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Postgame Quotes: Utah vs. Arizona
9/29/2024 1:09 AM | Football
UTAH QUOTES
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening Statement
"Not a great night for the Utes. Several areas of concern, reasons for the loss. No. 1, excellent job by their quarterback, the receiver, No. 4. Terrific players. Those two guys are really good players. The quarterback made some plays and compliment them, they did a nice job. As far as us, we didn't run the ball nearly well enough, less than three yards a carry. We left points out there, horrible in the red zone. Awful. Until we get that fixed, we're going to have problems. We couldn't convert a fourth down. We were 0-for-4 on fourth downs. So that really was the reason for the outcome. Their offensive kids' ability to make plays, us not running the ball well enough, leaving points on the field. We should've had 21 points in the first half and we just squandered those opportunities and like I said, couldn't convert fourth down, where last week, we were really good on fourth down. This week, not so much. Micah Bernard gave us another big night, nearly 100 yards. He runs hard, competitive kid. Dorian Singer, he was outstanding. Defense was just so-so for us. Statistically, it was almost dead even, 358-364, so not much disparity there. Not a lot of disparity on first downs, but we did not score points when they were there to be scored. That's the name of the game. You have to score points to win and we didn't do it. 10 points will win you probably zero games in this day and age of football. We have to get better."
On what he's seeing in the red zone that isn't clicking…
"We're looking at everything. It starts with me. You have to have a better red zone package. The buck stops right here and if we don't have a good enough arsenal of plays and enough creativity down there, then that's something we have to look at. Execution. I'm not going to blame the players, though. Sometimes, it goes down to being a little off with your timing or off with your execution. We will work long and hard on it, I guarantee you that during this bye week. That's the No. 1 objective right now is red zone production for us as a team."
On what the main issue was on Arizona's big plays…
"I have to watch the tape, but No. 4 [for Arizona] will be playing a long time, I can tell you that. He's a terrific player. He's got size, he's got speed, he's got quickness, he's got great hands, he's tough and he was responsible for some of those conversions. Their tight end group made a couple nice plays. Their quarterback gets the ball out so quick. He's difficult to sack. I don't know if we sacked him one time, but he's terrific. I can't say enough good things about his play and the competitor he is."
Freshman Quarterback Isaac Wilson
On where things went wrong for the offense…
"We needed to execute in the red zone. I could've put the team in a better situation at some point, but it's a team game, so we just have to execute."
On how he feels like the offense can improve…
"Like I said, converting in the red zone. I know better on those interceptions. I shouldn't put the team in that situation. I felt like we were driving the ball up and down the field."
Senior Running Back Micah Bernard
On the feeling after a game like that…
"You see it all over my face. Not many words. I'm [ticked]."
On how to use this loss for motivation…
"I couldn't even tell you. I don't get too upset, I don't get too mad, but I almost just want to smack something right now, so I'm going to use that this whole next weeks and when we go to [ASU], they're going to feel me."
Sophomore Defensive Back Tao Johnson
On what was going on that led to his interception…
"We just knew on defense that it was time for us to make a play. Somebody needed to step up and we were all just out there to make a play and try to get the ball back to our offense."
On what went wrong on Arizona's last touchdown…
"It's hard to say. It's a broken play. He scrambled, guys start running all over the place. It's hard to blame any certain person for that. We just have to do our jobs. Personally, I need to stay over the top of them, get deep, not let anyone behind me."
ARIZONA QUOTES
Heach Coach Brent Brennan
Opening statement...
"I think one of the best things we did as a football team was elevate our work this week in practice. We had one of our best weeks of practice this past week, in all three phases of the game, offense, defense and special teams. It is a great group of kids and we have a great group of coaches leading them, so it is fun to see them smiling and having fun out there."
On Noah Fafita's performance...
"The kid [Noah Fafita] is special in every way, as a young man, as an athlete as a leader. I've never been on a football team where your within 50-yards and the conversation of kicking comes up. He is insanely talented and we are going to continue to give him chances to make plays."
Â
On watching his team succeed tonight...
"This game needs to be fun. You have to find ways to make it fun and when they are out there playing they forget about all the stress factors and just have fun and we saw that tonight. Football is the greatest team game, in my opinion, and as long as it's not about you so as long as you're playing for the guy next to you and not for yourself all the time, you have a chance. I think we did that so well tonight against a really good football team."
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Wide Receiver Keyan BurnettÂ
On Catching his first TD as a Wildcat…
"It means everything to me, it's a testament to my coaches for believing in me and trusting me to go out there and make a play."
Â
On the message from the coaches…
"Play fast and be physical. Utah is a great team, great program with great coaches so we knew it wasn't going to be easy coming in here to get a win."
Â
Linebacker Jacob Manu
On if they felt they were more agressive tonight...
"It was important for us to set the tone early, since they have a bunch of playmakers we wanted to get to the ball as quickly as possible."
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Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening Statement
"Not a great night for the Utes. Several areas of concern, reasons for the loss. No. 1, excellent job by their quarterback, the receiver, No. 4. Terrific players. Those two guys are really good players. The quarterback made some plays and compliment them, they did a nice job. As far as us, we didn't run the ball nearly well enough, less than three yards a carry. We left points out there, horrible in the red zone. Awful. Until we get that fixed, we're going to have problems. We couldn't convert a fourth down. We were 0-for-4 on fourth downs. So that really was the reason for the outcome. Their offensive kids' ability to make plays, us not running the ball well enough, leaving points on the field. We should've had 21 points in the first half and we just squandered those opportunities and like I said, couldn't convert fourth down, where last week, we were really good on fourth down. This week, not so much. Micah Bernard gave us another big night, nearly 100 yards. He runs hard, competitive kid. Dorian Singer, he was outstanding. Defense was just so-so for us. Statistically, it was almost dead even, 358-364, so not much disparity there. Not a lot of disparity on first downs, but we did not score points when they were there to be scored. That's the name of the game. You have to score points to win and we didn't do it. 10 points will win you probably zero games in this day and age of football. We have to get better."
On what he's seeing in the red zone that isn't clicking…
"We're looking at everything. It starts with me. You have to have a better red zone package. The buck stops right here and if we don't have a good enough arsenal of plays and enough creativity down there, then that's something we have to look at. Execution. I'm not going to blame the players, though. Sometimes, it goes down to being a little off with your timing or off with your execution. We will work long and hard on it, I guarantee you that during this bye week. That's the No. 1 objective right now is red zone production for us as a team."
On what the main issue was on Arizona's big plays…
"I have to watch the tape, but No. 4 [for Arizona] will be playing a long time, I can tell you that. He's a terrific player. He's got size, he's got speed, he's got quickness, he's got great hands, he's tough and he was responsible for some of those conversions. Their tight end group made a couple nice plays. Their quarterback gets the ball out so quick. He's difficult to sack. I don't know if we sacked him one time, but he's terrific. I can't say enough good things about his play and the competitor he is."
Freshman Quarterback Isaac Wilson
On where things went wrong for the offense…
"We needed to execute in the red zone. I could've put the team in a better situation at some point, but it's a team game, so we just have to execute."
On how he feels like the offense can improve…
"Like I said, converting in the red zone. I know better on those interceptions. I shouldn't put the team in that situation. I felt like we were driving the ball up and down the field."
Senior Running Back Micah Bernard
On the feeling after a game like that…
"You see it all over my face. Not many words. I'm [ticked]."
On how to use this loss for motivation…
"I couldn't even tell you. I don't get too upset, I don't get too mad, but I almost just want to smack something right now, so I'm going to use that this whole next weeks and when we go to [ASU], they're going to feel me."
Sophomore Defensive Back Tao Johnson
On what was going on that led to his interception…
"We just knew on defense that it was time for us to make a play. Somebody needed to step up and we were all just out there to make a play and try to get the ball back to our offense."
On what went wrong on Arizona's last touchdown…
"It's hard to say. It's a broken play. He scrambled, guys start running all over the place. It's hard to blame any certain person for that. We just have to do our jobs. Personally, I need to stay over the top of them, get deep, not let anyone behind me."
ARIZONA QUOTES
Heach Coach Brent Brennan
Opening statement...
"I think one of the best things we did as a football team was elevate our work this week in practice. We had one of our best weeks of practice this past week, in all three phases of the game, offense, defense and special teams. It is a great group of kids and we have a great group of coaches leading them, so it is fun to see them smiling and having fun out there."
On Noah Fafita's performance...
"The kid [Noah Fafita] is special in every way, as a young man, as an athlete as a leader. I've never been on a football team where your within 50-yards and the conversation of kicking comes up. He is insanely talented and we are going to continue to give him chances to make plays."
Â
On watching his team succeed tonight...
"This game needs to be fun. You have to find ways to make it fun and when they are out there playing they forget about all the stress factors and just have fun and we saw that tonight. Football is the greatest team game, in my opinion, and as long as it's not about you so as long as you're playing for the guy next to you and not for yourself all the time, you have a chance. I think we did that so well tonight against a really good football team."
Â
Wide Receiver Keyan BurnettÂ
On Catching his first TD as a Wildcat…
"It means everything to me, it's a testament to my coaches for believing in me and trusting me to go out there and make a play."
Â
On the message from the coaches…
"Play fast and be physical. Utah is a great team, great program with great coaches so we knew it wasn't going to be easy coming in here to get a win."
Â
Linebacker Jacob Manu
On if they felt they were more agressive tonight...
"It was important for us to set the tone early, since they have a bunch of playmakers we wanted to get to the ball as quickly as possible."
Â
Players Mentioned
RB
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WR
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QB
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