Upcoming Event: Football versus Idaho on September 3, 2026
Football
vs Idaho
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
The University of Utah Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Utah at Washington
11/11/2023 10:27 PM | Football
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening Statement
"Outstanding college football game. I'm proud of our guys, they played hard start to finish. Played really well offensively in the first half. Not so well in the second half. I think it was a case of not being as dominant up front in the second half. Not getting our running game going as well in the second half. But give them credit, they made plays. They're a good football team, the Huskies, worthy of their ranking. And like I said, I'm just proud of our coaches and players for the fight they had in them. And just the warrior mentality, and nobody quit. (Quitting) doesn't happen on this team ever, so that really goes without saying. But tough loss, it's a tough place to play, got a great crowd. And like I said, they got a good football team, the quarterback is tremendous. And it's got a great supporting cast, the receivers are outstanding. So that's kind of the long and short of it."
Â
On the Washington interception and fumble near the goal line…
"Yeah, well, I didn't realize he had dropped it prior to crossing the goal line. It was way out the other end from where I was standing. But great hustle by Michael Mokofisi. He was right there pursuing the football and ready to jump on it. And just a tremendous heads up play by that kid. I mean, he's 330 pounds and ran the distance and never stopped on the play. And had the wherewithal to understand that he had dropped it early. I just can't say enough positive things about his effort on that and his awareness. Unfortunately, the next play, we get tackled in the end zone for a safety. And it's still better than giving up a touchdown, but it took some of the wind out of our sails when that happened. But yeah, that was something you see in college football, not in college football-- in football on rare occasion. It's not unheard of, and it happened today."
Â
Was Washington doing anything differently defensively to take you guys out?
"Not really, and that's something, I gotta watch the tape closely, which we obviously will, and see, you make that determination. But like I said, I just don't think we played quite as well in the second half. Well, I know we didn't, as we did in the first half…But they did make a lot of plays in the second half and held us to a much lower offensive total than what we got in the first half, that's for sure, and shut us out in the second half. We didn't score a point in the second half. So yeah, congratulations to them."
Â
You said you didn't get much up front in the second half. Was it something that Washington was doing?
"Like I said, I have to go to the tape and see, but it didn't appear that they didn't make any wholesale changes. And we just couldn't get in sync in that second half. We just couldn't get in the rhythm. And it was completely different than the first half. First half, we were in a great rhythm. We were up and down the field, and completing passes, and making plays, and we just weren't able to be as productive in the second half."
Â
With everything that you had still kind of on the line, how difficult is this loss with that?
"They're all difficult, and it would have taken a lot of things to happen to stay in the race, even if we would have won. There's no guarantees for anything, we would have had to have quite a bit of help. But that's not really at the forefront of our mind right now. It's just disappointment that we didn't find a way to win (this game). And that's the biggest thing. And so we'll just come back in Monday, watch the film, correct our deficiencies and our mistakes. And get ready to play another game on Saturday. They just keep coming, and we'll be ready. We'll be ready to play on Saturday, got another tough road trip down to Arizona. They're playing really well. And we're gonna have to have another good week of practice and preparation just like always."
Â
Devaughn Vele | WR | Jr.
What was working for you in the first half?
"Just appreciating Bryson giving me chances. We had the matchups that we wanted, we made the right calls and it's just a blessing that I made the plays that I made. Just being in the right spot at the right time."
Â
Bryson Barnes | QB | Jr.
On the game…
"Obviously it's not great, we were rolling on offense in the first half, just wasn't able to find something in that second half and losing is never fun. But I love our group of guys, love my teammates and we're going to get through it."
Â
Was there anything they were doing differently defensively?
"At halftime everybody is going to make adjustments. We just (had) to figure out what they were adjusting to. We weren't able to find that spark like we did in the first half."
Â
Opening Statement
"Outstanding college football game. I'm proud of our guys, they played hard start to finish. Played really well offensively in the first half. Not so well in the second half. I think it was a case of not being as dominant up front in the second half. Not getting our running game going as well in the second half. But give them credit, they made plays. They're a good football team, the Huskies, worthy of their ranking. And like I said, I'm just proud of our coaches and players for the fight they had in them. And just the warrior mentality, and nobody quit. (Quitting) doesn't happen on this team ever, so that really goes without saying. But tough loss, it's a tough place to play, got a great crowd. And like I said, they got a good football team, the quarterback is tremendous. And it's got a great supporting cast, the receivers are outstanding. So that's kind of the long and short of it."
Â
On the Washington interception and fumble near the goal line…
"Yeah, well, I didn't realize he had dropped it prior to crossing the goal line. It was way out the other end from where I was standing. But great hustle by Michael Mokofisi. He was right there pursuing the football and ready to jump on it. And just a tremendous heads up play by that kid. I mean, he's 330 pounds and ran the distance and never stopped on the play. And had the wherewithal to understand that he had dropped it early. I just can't say enough positive things about his effort on that and his awareness. Unfortunately, the next play, we get tackled in the end zone for a safety. And it's still better than giving up a touchdown, but it took some of the wind out of our sails when that happened. But yeah, that was something you see in college football, not in college football-- in football on rare occasion. It's not unheard of, and it happened today."
Â
Was Washington doing anything differently defensively to take you guys out?
"Not really, and that's something, I gotta watch the tape closely, which we obviously will, and see, you make that determination. But like I said, I just don't think we played quite as well in the second half. Well, I know we didn't, as we did in the first half…But they did make a lot of plays in the second half and held us to a much lower offensive total than what we got in the first half, that's for sure, and shut us out in the second half. We didn't score a point in the second half. So yeah, congratulations to them."
Â
You said you didn't get much up front in the second half. Was it something that Washington was doing?
"Like I said, I have to go to the tape and see, but it didn't appear that they didn't make any wholesale changes. And we just couldn't get in sync in that second half. We just couldn't get in the rhythm. And it was completely different than the first half. First half, we were in a great rhythm. We were up and down the field, and completing passes, and making plays, and we just weren't able to be as productive in the second half."
Â
With everything that you had still kind of on the line, how difficult is this loss with that?
"They're all difficult, and it would have taken a lot of things to happen to stay in the race, even if we would have won. There's no guarantees for anything, we would have had to have quite a bit of help. But that's not really at the forefront of our mind right now. It's just disappointment that we didn't find a way to win (this game). And that's the biggest thing. And so we'll just come back in Monday, watch the film, correct our deficiencies and our mistakes. And get ready to play another game on Saturday. They just keep coming, and we'll be ready. We'll be ready to play on Saturday, got another tough road trip down to Arizona. They're playing really well. And we're gonna have to have another good week of practice and preparation just like always."
Â
Devaughn Vele | WR | Jr.
What was working for you in the first half?
"Just appreciating Bryson giving me chances. We had the matchups that we wanted, we made the right calls and it's just a blessing that I made the plays that I made. Just being in the right spot at the right time."
Â
Bryson Barnes | QB | Jr.
On the game…
"Obviously it's not great, we were rolling on offense in the first half, just wasn't able to find something in that second half and losing is never fun. But I love our group of guys, love my teammates and we're going to get through it."
Â
Was there anything they were doing differently defensively?
"At halftime everybody is going to make adjustments. We just (had) to figure out what they were adjusting to. We weren't able to find that spark like we did in the first half."
Â
Players Mentioned
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - College football analyst Yogi Roth
Wednesday, May 06
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Utah Football Head Coach Morgan Scalley
Wednesday, April 29
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Utah Football legend Brian Johnson
Friday, February 20
Utah Football Head Coach Morgan Scalley Introductory Press Conference | 1.06.25
Tuesday, January 06