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The University of Utah Athletics
Kyle Whittingham Weekly Press Conference: Baylor
9/4/2023 11:53 AM | Football
Utes head to Waco for Saturday morning match-up
SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham held his weekly press conference on Monday, meeting with the media to preview the Utes' game at Baylor on Saturday, Sept. 9.
Select quotes from Coach Whittingham's press conference can be seen below.
Opening Statement…
"It was a good win for our program on Thursday night. We certainly played a lot better on defense than we did in the previous year, and that was really the storyline of the game. We went from allowing 280+ yards rushing last year to 13 in this game, and missing 28 tackles to four – it was just a night and day difference. We will move on to another Power Five program in Baylor this week. We are very confident that they are going to be a much-improved team between week one and week two. They outgained Texas State by 80+ yards with over 500 yards on offense, but the difference in the game was red zone production. So, we are going to have to play exceptionally well and have a great week of preparation just like we have to every single week."
On their starting quarterback being ruled out for the game…
"Their back-up came in and did some good things, he is an athletic kid. We just have to have a plan, and I am sure Coach Scalley and the defense will have a plan and it all starts with stopping the run. I don't care if it is 1915, 1990 or 2023 – if you can't run the ball, it is hard to win. So, if you can stop the run on defense, it is hard to get beat, so that is always job No. 1 for us."
On where he would like to improve offensively after week one…
"We didn't run the ball as effectively or efficiently as we needed to. Typically, we are a very good run team and we only ran for around 105 yards. It wasn't as bad as the stats indicated, but it wasn't up to our standards."
On if he will use this game as a preview for what the Big 12 will be like…
"It hasn't even entered into my thoughts process and hopefully not for the guys too. It is just another game that we have to get ready for. Nothing really outside of that besides getting ready for the Baylor Bears."
On Tao Johnson's switch from wide receiver to cornerback…
"We recruited him with receiver in mind. He had been an offensive player most of his life, so put him at receiver for a good period of time. He was doing a good job there, but as you watch people move and how they operate, sometimes you can tell that they will have a higher ceiling at a different spot, so that's what we did with Tao. Once we made that move for him to defensive back, he took to it quickly. I think he played well in his first outing last week with some things he needs to clean up."
On how he felt the offensive line did, especially on the left side with true freshman Spencer Fano…
"I thought he did a great job. For a true freshman starting at left tackle against Florida in game one, it was basically baptism by fire and I thought he handled it extremely well. So when you look at what he did as a true freshman against a quality opponent, we are very pleased."
On the Pac-12 going 13-0 in weeks 0-1 and how he expects his defense to do against high-powered offenses…
"It'll be a big challenge because this is the league of the quarterback. We have half a dozen good quarterbacks, at least. It looks like the Pac-12 is going to go out with a bang. There are a lot of prolific offenses that we will face and it will be a challenge for our defense week-in and week-out."
On Jack Bouwmeester's performance against Florida…
"He had an exceptional game, probably the best game of his career by far. Jack flipped the field two or three times and he really showed a lot of poise. He has become a really quality punter. Everything about his mechanics, his get off times – he is just doing everything really well right now."
On the defensive line play against Florida…
"We started off on a good note. Five sacks in a game is outstanding. Arguably our best pass rusher, Connor O'Toole, we need to get him back whenever that may be, will just add to that. Jonah Elliss, Logan Fano and Van Fillinger played the majority of the snaps and they did a good job of getting pressure on the quarterback. Once we get Junior Tafuna back, that will allow us to have more push inside to not allow the quarterback to step up into the pocket. So, through the first game, we played really good football."
Select quotes from Coach Whittingham's press conference can be seen below.
Opening Statement…
"It was a good win for our program on Thursday night. We certainly played a lot better on defense than we did in the previous year, and that was really the storyline of the game. We went from allowing 280+ yards rushing last year to 13 in this game, and missing 28 tackles to four – it was just a night and day difference. We will move on to another Power Five program in Baylor this week. We are very confident that they are going to be a much-improved team between week one and week two. They outgained Texas State by 80+ yards with over 500 yards on offense, but the difference in the game was red zone production. So, we are going to have to play exceptionally well and have a great week of preparation just like we have to every single week."
On their starting quarterback being ruled out for the game…
"Their back-up came in and did some good things, he is an athletic kid. We just have to have a plan, and I am sure Coach Scalley and the defense will have a plan and it all starts with stopping the run. I don't care if it is 1915, 1990 or 2023 – if you can't run the ball, it is hard to win. So, if you can stop the run on defense, it is hard to get beat, so that is always job No. 1 for us."
On where he would like to improve offensively after week one…
"We didn't run the ball as effectively or efficiently as we needed to. Typically, we are a very good run team and we only ran for around 105 yards. It wasn't as bad as the stats indicated, but it wasn't up to our standards."
On if he will use this game as a preview for what the Big 12 will be like…
"It hasn't even entered into my thoughts process and hopefully not for the guys too. It is just another game that we have to get ready for. Nothing really outside of that besides getting ready for the Baylor Bears."
On Tao Johnson's switch from wide receiver to cornerback…
"We recruited him with receiver in mind. He had been an offensive player most of his life, so put him at receiver for a good period of time. He was doing a good job there, but as you watch people move and how they operate, sometimes you can tell that they will have a higher ceiling at a different spot, so that's what we did with Tao. Once we made that move for him to defensive back, he took to it quickly. I think he played well in his first outing last week with some things he needs to clean up."
On how he felt the offensive line did, especially on the left side with true freshman Spencer Fano…
"I thought he did a great job. For a true freshman starting at left tackle against Florida in game one, it was basically baptism by fire and I thought he handled it extremely well. So when you look at what he did as a true freshman against a quality opponent, we are very pleased."
On the Pac-12 going 13-0 in weeks 0-1 and how he expects his defense to do against high-powered offenses…
"It'll be a big challenge because this is the league of the quarterback. We have half a dozen good quarterbacks, at least. It looks like the Pac-12 is going to go out with a bang. There are a lot of prolific offenses that we will face and it will be a challenge for our defense week-in and week-out."
On Jack Bouwmeester's performance against Florida…
"He had an exceptional game, probably the best game of his career by far. Jack flipped the field two or three times and he really showed a lot of poise. He has become a really quality punter. Everything about his mechanics, his get off times – he is just doing everything really well right now."
On the defensive line play against Florida…
"We started off on a good note. Five sacks in a game is outstanding. Arguably our best pass rusher, Connor O'Toole, we need to get him back whenever that may be, will just add to that. Jonah Elliss, Logan Fano and Van Fillinger played the majority of the snaps and they did a good job of getting pressure on the quarterback. Once we get Junior Tafuna back, that will allow us to have more push inside to not allow the quarterback to step up into the pocket. So, through the first game, we played really good football."
Players Mentioned
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