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Photo by: Anna Fuder/Utah Athletics
Postgame Quotes: Utah vs. Colorado
10/26/2025 12:45 AM | Football
Utah Quotes
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening Statement…
Great team effort tonight from start to finish. Hard to find negatives in that game. It was offense, defense, special teams, all hitting on all cylinders. Very few negative things at all, obviously. Jumped on them early. The first half was as good a football as we played here. Very proud of Byrd Ficklin. Came in, true freshman, seemed very poised. He knew he wasn't perfect, but he was very good, ran the offense very well. Defenders played well. Our players played so efficiently and so dominantly tonight. It was a great response to our disappointment last week and that's twice this year now they've responded very well and couldn't be more proud of them. The assistant coaches did a great job with their game plans and everything tonight was just one of those nights when everything went our way. Had a ton of production from all three phases. I couldn't be more pleased with how our guys reacted, how our coaches reacted after what we went through last week.
On when he knew Byrd Ficklin was going to start…
It was really a game time decision. Devon hadn't had much practice all week, but he's a guy who knows this offense inside and out. Had he felt up to the task in pregame, then there would have been a tough decision to make, but he was not feeling that. Byrd, fortunately, had taken the vast majority of the reps all week long and that was the way it was trending is Byrd was going to be the guy, but it wasn't for certain until after pregame warmups.
His evaluation of Ficklin's performance…
I thought he did really well. He didn't throw as accurately as he will in the future, I can promise you that. He's very accurate thrower in practice and has a good, strong arm, but he ran the ball efficiently and made enough good throws. You saw him put some right on the money and really move the offense.
On the defensive gameplan…
Just to load the box, fill all the gaps, making him beat us throwing the ball. It was a great gameplan and that was coach Scalley that concocted that punt block. It was out of our safe look. Typically, when you're in a safe look, you're just guarding against the fake and you're not giving much pressure on the punter and we lulled him asleep and came up with a safe look and he had a blitz or a block designed off of that and it worked exactly like it did in practice.
Freshman Quarterback Byrd Ficklin
On Utah's effectiveness running the ball…
"It's mainly just trusting the guys up front, trusting them to make their blocks and going out there and having fun. Like I told them before the game, 'We go out here, have fun, and play our game, we're going to do something great.' And that's what we did."
On his analysis of his performance against Colorado…
"I think I threw the ball pretty well. Some things I wish I had back from the game, but I told everybody leave it all on the field and I felt like I left it all on the field. I don't really [dwell] on the past, I just move onto the future."
On what he and Devon Dampier talked about before the game…
"He told me he trusted me and that everyone on the team is going to be able to trust me. He told me that he trusted me to lead the team and to play ball and I feel like [that helped me feel] comfortable and know everybody had my back."
On if there was a point this year where the game slowed down…
"I would say mainly towards the end of spring ball, more fall camp, playing against our defense, the ones and twos, coach Scalley sending all the blitzes, all the zone coverages. Basically, me seeing everything I'm going to see, and saw tonight, [helped] slow the game down for me and showed me that it's not as fast as I had thought."
Sophomore Running Back Wayshawn Parker
On what went through his mind during his 58-yard touchdown run…
"The thing that was going through my mind was that I needed to get into the end zone. One, I've been failing Utah, I haven't touched 100 yards, so I had to touch 100 yards this game. And I promise that's not going to be the last game. What was going through my mind was that, one-on-one, I'd take myself, 100%, 10-out-of-10 chance, so I just made that cutback and trusted myself with outrunning the cornerback."
On witnessing Nate Johnson break off for a long touchdown run…
"We have a close bond outside of football, so seeing him go off and score, smiling ear to ear, [after] all the stuff that he has been through, the fumble, I just felt like him scoring let a lot off his back."
Junior Linebacker Johnathan Hall
On what Utah's defensive gameplan was entering the game…
"The main thing this week was playing with passion and playing with emotion. Our defensive lineman, we've got some guys on the d-line, they give us their all and we love them dudes. All 11 [players], we played good."
On Byrd's preparation coming into the game…
"Practicing with him since day one, I felt like I had to trust in him, that he was going to go out there and ball out. I told him just go out there, do your thing, let the game come to you, and don't rush it. The preparation that he had was fantastic."
On Trey Reynolds' performance…
"Trey, he's a dog. He practices hard and we love him. All the linebackers we [had a] very, very, very good day."
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham
Opening Statement…
Great team effort tonight from start to finish. Hard to find negatives in that game. It was offense, defense, special teams, all hitting on all cylinders. Very few negative things at all, obviously. Jumped on them early. The first half was as good a football as we played here. Very proud of Byrd Ficklin. Came in, true freshman, seemed very poised. He knew he wasn't perfect, but he was very good, ran the offense very well. Defenders played well. Our players played so efficiently and so dominantly tonight. It was a great response to our disappointment last week and that's twice this year now they've responded very well and couldn't be more proud of them. The assistant coaches did a great job with their game plans and everything tonight was just one of those nights when everything went our way. Had a ton of production from all three phases. I couldn't be more pleased with how our guys reacted, how our coaches reacted after what we went through last week.
On when he knew Byrd Ficklin was going to start…
It was really a game time decision. Devon hadn't had much practice all week, but he's a guy who knows this offense inside and out. Had he felt up to the task in pregame, then there would have been a tough decision to make, but he was not feeling that. Byrd, fortunately, had taken the vast majority of the reps all week long and that was the way it was trending is Byrd was going to be the guy, but it wasn't for certain until after pregame warmups.
His evaluation of Ficklin's performance…
I thought he did really well. He didn't throw as accurately as he will in the future, I can promise you that. He's very accurate thrower in practice and has a good, strong arm, but he ran the ball efficiently and made enough good throws. You saw him put some right on the money and really move the offense.
On the defensive gameplan…
Just to load the box, fill all the gaps, making him beat us throwing the ball. It was a great gameplan and that was coach Scalley that concocted that punt block. It was out of our safe look. Typically, when you're in a safe look, you're just guarding against the fake and you're not giving much pressure on the punter and we lulled him asleep and came up with a safe look and he had a blitz or a block designed off of that and it worked exactly like it did in practice.
Freshman Quarterback Byrd Ficklin
On Utah's effectiveness running the ball…
"It's mainly just trusting the guys up front, trusting them to make their blocks and going out there and having fun. Like I told them before the game, 'We go out here, have fun, and play our game, we're going to do something great.' And that's what we did."
On his analysis of his performance against Colorado…
"I think I threw the ball pretty well. Some things I wish I had back from the game, but I told everybody leave it all on the field and I felt like I left it all on the field. I don't really [dwell] on the past, I just move onto the future."
On what he and Devon Dampier talked about before the game…
"He told me he trusted me and that everyone on the team is going to be able to trust me. He told me that he trusted me to lead the team and to play ball and I feel like [that helped me feel] comfortable and know everybody had my back."
On if there was a point this year where the game slowed down…
"I would say mainly towards the end of spring ball, more fall camp, playing against our defense, the ones and twos, coach Scalley sending all the blitzes, all the zone coverages. Basically, me seeing everything I'm going to see, and saw tonight, [helped] slow the game down for me and showed me that it's not as fast as I had thought."
Sophomore Running Back Wayshawn Parker
On what went through his mind during his 58-yard touchdown run…
"The thing that was going through my mind was that I needed to get into the end zone. One, I've been failing Utah, I haven't touched 100 yards, so I had to touch 100 yards this game. And I promise that's not going to be the last game. What was going through my mind was that, one-on-one, I'd take myself, 100%, 10-out-of-10 chance, so I just made that cutback and trusted myself with outrunning the cornerback."
On witnessing Nate Johnson break off for a long touchdown run…
"We have a close bond outside of football, so seeing him go off and score, smiling ear to ear, [after] all the stuff that he has been through, the fumble, I just felt like him scoring let a lot off his back."
Junior Linebacker Johnathan Hall
On what Utah's defensive gameplan was entering the game…
"The main thing this week was playing with passion and playing with emotion. Our defensive lineman, we've got some guys on the d-line, they give us their all and we love them dudes. All 11 [players], we played good."
On Byrd's preparation coming into the game…
"Practicing with him since day one, I felt like I had to trust in him, that he was going to go out there and ball out. I told him just go out there, do your thing, let the game come to you, and don't rush it. The preparation that he had was fantastic."
On Trey Reynolds' performance…
"Trey, he's a dog. He practices hard and we love him. All the linebackers we [had a] very, very, very good day."
Utah: 53, Colorado: 7 | POST GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Saturday, October 25
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - ESPN's Fran Fraschilla
Wednesday, October 22
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham weekly press conference - 10.20.25
Monday, October 20
Utah: 21, BYU: 24 | Post Game Press Conference
Sunday, October 19