Upcoming Event: Football versus No. 17 Texas Tech on September 20, 2025 at 10 a.m.
10 a.m.
Football
vs No. 17 Texas Tech
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
Postgame Quotes: Utah at USC
10/22/2023 12:30 AM | Football
UTAH QUOTES
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening Statement
"That was a pretty good college football game, I would say. So proud of our guys, they just hung in there from start to finish. We didn't start early in the game very well, defensively in particular. We started well offensively, but defensively we were really soft in the run game. We got some momentum and started to get control of the line of scrimmage and really took over there for a while. But they have a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, so they're gonna make some things happen and that's just the way it is. But we have ourselves a pig farmer at quarterback, so we're proud of that guy, we love him and what a warrior he is. We saw that grit that he has on the last drive, a couple of QB runs and found a way to win. That's what this team is. That's kind of been this team's MO, finding ways to win each week. I believe that was our best offensive performance of the year. It was our kind of game, rushed for nearly 250 yards, over 480 yards of total offense, nearly 35 minutes of possession. That's our blueprint, what you saw tonight. Sione Vaki had nearly 220 yards of offense, 70 rushing and 150 receiving. He's a special player. We got a bunch of pressure on the quarterback and had their QB on the run quite a bit. We never let him get comfortable back there. How about Cole Becker? The game ball went to Cole Becker. That was a huge kick. A pressure kick and he handled it like a champ. And what we were doing there at the end is we were going to center it up and I let the ref know we were going to center it up and call timeout. They say you can't call timeout, but you just can't call consecutive timeouts. So I sent the field goal unit back out there, knowing that it was incorrect, but they were going to wind the clock and then they (USC) called timeout. And so, I came back over and got the other ref and said, 'hey, what's the deal?' There was a little bit of lack of communication, but the bottom line is we got it settled where yes, you can use your final timeout if you use that last play to center it up. So that's why it looked a little bit wishy-washy at the end. Bottom line is, we found a way to win. Like I said, that's a heck of a football team we just beat tonight. Tons of athletes, athletes everywhere, speed everywhere and we did it with toughness and grit, which again, is our MO."
Â
On the final drive and scramble by QB Bryson Barnes...
"It was a drop back pass and he just wasn't there. He saw the opening in the pass rush lanes and took it. In fact, he had two big scrambles in that last drive, if my memory serves me correctly, and that's just who he is. Bryson Barnes is a fierce competitor and will do whatever it takes to win. No regard for his body, we saw it slam up in there and it was just him improvising. It was him making a play when there wasn't one there to be made in the throwing lane."
Â
On significance of the win...
"It felt really good. Probably the top five ever. To beat a program that has as much talent as they do four times in a row, I can't say enough good things about our players in the locker room over there."
Â
On the performance by Sione Vaki...
"He's just such an athlete and as I mentioned before, he was the Northern California Player of the Year in some way shape or form as a slot receiver. So it's not new to him. You're gonna see, every week, we may have to start resting him more defensively because he's so valuable on offense. We saw some of the moves he makes. He is so quick and accelerates so fast. He changes direction on a dime. He could stop and start on a dime. He's carrying a big load for us. Fortunately, we only played 54 defensive snaps, thereabouts, which made his load not ridiculously heavy. But we gotta do a good job of managing him through the week and making sure that we take care of him, which we will."
Â
On the confidence they have in Bryson Barnes after the Pick 6...
"Yeah Bryson is our guy, he's our quarterback, and we've got confidence in him. We just keep moving forward with the guys that we have healthy."
Â
On not going for the FG in the 2nd quarter...
"Analytics, which is a big part of our decision making, it's not the absolute and we don't go right by the book because you have to have a feel for things. How things are shaping up at the line of scrimmage, who you have available, how you're blocking things up. In that particular case, you're talking about I think it was a 'go' in four, and so we were well within in that 'go' and that's why. I thought it was huge early on, I can't remember, it was the first drive that we went for it on fourth and one or two about midfield, and it ended in a touchdown. It's give and take, what you do is play the percentages and obviously touchdowns are more than twice as valuable as field goals except for that last one."
Â
On holding USC to 3 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarter...
"I think it was really our defensive front taking over and getting really good pressure on Caleb, and plus we recovered all in the secondary. We had good coverage back there, and so we just got a little bit of rhythm on defense, and I think we got out of three or four drives in a row. I can't remember exactly, but we got ourselves into a defensive rhythm. Then of course they came back, that pick six they had was a huge play for them, but our guys didn't flinch and we talked about handling adversity. We knew they were going to make a bunch of plays, because they have a bunch of good athletes, just had to play right through it, and not let that bother us."
Â
#36 Cole Becker, K
On preparing for a game-winning kick...
"It was a lot of practice kicks, you'll see me in the net every 30 seconds. It's kind of normal, I mean, you don't want to approach it any differently, because then you're building it up in your mind to be something that it's not. So really I just take it one practice kick at a time and then go from there. I feel like we executed really well."
Â
On nerves ahead of final kick...
"Not nerves, but confused because I was getting my signals from all the coaches. They said we were gonna kick, and then we weren't, and then they sent me out there and then I was back off. It ended up being an issue with calling two timeouts in a row. The issue was referees not going to let you call another one or something, but you're just trying to run a play at the center, and so coach explained that in the locker room after and it makes sense now. I wouldn't really change the way it happened, because it went well."
Â
On how the ball felt coming off his foot...
"It felt pretty good. If you watch the video, the execution is perfect. JT (Greep) and his snap, and every other team member."
Â
#7 Van Fillinger, DE
On the forced fumble and defensive performance...
"It was a good performance by the defense, and I just wanted to be back out there and contribute."
Â
On if they had to do anything differently on defense...
"We all had to do our personal jobs or our individual jobs. Like Nate Ritchie stepping up and doing his thing. I think it was good by everybody."
Â
#3 Ja'Quinden Jackson, RB
On Bryson Barnes...
"Bryson is going to be Bryson, he's a competitor. He's smart. So I mean, we definitely believe in our guy."
Â
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening Statement
"That was a pretty good college football game, I would say. So proud of our guys, they just hung in there from start to finish. We didn't start early in the game very well, defensively in particular. We started well offensively, but defensively we were really soft in the run game. We got some momentum and started to get control of the line of scrimmage and really took over there for a while. But they have a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback, so they're gonna make some things happen and that's just the way it is. But we have ourselves a pig farmer at quarterback, so we're proud of that guy, we love him and what a warrior he is. We saw that grit that he has on the last drive, a couple of QB runs and found a way to win. That's what this team is. That's kind of been this team's MO, finding ways to win each week. I believe that was our best offensive performance of the year. It was our kind of game, rushed for nearly 250 yards, over 480 yards of total offense, nearly 35 minutes of possession. That's our blueprint, what you saw tonight. Sione Vaki had nearly 220 yards of offense, 70 rushing and 150 receiving. He's a special player. We got a bunch of pressure on the quarterback and had their QB on the run quite a bit. We never let him get comfortable back there. How about Cole Becker? The game ball went to Cole Becker. That was a huge kick. A pressure kick and he handled it like a champ. And what we were doing there at the end is we were going to center it up and I let the ref know we were going to center it up and call timeout. They say you can't call timeout, but you just can't call consecutive timeouts. So I sent the field goal unit back out there, knowing that it was incorrect, but they were going to wind the clock and then they (USC) called timeout. And so, I came back over and got the other ref and said, 'hey, what's the deal?' There was a little bit of lack of communication, but the bottom line is we got it settled where yes, you can use your final timeout if you use that last play to center it up. So that's why it looked a little bit wishy-washy at the end. Bottom line is, we found a way to win. Like I said, that's a heck of a football team we just beat tonight. Tons of athletes, athletes everywhere, speed everywhere and we did it with toughness and grit, which again, is our MO."
Â
On the final drive and scramble by QB Bryson Barnes...
"It was a drop back pass and he just wasn't there. He saw the opening in the pass rush lanes and took it. In fact, he had two big scrambles in that last drive, if my memory serves me correctly, and that's just who he is. Bryson Barnes is a fierce competitor and will do whatever it takes to win. No regard for his body, we saw it slam up in there and it was just him improvising. It was him making a play when there wasn't one there to be made in the throwing lane."
Â
On significance of the win...
"It felt really good. Probably the top five ever. To beat a program that has as much talent as they do four times in a row, I can't say enough good things about our players in the locker room over there."
Â
On the performance by Sione Vaki...
"He's just such an athlete and as I mentioned before, he was the Northern California Player of the Year in some way shape or form as a slot receiver. So it's not new to him. You're gonna see, every week, we may have to start resting him more defensively because he's so valuable on offense. We saw some of the moves he makes. He is so quick and accelerates so fast. He changes direction on a dime. He could stop and start on a dime. He's carrying a big load for us. Fortunately, we only played 54 defensive snaps, thereabouts, which made his load not ridiculously heavy. But we gotta do a good job of managing him through the week and making sure that we take care of him, which we will."
Â
On the confidence they have in Bryson Barnes after the Pick 6...
"Yeah Bryson is our guy, he's our quarterback, and we've got confidence in him. We just keep moving forward with the guys that we have healthy."
Â
On not going for the FG in the 2nd quarter...
"Analytics, which is a big part of our decision making, it's not the absolute and we don't go right by the book because you have to have a feel for things. How things are shaping up at the line of scrimmage, who you have available, how you're blocking things up. In that particular case, you're talking about I think it was a 'go' in four, and so we were well within in that 'go' and that's why. I thought it was huge early on, I can't remember, it was the first drive that we went for it on fourth and one or two about midfield, and it ended in a touchdown. It's give and take, what you do is play the percentages and obviously touchdowns are more than twice as valuable as field goals except for that last one."
Â
On holding USC to 3 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarter...
"I think it was really our defensive front taking over and getting really good pressure on Caleb, and plus we recovered all in the secondary. We had good coverage back there, and so we just got a little bit of rhythm on defense, and I think we got out of three or four drives in a row. I can't remember exactly, but we got ourselves into a defensive rhythm. Then of course they came back, that pick six they had was a huge play for them, but our guys didn't flinch and we talked about handling adversity. We knew they were going to make a bunch of plays, because they have a bunch of good athletes, just had to play right through it, and not let that bother us."
Â
#36 Cole Becker, K
On preparing for a game-winning kick...
"It was a lot of practice kicks, you'll see me in the net every 30 seconds. It's kind of normal, I mean, you don't want to approach it any differently, because then you're building it up in your mind to be something that it's not. So really I just take it one practice kick at a time and then go from there. I feel like we executed really well."
Â
On nerves ahead of final kick...
"Not nerves, but confused because I was getting my signals from all the coaches. They said we were gonna kick, and then we weren't, and then they sent me out there and then I was back off. It ended up being an issue with calling two timeouts in a row. The issue was referees not going to let you call another one or something, but you're just trying to run a play at the center, and so coach explained that in the locker room after and it makes sense now. I wouldn't really change the way it happened, because it went well."
Â
On how the ball felt coming off his foot...
"It felt pretty good. If you watch the video, the execution is perfect. JT (Greep) and his snap, and every other team member."
Â
#7 Van Fillinger, DE
On the forced fumble and defensive performance...
"It was a good performance by the defense, and I just wanted to be back out there and contribute."
Â
On if they had to do anything differently on defense...
"We all had to do our personal jobs or our individual jobs. Like Nate Ritchie stepping up and doing his thing. I think it was good by everybody."
Â
#3 Ja'Quinden Jackson, RB
On Bryson Barnes...
"Bryson is going to be Bryson, he's a competitor. He's smart. So I mean, we definitely believe in our guy."
Â
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
K
/ Football
DE
/ Football
RB
/ Football
S
/ Football
S
/ FootballCrimson Corner with Bill Riley - Urban Meyer
Wednesday, September 17
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham weekly press conference - 9.15.25
Monday, September 15
Utah: 31, Wyoming: 6 | POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Sunday, September 14
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Keith Kelley, voice of the Wyoming Cowboys
Tuesday, September 09