QUOTES FROM KYLE WHITTINGHAM’S WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE
Opening statement
It was a good win on Friday night and I’m proud of they way they handled their business and adversity. They kept fighting and kept playing for all 60 minutes. It was a great effort by our players and it showed a lot of poise and confidence, particularly on offense. Troy Williams had a very good night and was lights out on those last two drives.
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It was good to get the win and off on the right foot in Pac-12 play. It was nice to get a home victory in front of a great crowd. The atmosphere on Saturday night was incredible. It was raining and cold and the crowd there was supporting us so it was great to see.
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Moving on to Cal. They are prolific on offense, leading the conference in total offense. They may be leading the nation in passing offense at 460 per game. They’re throwing the ball better than anyone, at least in our conference, scoring 45 points a game. We have our work cut out for us on defense
Work cut out on offense
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On the pass defense Saturday vs. USC
We were very tuned in to keeping things in front of us. They have big play receivers, so we wanted to limit big plays and keep things in front of us. That gave us a chance. Credit to their quarterback, they found themselves a terrific one. He’s going to be a good one. He has a lot of tools and I thought he played well in his first bit of extensive action. We have to play better on defense. We didn’t play our usual defense but in the end, 20 points allowed is pretty darn good. You give up 20 points most weeks, you’re going to win and that’s the bottom line. As far as rush and pass defense it was not up to our usual standards
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On the evolution of Utah’s passing game
A few things – Troy has done a really nice job at quarterback. He has a quick release and he’s a good decision maker with a strong arm. The receivers have really stepped up their game and playing with a lot of confidence eight. It’s great to have Tim Patrick back and added to the group. The offensive line is doing an outstanding job in pass protection, especially this past weekend. We are near the top of the Pac-12 in sacks allowed and so I think it’s a combination of those things.
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On the rush defense from Saturday
We lost gap cancelation; it was not where it needed to be. We didn’t fit correctly with linebackers a few times. With the defensive lineman, we got reach blocked and out of our gaps a few times. The defensive ends didn’t squeeze a time or two, so that was the biggest issue. The most damaging was the 50-yard run. That hurt the most
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On beating USC
It was great. I’m so proud of our guys and to see them fight back. Things looked pretty bleak for a moment at 24-10 and 27-17. It was great to see our guys finish that game and see Troy and Timmy make that play at the end and the offensive line provide protection. I’m just really proud of our guys for the way they’ve handled adverse situations all season long.
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On Cal’s Chad Hansen
He is a tremendous receiver. He is leading the conference in receptions and yards per game. He has tremendous body control and can go get the contested ball as well as anyone I’ve ever seen. He has some size to him and he’s a competitive guy. He’s a fierce competitor that can make catches, get his feet down when he needs to. He has a knack of getting that 50/50 ball
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On Cal’s Davis Webb
He’s a doing a great job, throwing for over 400 yards a week. He has thrown only four picks and 16 or 18 touchdowns, so that ratio is very good. He’s doing a great job leading the offense and they’re moving the ball up and down the field, almost 600 yards per game.
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On halftime adjustments
We didn’t start the second half ideally. We were short a possession and had to punt the ball away and they took it down and scored. It was the opposite of what you want to have happen. I mention our breakdowns but credit to them. Their offensive line is physical and well coached. Their backs are really good and run hard. We weren’t entirely at fault. They were bringing a lot of it with their personnel
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On Troy Williams
The quarterback position, by nature, is one of leadership and its inherent. He’s the one touching the ball every snap and making the decisions. It’s been awesome to see Troy step up we have had good quarterbacks in the past. For Troy to become a leader in such a short amount of time really speaks to his maturity and how his teammates feel about him.
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On Chase Hansen
Chase is playing as good as anyone in the conference. He is all over the place, making plays, stripping the ball, making plays in coverage. He’s physical and a great tackler so he ‘s exceeding expectations. I didn’t know he’d be this good this quickly. He’s only had a few starts this year and last at safety so to be playing at the level he is after being a quarterback in high school and have no extensive experience at safety and to be this productive and doing some of the things he’s doing is really amazing.
He’s a quick study and has a high football IQ based on his quarterback experience. He knows how defenses operate and that was an advantage to him moving over, his ability to read coverages and understand things
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On Cal’s Vic Enwere and Khalfani Muhammad
Tre Watson is also very productive and they’re spreading the ball around between those three. They’re a pass-first team, 70 percent pass-to-run ratio, but efficient when they run the ball, almost 140 yards per game on the ground per week, to really complement their passing game. It shows that they are effective because they aren’t being held to sixty yards or so each week
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On Tim Patrick
As I’ve said a lot we missed him last year. That was one of the things that hampered us and we’re glad he’s back with the full year of eligibility instead of piecing a few games together last year so it was a real blessing in disguise he was not able to not play last year. He’s our go-to-guy and making touch catches and big plays. He was going against one of the best corners in the country and fared very well. He’s a big reason why the pass offense is where it’s been this far
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On fourth downs
It’s a more a gut feeling than anything else. We were controlling the line of scrimmage well with our offensive line so that was kind of a no brainer. We were moving all night long and there were very few times they were in our backfield due to the offensive line cutting off penetration. Zack Moss and Armand Shyne were running hard inside all night. They are physical runners. It’s a combination of gut feeling and the complexion of the game and the situation called for it. You can’t be reckless; it has to be a calculated risk. You don’t have to be right all the time, but it needs to be most of the time. They always want to go, 4th and 20 on our own 10, they want to go. You have to take that out of the equation. You can’t say let’s go for it because they have confidence. As a coach, you can’t get greedy or push the envelope or you’ll put yourself in bad spots.
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On the polls
The polls are starting to shape up. I still don’t think there’s enough body of work to make conclusive decisions. It’s good to be recognized. It’s a positive for us that people recognize us for doing good thing and we’re playing well these first four weeks. We don’t talk about it or get hung up on it but our players aren’t dumb and they know where we stand and what people think about us
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On the running back position
I think we are still a work in process at that position. It’s starting to settle in with those three; Zach, Armand and Troy McCormick, who’s a different runner than the other two. As long as we get production from all three, they’ll continue to get carries. If one starts to separate, we will gravitate more toward that guy. We are running the ball but the one thing we need to clean up is the fumbles. We are fumbling too much and we’ve put the ball on the ground 11 times and lost six of them. We are running the football but we need to keep possession and clean that up.
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On playing in the Pac-12
Its great - The Pac-12 affiliation is the best thing to happen to Utah football. Playing in the Pac-12, the level of competition and the talent you play against each week, is exciting and our players love it
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On Demari Simpkins and Siaosi Wilson
They both play roles and we have about seven receivers contributing at the moment. Getting Cory Butler-Byrd back is big because he adds another dimension. The receivers have stepped up as a whole, which is what we anticipated they would do. But it’s good to see that because it’s s one thing to see it and talk about in practice and another to see it in games
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On Cal’s contrasting style
Our style is a lot different than theirs. We played really good defense against them last year and they had a pretty good quarterback, just like this season. In fact, he was the best quarterback in the nation last season based on the draft. We are not a hurry-up team. We shorten the game a little bit by huddling and running the football but we still need to play solid defense and keep points off the board similar to what we did last year and we’ll try again this year.
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It was a good win on Friday night and I’m proud of they way they handled their business and adversity. They kept fighting and kept playing for all 60 minutes. It was a great effort by our players and it showed a lot of poise and confidence, particularly on offense. Troy Williams had a very good night and was lights out on those last two drives.
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It was good to get the win and off on the right foot in Pac-12 play. It was nice to get a home victory in front of a great crowd. The atmosphere on Saturday night was incredible. It was raining and cold and the crowd there was supporting us so it was great to see.
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Moving on to Cal. They are prolific on offense, leading the conference in total offense. They may be leading the nation in passing offense at 460 per game. They’re throwing the ball better than anyone, at least in our conference, scoring 45 points a game. We have our work cut out for us on defense
Work cut out on offense
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On the pass defense Saturday vs. USC
We were very tuned in to keeping things in front of us. They have big play receivers, so we wanted to limit big plays and keep things in front of us. That gave us a chance. Credit to their quarterback, they found themselves a terrific one. He’s going to be a good one. He has a lot of tools and I thought he played well in his first bit of extensive action. We have to play better on defense. We didn’t play our usual defense but in the end, 20 points allowed is pretty darn good. You give up 20 points most weeks, you’re going to win and that’s the bottom line. As far as rush and pass defense it was not up to our usual standards
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On the evolution of Utah’s passing game
A few things – Troy has done a really nice job at quarterback. He has a quick release and he’s a good decision maker with a strong arm. The receivers have really stepped up their game and playing with a lot of confidence eight. It’s great to have Tim Patrick back and added to the group. The offensive line is doing an outstanding job in pass protection, especially this past weekend. We are near the top of the Pac-12 in sacks allowed and so I think it’s a combination of those things.
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On the rush defense from Saturday
We lost gap cancelation; it was not where it needed to be. We didn’t fit correctly with linebackers a few times. With the defensive lineman, we got reach blocked and out of our gaps a few times. The defensive ends didn’t squeeze a time or two, so that was the biggest issue. The most damaging was the 50-yard run. That hurt the most
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On beating USC
It was great. I’m so proud of our guys and to see them fight back. Things looked pretty bleak for a moment at 24-10 and 27-17. It was great to see our guys finish that game and see Troy and Timmy make that play at the end and the offensive line provide protection. I’m just really proud of our guys for the way they’ve handled adverse situations all season long.
Â
On Cal’s Chad Hansen
He is a tremendous receiver. He is leading the conference in receptions and yards per game. He has tremendous body control and can go get the contested ball as well as anyone I’ve ever seen. He has some size to him and he’s a competitive guy. He’s a fierce competitor that can make catches, get his feet down when he needs to. He has a knack of getting that 50/50 ball
Â
On Cal’s Davis Webb
He’s a doing a great job, throwing for over 400 yards a week. He has thrown only four picks and 16 or 18 touchdowns, so that ratio is very good. He’s doing a great job leading the offense and they’re moving the ball up and down the field, almost 600 yards per game.
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On halftime adjustments
We didn’t start the second half ideally. We were short a possession and had to punt the ball away and they took it down and scored. It was the opposite of what you want to have happen. I mention our breakdowns but credit to them. Their offensive line is physical and well coached. Their backs are really good and run hard. We weren’t entirely at fault. They were bringing a lot of it with their personnel
Â
On Troy Williams
The quarterback position, by nature, is one of leadership and its inherent. He’s the one touching the ball every snap and making the decisions. It’s been awesome to see Troy step up we have had good quarterbacks in the past. For Troy to become a leader in such a short amount of time really speaks to his maturity and how his teammates feel about him.
Â
On Chase Hansen
Chase is playing as good as anyone in the conference. He is all over the place, making plays, stripping the ball, making plays in coverage. He’s physical and a great tackler so he ‘s exceeding expectations. I didn’t know he’d be this good this quickly. He’s only had a few starts this year and last at safety so to be playing at the level he is after being a quarterback in high school and have no extensive experience at safety and to be this productive and doing some of the things he’s doing is really amazing.
He’s a quick study and has a high football IQ based on his quarterback experience. He knows how defenses operate and that was an advantage to him moving over, his ability to read coverages and understand things
Â
On Cal’s Vic Enwere and Khalfani Muhammad
Tre Watson is also very productive and they’re spreading the ball around between those three. They’re a pass-first team, 70 percent pass-to-run ratio, but efficient when they run the ball, almost 140 yards per game on the ground per week, to really complement their passing game. It shows that they are effective because they aren’t being held to sixty yards or so each week
Â
On Tim Patrick
As I’ve said a lot we missed him last year. That was one of the things that hampered us and we’re glad he’s back with the full year of eligibility instead of piecing a few games together last year so it was a real blessing in disguise he was not able to not play last year. He’s our go-to-guy and making touch catches and big plays. He was going against one of the best corners in the country and fared very well. He’s a big reason why the pass offense is where it’s been this far
Â
On fourth downs
It’s a more a gut feeling than anything else. We were controlling the line of scrimmage well with our offensive line so that was kind of a no brainer. We were moving all night long and there were very few times they were in our backfield due to the offensive line cutting off penetration. Zack Moss and Armand Shyne were running hard inside all night. They are physical runners. It’s a combination of gut feeling and the complexion of the game and the situation called for it. You can’t be reckless; it has to be a calculated risk. You don’t have to be right all the time, but it needs to be most of the time. They always want to go, 4th and 20 on our own 10, they want to go. You have to take that out of the equation. You can’t say let’s go for it because they have confidence. As a coach, you can’t get greedy or push the envelope or you’ll put yourself in bad spots.
Â
On the polls
The polls are starting to shape up. I still don’t think there’s enough body of work to make conclusive decisions. It’s good to be recognized. It’s a positive for us that people recognize us for doing good thing and we’re playing well these first four weeks. We don’t talk about it or get hung up on it but our players aren’t dumb and they know where we stand and what people think about us
Â
On the running back position
I think we are still a work in process at that position. It’s starting to settle in with those three; Zach, Armand and Troy McCormick, who’s a different runner than the other two. As long as we get production from all three, they’ll continue to get carries. If one starts to separate, we will gravitate more toward that guy. We are running the ball but the one thing we need to clean up is the fumbles. We are fumbling too much and we’ve put the ball on the ground 11 times and lost six of them. We are running the football but we need to keep possession and clean that up.
Â
On playing in the Pac-12
Its great - The Pac-12 affiliation is the best thing to happen to Utah football. Playing in the Pac-12, the level of competition and the talent you play against each week, is exciting and our players love it
Â
On Demari Simpkins and Siaosi Wilson
They both play roles and we have about seven receivers contributing at the moment. Getting Cory Butler-Byrd back is big because he adds another dimension. The receivers have stepped up as a whole, which is what we anticipated they would do. But it’s good to see that because it’s s one thing to see it and talk about in practice and another to see it in games
Â
On Cal’s contrasting style
Our style is a lot different than theirs. We played really good defense against them last year and they had a pretty good quarterback, just like this season. In fact, he was the best quarterback in the nation last season based on the draft. We are not a hurry-up team. We shorten the game a little bit by huddling and running the football but we still need to play solid defense and keep points off the board similar to what we did last year and we’ll try again this year.
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