeouts and two minutes left. We do different situational drills with two minutes. We felt well-prepared. Even last year, I think of the SDSU game. We went into two-minute mode and were able to score the ball. I've realized as a team, we are really efficient at two-minute. We came up short at the end there, but I have full trust in our offense when it comes to two-minute situations, that when we do get the ball and there's only a minute left and we don't have any timeouts or we have one timeout, I'm confident in our team that we're able to drive down the field. We do so much in practice and have that trust in our guys."
Â
On moving on from Florida and getting ready for Southern Utah…
"It's that 1-0 mentality. We try not to dwell too much. We learned from what we experienced in The Swamp. But we don't want to dwell on it too much to the point where it affects us in the next game. We understand that, and we're just putting the focus on [Southern Utah], just making sure we're taking the things the coaches are telling us from The Swamp, keying in on that, emphasizing it in practice and making sure it shows up on Saturday when we play against Southern Utah."
Â
Players Mentioned
S
/ Football
CB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DE
/ Football
CB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballUtah vs. Kansas State | POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Saturday, November 22
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham weekly press conference - 11.17.25
Monday, November 17
Utah: 55, Baylor: 28 | POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Sunday, November 16
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Baylor's John Morris & Utah Track & Field Head Coach Kyle Kepler
Wednesday, November 12