Kyle Whittingham Weekly Press Conference (Sept. 6)

SALT LAKE CITY - University of Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham met with members of the media on Monday morning inside the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center. The full press conference can be viewed here, and selected quotes from Coach Whittingham follow.

Utah, 1-0 on the season following last Thursday's 40-17 win over Weber State at Rice-Eccles Stadium, now turns its focus to a Sat., Sept. 11 tilt at BYU. Opening kickoff is slated for 8:15 p.m. at LaVell Edwards Stadium and the game will be televised on ESPN.

Opening Statement

"Good to get the season started off win a win. It was a game that we did a lot of good things after watching the film, a lot of things to correct like we thought after the game. But certainly some positives to take away. I thought Charlie Brewer played well. He did a nice job throwing the football, he was very accurate, made good decisions. We didn't run the ball quite as effectively as I thought we would. But give credit to Weber State, Jay Hill and their staff. They're a well-coached, tough, disciplined football team. Their staff is doing a great job. We expect them to make a deep playoff run, just like they have for several years. A lot of credit for our missteps go to them for playing well. Overall, we came out in pretty good shape, and gotta get ready for the next one now. The season marches on."
 
On evaluating the depth at running back…

"We're closer, Tavion [Thomas] obviously had a good game production-wise, although the fumble was the big negative. But he's working hard to get that corrected. Micah Bernard played well, and everyone contributed in some respect at the running back position. But I think Tavion's the one who stood out the most."
 
On Charlie Brewer's first performance at Utah…

"I thought he did a good job managing the game. I thought he was good with his decisions, got the ball out quick, did a nice job extending the play at times. It was a good start. We have to get better at all positions, but I thought he got off to a really good start. Cam [Rising] came in just for a few snaps and threw some good balls. The touchdown was an outstanding throw. It was good to see him get some work."
 
On correcting drops on the field…

"We just have to keep working on it. Some of them would've been tough catches, but some were just plays we have to make 10 out of 10 times. We just have to get back on the jugs machine, continue to emphasize looking the ball in, and making the catch before you start to run. They're drive-killers. Those drops cost you touchdowns, and the ability to keep the drive going. It's something we have to correct; I think we had five of them which is way too many."
 
On BYU quarterback Jaren Hall…

"He's very mobile. They move the launch points with him. There's not a lot of drop back passes in the game; it's play action boots, that type of thing, getting him outside the pocket. He's a guy that has good speed. His mobility is really good. I thought he did a nice job running the game for them on Saturday."
 
On Utah's offensive line…

"Well, we're in season now so we don't talk about injuries anymore. We just hoping for the best, I can just leave it at that. I thought there's room for improvement there, and I'm not picking on them because every position has room for improvement. I think we can be better than we were Thursday night, and I expect that we will become better. That's the old adage of making your most improvement between game one and two. We gotta play better this week than we did last week."
 
On Devin Lloyd and the linebacker corps…

"Devin Lloyd played outstanding. He played exactly how we need him to play. He's a leader of the defense. His stats were exceptional. That's who he is. He's a really good player. Nephi [Sewell] opposite him played well. He wasn't quite as productive as he's been in games in the past. But he's a good solid linebacker, and a really good player. I think the linebacker corps overall did a nice job."
 
On takeaways from Saturday's BYU-Arizona game…

"We're only concerned with BYU now. That's our primary focus. You do mentally file away some things that you saw from Arizona in the game. That's all we have to go on for this year, but the similarity in offensive style hasn't changed much over the last two or three years. It seems be just plug in the new guys and continue doing what they're doing."
 
On BYU running back Tyler Allgeier…

"He's got quickness, he's a big kid. He gets positive yards. He had the majority of the carries [against Arizona], I think he had 17 carries. He was the primary ball carrier. He's the guy that they lean on heavily in the run game."
 
On Utah looking for a 10th straight win over BYU…

"Nothing lasts forever. We're just approaching it like we do every year and pretty much every game. The preparation will be the key. It's not the emotional part of it, or how many wins in a row, or any of that stuff. You gotta prepare the right way. That's your best chance to win a game, through great preparation.

"You prepare hard, you play hard. In the most simplistic terms, that's what you do. If you don't prepare on the field, in the film room, the weight room, everything that comes with it--getting your rest, hydration, there's a ton of different aspects to preparation. You gotta pay attention to all of them, and then on game day you gotta play hard."
 
On evaluating Utah's secondary after one game…

"I thought they played pretty good. I thought Clark Phillips III played really well, like I said after the game. He made a lot of plays. JaTravis Broughton played solid. [At nickel] Malone Mataele was a guy that turned in a pretty good performance as well. The safeties I thought held down the fort. I thought for one game they had a pretty good outing. Now there'll be bigger tests down the road. But for that game I thought they played pretty well."
 
On Dalton Kincaid…

"He's a terrific athlete and a tough matchup. That tight end crew is really productive with him, Cole Fotheringham and [Brant] Kuithe. He made some catches and some plays that highlighted his athleticism and what his capabilities are. Hopefully we see a lot of that all year long."
 
On BYU's defense…

"A little more even front than they were playing a few years ago. But the same philosophy, zone coverage is what they hang their hat on, keeping things in front of them. That really is the basics of it, don't give up the big play and keep things in front. Rally, tackle, that's been their M.O. for quite a few years."